When team owner Danny Van Haute brought Jelly Belly on as title sponsor he envisioned a long-term partnership. Twelve years later, Jelly Belly is the longest running professional cycling team in the country. How's that for long-term? Coming off of their most successful season in team history Jelly Belly p/b Kenda has come into 2011 with some new signings and one of the coolest looking bikes in the US peloton.
Gathering for their training camp in San Marcos, California, the team will have a chance to log some miles in the hills of east San Diego County while getting used to their new Focus Izalco bikes. One of the days of camp will be used to do a reconnaissance ride on the penultimate Amgen Tour of California stage, Mt Baldy. As animators of nearly every stage of the race last year, Jelly Belly p/b Kenda is doing their homework to make sure they're players in the race once again.
After losing arguably their best three riders from last season, Jelly Belly p/b Kenda brought in some fresh talent to ensure they have a competitive team at Amgen Tour of California, Quiznos Pro Challenge in Colorado, USPRO Nationals as well as Tour of Thailand. Signing sprinter Ken Hanson from Team Type 1 was a big addition to the roster. Ken, who was consistently on the podium last year and had a 7th place finish in stage 4 of the Amgen Tour of California said, "I didn't have the team support to always get the results I felt I was capable of last year. That's why coming to Jelly Belly p/b Kenda is exciting for me. They ride as a team and race well together. Whether it's going into a climb or a sprint, everyone has a job to do. If you look at the team's results from last year, it shows that it pays off to race like that".
The 3T equipped front-end features a Funda Pro tapered fork, alloy stem and Ergosum alloy handlebars. Cateye provides a custom Jelly Belly Strada computer to match the framesets jelly bean graphics. DT Swiss RRC 46mm wheels with Kenda tires give the team a wheelset that is ready for anything.
The race bikes have a complete SRAM Red group, including shifters and calipers. Internally routed cables pierce the headtube and run cleanly out of sight.
Continuous carbon fibers run from the Izalco's toptube down the seatstays, helping provide better bump damping in the rear end.
Just like the toptube and seatstays, the Izalco's chainstays and seatstays have continuous carbon fibers running between them. The dropouts are shaped in a way that allows the carbon to dampen the road chatter, allowing for a smoother ride.
The bottom bracket junction is the epicenter for the bikes lateral stiffness. A BB30 gives plenty of room for the oversized downtube and chainstays to join into.
As one of the top sprinters in the US, Ken Hansen is eager to unleash his power aboard the Izalco. With a 7th place stage finish at the 2010 Tour of California, Ken is focused on stepping things up a notch and trying to contend for a stage win this year.
With the same eye-catching Jelly Belly graphics as the road bike, the Izalco Crono time trial bike not only goes fast, it looks good too. Longtime Jelly Belly rider, Bernard Van Ulden used his Izalco Chrono to take 3rd at the USPRO Time Trial National Championships last season, sharing the podium with Taylor Phinney and Levi Leipheimer.
3T's carbon base bar and alloy extensions allow for the most aero position possible. Bernard Van Ulden's time trial position has been refined over the past five years, always looking for ways to gain an aero advantage while still maximizing power. SRAM 900 TT aero brake and shift levers with Fizik bar wrap complete the handlebar setup.
A Fizik Arione Tri 2 saddle has a little more padding on the nose compared to the regular Arione. When you're on the nose of the saddle pushing for every extra bit of power, having a little more comfort is much appreciated.
The team mechanics pull some long hours trying to get the race, training, and time trial bikes all built during camp. Making sure the bikes are built to each riders exact measurements can be tedious, time consuming work, but as "artists" of bike building they get a lot of satisfaction out of the finished product.
The lineup of new Izalco road bikes waiting to be ridden hard by the 2011 Jelly Belly p/b Kenda Team.
We will have full training camp coverage in an upcoming Road Bike Action Magazine.
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