This week Team Exergy reunited under sunny but chilly skies in Boise, Idaho for 2012 Sponsor Camp. This is not your regular sponsor camp. Instead of just the "brief meet & greet, I need this, this product rocks, thank you so much" kind of thing that you might find elsewhere, Team Exergy did it right. There was time to build bonds between new teammates, actually have interesting conversations with our sponsors and discuss constructive improvements for the upcoming year with staff, plus we got YMCA passes!
This year we had a special guest in Jim Felt, founder of Felt Bicycles. Jim discussed all the new UCI regulations, the Asian carbon market, and wind tunnel discoveries. Partnered with Microshift again in 2012 which feature external shifter cables/housing, we asked Jim the aerodynamic effects of that housing. He said "about 10 grams of drag....but the margin of error in any wind tunnel: same bike, no rider, all constants constant, is about 5-10 grams. This is for every wind tunnel in the world" (Quote not exact). So the difference is minimal; its exact effect remains scientifically unknown. It is one of those mystical elements of cycling that even the most advanced wind tunnel specialists are left questioning.
We came to this camp in search of grams but not from the our equipment. To find grams by smoothing out our team race-weekend protocols, double-checking our nutrition with blood tests, meeting our local Boise fans and supporters, racing go karts really fast, forming giant amoebas of inflatable tubes and trying to make it down a 400 meter slope without lettin' go...ya, stuff like that! Enjoy!
