Interbike Redux, Part I

Now that I'm out of Vegas, I can look back on it with a bit more clarity. My quick impression? Lots of new, different ideas. Bike and parts manufacturers can no longer just show up with an aero bike. They have to come strong, with data. When we're spending $7,000 on a bike, there better be some science behind the design. Everyone, from Ridley to Fuji to Ceepo were bringing something different to combat the wind. Even Kestrel had a new redesign of the Airfoil Pro that I was impressed with.

Which is where Cervelo has built it's empire. Phil White and Gerard Vroomen did the best to build a bit of hype—and deliver on it—with the debut of the P4, backed with a healthy dose of science, and $1 million of development.

And the hype behind the debut was a unique scene, one reminiscent of an Apple keynote, with Phil and Gerard presenting the bike with head mikes on, and a group of media and other onlookers on-hand for the unveiling. I Saw Simon Whitfield looking on, colleagues like Dan Empfield and Lennard Zinn, as well as a few other engineers from rival brands, all awaiting the unveiling. It was amazing the amount of people from competing brands that made time to visit the Cervelo booth. When I saw the below, I just had to get a shot.
Maybe Fausto Pinarello, caught by my camera, was irritated by my candidly catching him languising in the Cervelo booth. Or maybe he was longingly looking at that P4 in the case. To his credit, Pinarello's top-end TT bike is pretty solid aerodynamically. If they ever paid attention to triathlon beyond putting Cam Brown and Leanda Cave on their bikes, they'd make waves.

I take off Tuesday for Kona and will update here again before I head to the island... then will be updating here from the island as I cruise around town as a journalist, at the same time looking after my wife Donna, who is racing with her TeamTBB teammates. I have assignment to cover the women's race, so I'm excited to see what ought to be an incredible race, even in the absence of Sam McGlone and Michellie Jones.

The men's race will be excellent as always. If the weather is shit, expect Normann to do his thing and make life hell on everyone. If it's calmer, Macca is still my pick. His confidence is worth a lot to that guy, and he has all the confidence.

Of course, you have Torbjorn, Chris Lieto and my biggest x-factor, Steve Larsen, who will also look to inflict damage. It will be a fun race.