Trek U wrap up

I realize that a week and a half later is a bit late to do a wrap up, but I actually have a little time to write about my trip to Wisconsin to the Trek bike headquarters. As I stated previously, it was a great trip for my inner fanboy as I got to see bikes from Lance's and Greg LeMond's Tour wins as well as historic bikes from Trek and Gary Fisher. But it was also a great trip for my inner bike tech.

I got the lowdown on the design and building of their dual suspension mountain bikes, their carbon fiber manufacturing processes, their wheel design, product development, prototype testing... I got to see testing facilities, welding, carbon fiber fabricating, painting (including the Project One custom paint shop) and even had lunch with the president of the company and got to hear stories of him doing a citizens race in France during the Tour that was hilarious. The only sections that were off limits to us were where they were developing the latest and greatest. If we would have been there about two months later, they would have probably been able to show us the entire operation.

I loved every second that I spent there. We did one group ride, one Mod race (Trek's version of the Big Wheel) when the weather was too bad to do the group ride, went bowling (when in Wisconsin...) and hit Great Dane, a great brew/pub in downtown Madison, for a meal. The Trek guys were great, genuinely passionate about cycling and just fun to be around. I am hoping that I get the chance to go back sometime when the weather is nicer and I can ride more.

Thanks to the guys from Trek and to the store for sending me somewhere I never would have dreamed I would have the chance to go.