If you’ve been following me on twitter, you likely already know that I am working with a number of new sponsors this year. I have been so excited about each of these sponsors that while I have been waiting to confirm my partnerships I literally lost sleep. I woke up a couple of weeks ago at 3am and started browsing the internet for information on the Cervelo P5, which will be released in the next month or so. I was so excited about my new partnership with FSA that I started dreaming about how I would destroy the non-FSA brakes that have caused me so much trouble in 2011. And I’m so stoked to be signing with Hincapie Sports that I often interrupt conversations at dinner to ask what everyone thinks about my most recent idea for a custom race uniform. “What if it has a giant picture of a lion eating a shark while riding a unicycle?†These interruptions seem to be annoying to everyone besides myself, but you have to admit it’s exciting.
In 2012 I’m brining on Hincapie Sports as a new title sponsor. Hincapie makes custom clothing, and is rooted in cycling. The company wants to be a leader in the triathlon industry, and I’m hoping to help them develop their products to be better than anything currently on the market. And, while I probably won’t put any images of animals on unicycles, I’m pretty stoked to have the freedom to design a race uniform that represents me.
Over the past few years I’ve often felt like a kid on a road trip asking “are we there yet?†repeatedly. Only for me it was frequent pitches to Cervelo asking for a spot on their team. I’m not sure if it was persistence, or recent results, but in 2012 they finally said yes. And from now on I will be riding the fastest, highest quality bikes in the world. I really couldn’t be happier.
No less exciting, I am bringing on three Seattle based companies that make world class products. Computrainer, Full Speed Ahead and Brooks. In Seattle I ride by FSA, which also makes Vision aero products, and Brooks headquarters on every Saturday group ride. And the Racermate office, where Computrainers are designed, is next to the University of Washington where I was taking premed courses a couple years ago.
Computrainer is a vital part of my indoor workouts, and partnering with them means I’ll get to be featured in their real-course videos, and help them develop their products going forward.
Full Speed Ahead makes everything on my bike except the frame, and I’m looking forward to decking out my new P5 and S5 with their engineers.
Brooks not only makes great running shoes, but unlike many running companies, they actually have a lab with biomechanists doing research to improve how their shoes work. I’m really excited to get into the lab and learn what I can about my own running needs.
These five are in addition to my long term sponsors, Garmin, Blue Seventy, Rudy Project and Powerbar. All of whom continue to provide support with products that help me race faster.
2012 is going to be a really exciting season. Please check out the my sponsors websites to learn more, or contact me if you have any questions about picking a product.
Congrats Ben! Sounds like a great line up!
So glad to see things working out for you. Hope 2012 is an amazing year for you!