If you've read at least one of my race reports you'll know I use Ergon grips, and saddle on all of my bikes. I have had other sponsors support me over the past few years racing and to them I am especially grateful as well.
Ergon is a little different for me though and here is why:
Rewind back to August 2009, my first MTB race (at the ripe young age of 35). I returned home from the race and immediately started looking online for results and race coverage. I was new to Twitter so I tried a search for "winter park" and found this @jeffkerkove guy talking about the race. I found his blog from one of the links in his feed and read a few posts. He seemed to know a thing or two about racing and I had a bunch of questions. I found an email address and sent off a quick note with a question or two and walked away from the computer for 5 min. When I returned Jeff had replied to me with a good paragraph response. I was a little set back. In my past experience, noobs usually don't get the time of day from people that are in the know. A few days later I though I'd try my luck a second time with another question or two. The result was the same, 1-2 paragraphs answering my question. This trend went on for a few months. Some would say this is just good marketing to potential customers. Perhaps it is, but if that is what good marketing is, I want good marketing. Eventually I asked about how to keep my wrists from hurting on the long rides, and you can guess what the response was. Soon I was on a set of Ergon grips and that was that.
Fast forward to 2010, my first race season on a team. That year I did the Battle of the Bear and met Yuki Ikeda after the race. He was as friendly as Jeff and we talked for a bit about racing, his bike set up, and training. I was starting to think these Ergon guys were ok. The next race that year was The Bailey Hundo. The men's lineup included JHK, Dave Weins, and Bryan Alders (taking 1,2,3 respectively). The women's lineup included Sonya Looney. Both Dave and Sonya are on the Ergon team of course. The race was a painful experience and I was back and forth with Sonya on the course, we talked a bit while simultaneously trying to get ahead of each other. After the race Sonya walked up and congratulated me on the race. A few minutes later Dave Wiens walked up to the group I was sitting in, sat himself down, and started asking us about our races. This was beyond cool in my book.
Sonya took the photo of us.
So why do I use Ergon products?
The People.
I have also found that they are very well designed and make my training, racing, and riding life much more enjoyable. Thank you again for your support in 2014!
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