Well the phone conversations went well over the past few days – now I’m flying out to meet the Board Members in their Switzerland location. Somewhere over the Atlantic we crossed into Friday (I think) – I’m never too sure with these time changes. Damm I can’t even get the spring forward fall back thing right that we do in California let alone the rest of the world.
[IMG-l]https://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk310/bobhazen/bmclogo-1.jpg[/IMG-l]Anyway I finally met Andy Rihs, the matermind behind BMC since 2001. He seemed like a nice enough fellow, but he moved very quickly regarding his vision for this team. The rest of the Board let him talk and interview me. His questions ranged from relocation of my family to my thoughts regarding training and planning the race calandar. The Board indicated to me that most of the race goals this year would be on American soil. In the packet they gave me was a nice printout of the Company’s expectations:
Company Golas for 2007
Then he asked my intentions of the out of contract riders they currently had (which totaled 7 of the 14 riders) “Mr Rihs, BMC has a great group of riders. I called you because I wanted to be a part of something special. That means I intend to keep your squad together. Nuture it and make it grow.” At this point Mr. Rihs asked me to call him Andy and if I was hungry. “I’d love something to eat but its got to be something American – Do you guys have a good burger joint around here?”
During lunch as McDonalds, (Yeah I know I asked for a GOOD burger joint and this is what they came up with.) Andy asked several questions regarding specific riders on the squad that intruged me. It was sureal sitting there in the yellow and red colors of McDonalds thinking about running this team.
[IMG-l]https://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk310/bobhazen/AlexandreMoos010107.jpg[/IMG-l]Moos is our team leader, and my age - Andy wanted to know how I planned to use him if I was offered the job. I told him straight up – “Alexandre will win the Tour of Georgia. Under my guidence he would stamp out a victory on stage 5 and go on to win the Tour. Beyond that I would use him to help the young guys grow. And maybe he’ll surprise some people this year……”
Andy then asked for my opinion on Jackson Stewart – I told him I thought that the kid had potential to become a great sprinter even though he was already 26. I also added that I could guide him to some wins, and help him mature as a rider.[IMG-r]https://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk310/bobhazen/JasonStewart010107.jpg[/IMG-r]
By this time our food was gone and we were walking back to the office, my hip was giving me a little trouble – Andy asked about it. “So its still flaring up on you I see.”
“Yeah it’s a little bothersom but it wouldn’t hold me back if I got this job.” I replied. Once again I saw a thin smile spread across his face.
“One more line of questions and we’ll make a decision” He then proceeded to quiz me on my knowledge of US riders, up and coming along with veterans that I’d think might be a good fit for his team. I tossed out the usual US suspects: Bahati, Armstrong, Phinney, Summerhill, and Bax then added a couple Sweeds: Lauener, Taramarcaz, and Frank. But what got him was I asked him if I could talk to some ‘friends’ if the team had a little ‘room’ in their budget. Once again a grin spread across Andy’s face, “Tell me who are your friends that you are thinking of.”
“Well Zdenek Stybar, David George, Juan Van Heerden, and Aleksandr Pliuschin are all friends, and are not riding with anyone right now……..” I said puffing during our walk leaving the end of the sentence open. Again another smile spread across his face.
“Alex, I think we have a job for you if you want it.”
Getting back to the office the next few hours were a blur – paperwork, laywers, cell phone calls, my wife screeming, more calls and the Andy said, “Lets get the media here for a confrence, then Alex you can get home to your family. The next few weeks are going to be busy for you I expect and you’ll start right away.”
Andy then made a confrence call to the rest of the staff: Frankie Andrew and Tristan Schouten our trainers, Jon Hamblen the team doctor, and Taylor Carrington our scout. Once he got them all on line he began: “Team I’d like to intruduce our new Team Manager who I’m sure you will enjoy as much as I do: Alex Anderson. Alex has a long line of racing history over the past 12 or so years and is looking forward to getting to know and working with you all. We’ve set-up a media confrence here at Corporate in the next few minutes and I just wanted you to meet him and hear about this from me before you starting getting calls, e-mails and hearing it on the broadcasts. Any questions or concerns you guys might have before I let Alex speak?”
The line was very quiet – actually it was all too quiet before Taylor spoke. “Alex we’ll all very pleased that you decided to join us, but at the same time we’re worried about you making changes….”
“Don’t worry about that Taylor, if you guys do your jobs I’m not going to make changes, in fact Andy and I were just speaking about how to grow BMC, and its future. I intend to bring this squad into the top tier within the next few years and management has decided that its time to do just that. Expect a larger staff to join you in the next 12-24 months.” There the first contact was completed and no major fireworks. I’ll take that as my first win.
Andy once again spoke up, “I’m sure you’re all excited and want to get back to your families, just be sure you’re ready to step it up starting the new year. Alex will keep you posted of any updates, and he’ll be sending out projects for you guys in the next few weeks. Good Luck and we’ll see you at all at the first of the year.”
After hanging up the phone Andy turned to me: “Are you ready for a real press confrence?” as a cheesy grin spread across his face. *damm fu#@er* but I couldn’t help smiling myself.
The press confrence was a first class event – BMC went all out with a slide presentation in the background, with Andy doing most of the talking. The media did seem concerned regarding my lack of coaching expirence, and my lifelong link to Scott Townsend with his signing. “I anticipate BMC become a force in the cycling world” I found myself saying. “Scott is a great friend whom I known since we were two years old, I wish him the best at DFL, but my main concern now is to help BMC grow.”
“No I’m not bitter at Scott for taking the DFL job, and no he didn’t steal that job from me…… I really don’t know where you guys are getting this.”
“I truly believe that Andy and the Board are dedicated in bringing the best talent and support staff to BMC racing. If I didn’t I wouldn’t be here right now.”
“No the main goal this year is NOT to get promoted to the Top Tier – we’re going to take our time to make sure we have the right mix or riders and staff first.”
“What we’re saying is that we plan to be in the mix at the top of the Continantal division – but its not a goal this season.”
“No its NOT true that Scott stole my first girlfriend from me. Suzy was a very nice girl but she liked to play jacks – I didn’t, it just so happened that Scott did also. Damm we were ten! By the way, what does this have to do with cycling?”
Finally the conference was over – Andy hands me a packet. “Check it out. Everything you need to get started is in there. I can’t wait for this season to start.”
One the way to the airport he outlined his overall team plan and indicated that 2007 budget would be $2,000,000 up from the $1.5 they spent from last year. And his first ‘project’ for me was to bring the squad number up top 20-25 riders without going over budget. “I want to keep the team mainly US and Sweden based (meaning at least 60%), but to become a top level team please feel free to contact whom ever you want. Remember even though were not looking to advance this year, expect it to come soon. Go after these guys you know and bring them here. Good Luck and have a great flight home. I’ll be in touch.”
BMC Team - as I got it.Edited by bobh on 21-04-2008 16:58
A lot has happened in the last two weeks – I’m slowly getting used to being the Team Manager. I’ve spent almost every waking moment reading scouting reports for our guys and possible ‘targets’ for our team. January starts the “official’ contact period so I’m chomping at the bit for the New Year to start.
Today I have been reviewing the first quarter’s scheduling – I had to e-mail Andy and complain about the crappy third party planning software we have. For some reason whenever I look at March’s planning schedule the system crashes. To combat this problem I’ve had to hand write March’s schedule down and I’m terrified I’ve missed something…… Hopefully this won’t come back and bite me.
I do know I’m sending the team to Palo Alto / Santa Barbra for pre-season. The timing might be tricky – I want the whole team to be there but any additional signings might miss this first camp. On the other hand, I do have the whole month to send the team out since we don’t have any races scheduled.
Jan 2007 racing Calendar – it’s pretty open, actually no scheduled races.
Our first race is Le Tour de Langkawi a ten day affair (2/2 thru 2/11) that will serve as a perfect platform for our riders in the Amgen Tour of California. Doing well at Amgen is vital not only is it a major goal set for us by the Board, but it will really be my first grading period to see if I can get the team to meet the climbing goals set for me. Somehow I have to get the team into some mountain training…….
[IMG-l]https://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk310/bobhazen/PaloAltoTrainingCamp.jpg[/IMG-l]Today I booked the whole team for pre-season camp. I need to get training started since I’m planning a mountain camp later in the month month. It’s only seven days though since I want any new members to have a chance and join us later in the month. I’m scheduling the other camp just for that purpose. I can’t wait to get together with these guys. The limited phone conversations I’ve had all point in the right direction. Everyone seems to be pleased so far. (Wait until I start dishing out racing assignments.) I’m still pouring over scouting reports trying to see if I’ve missed anything.
Andy called me today asking if I’ve called any of my ‘friends’ yet. I told him that that’s against the rules and I’d be making calls starting the first of the year. He got very angry saying that sometimes rules needed to be bent. I asked him to clarify what he meant by that statement and he went silent on the line. Calmly I stated that I will not cheat I never did while I raced and I won’t do it as a Coach then I told him that I hope that we’ll never have this conversation again. He agreed with me – then I brought up our drug testing program………..
bobh wrote:
Today I have been reviewing the first quarter’s scheduling – I had to e-mail Andy and complain about the crappy third party planning software we have. For some reason whenever I look at March’s planning schedule the system crashes. To combat this problem I’ve had to hand write March’s schedule down and I’m terrified I’ve missed something…… Hopefully this won’t come back and bite me.
Just read this part, and I have to say bravo. What a great way to work around the March bug B)
Yeah it just seemed logical because of the way I'm writing the story. I'll be able to incorporate the little 'querks' we have in cya.
For all interested, I am putting together a Photo-Op screen shot section to my story which I plan to submit under the 'beautiful' screen shots here. It's tough though because I have all these pics, but I don't want to release them yet because they might give away parts of my story. Still I think it will be a nice addition to the story.
It 3:00am and I can’t sleep – my wife is about to kill me so I came into my study to do some work. The conversation I had with Andy really disturbed me last night. Does he think I cheated all my years as a cyclist? Maybe it’s was just a case of excitement on his part, I know I’m itching to get the talks started in order to get off to a good start. Heck I’ve found myself starting to call Zdenek several times over the past few weeks just to chat, but I know I’d ask him to join me if I did that. Its only a few more days, I can last.
My birthday was just the other day – I kept reflecting on my life and how everything has fallen into place this past year. Its hard to believe I’m not riding in Amgen this year. I guess I’ll go get dressed and go for a ride.
Oops too late, I got to go, the baby just woke up, might as well get him before my wife is awake also…..
Well today is the day – as soon as the new year’s ball dropped I was placing calls. I had identified 12-14 riders who I wanted to contact and who fit within our budget and team goals. Basically they either said they would have to think about the offer, talk to their agent or I left voice mails. All day I was on the cell, but no decisions were made. Kinda disappointing – I had envisioned day one would end in a least one verbal agreement. Oh well there’s always tomorrow. Andy told me to keep my chin up, and keep pressing these guys. Once one of them signed the rest would start to follow.
I also helped the Marketing Group today in trying to get some sponsors to sign off with us. Like I said my cell was on-fire at the end of the day.
Well our Marketing group did an oustanding job! Within two days they secured enough cash to update our equipment and set us up for some good training camps. $618,000.00 over a 24-month period not too bad. Looks as if I’ll be shopping in the next few weeks. Memo to self: buy the Marketing group Visa Gift Cards for their effort.
24-month Sponsors
“Andy did you see our sponsor signings today?” I asked during the confrence call. “I can’t wait to buy the equipment I scoped out the other day. Also we can afford a couple more training camps this year now.”
Andy didn’t reply at first and the silence on the line was pure torture. “Alex, I wanted to apologize about the contacting thing from the other day. I was out of line and it won’t happen again. You got to understand as the Head of the Board the pressure from the other Board Members is trememdous. I’m fielding questions daily about your activities. The e-mail updates are working well, but once again it’s always going to come down to the results. It will be nice to go to them tonight during our meeting with the Sponsor figures, but please don’t spend it all at once. We do have the Requesisition Forms that need to be signed before you spend anything.” I could almost hear his sigh as he took a breath. “On the same note it would have been nice to pass along a rider commitment during this meeting, oh well you got to take what you are given.”
“Don’t worry Andy – they will sign, just give me a few more days……. And about the conversation the other day, its been forgotten. Have a good night and I’ll talk to you soon.” Quietly I closed my cell phone and took a deep breath. Damm I wish Pliuschin would call me back…… I’m going to end up with an ulcer.
Today startred with me pouring over more scouting reports and starting to put together ‘Plan B’ if my transfer targets didn’t work out. Of course I was again on the phone all day – my wife has started to make comments: “I thought we didn’t see you when you were racing, but at least you’d come home after a 8 hour ride…..” I’m telling her that it’s just during the transfer period, but she knows better.
We also had our first day of training camp for the season, and the guys really seem to like each other. I had Frankie, Tristian and myself ride with the team as a bonding event. A fairly slow pace for the first day but some of the guys decided to add some ‘sprint’ points along the route. (I think Moos collected about $500 total from the guys – myself included.) I did show them that I had something left and took third in one mountian sprint. Once back, I made sure all the guys got rubdowns then scheduled meetings with each rider to go over their season expectations and goals for later in the month.
After yesterday’s first ride of the season, I had Frankie and Tristan make sure the guys picked up the pace a little today. I wanted the team to know that I wasn’t going to treat them with kid gloves – we’ll see if anyone complains. I was going to ride with the team again but as I was getting changed to ride my cell phone rang, looking down at caller ID it was David George! Quickly I answered the phone, “Hello?”
[IMG-r]https://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk310/bobhazen/DavidGeorge010108.jpg[/IMG-r]
“Hi Alex, its me David. How you doing?” David’s South African accent comingthough the line. I couldn’t help but smile.
“Fine David I’m glad you asked. Have you and your agent had a chance to go over our proposal?” Sweat started to trickle between my hand and the receiver.
“Alex – as usual you’re all business.” He laughed. “We’ve looked it over and want to join. How soon can we get together to sign the contract? I’d like to be in California in the next few days.”
I let out a small yelp, “I can’t tell you how happy I am hearing you say that David. I’ll have our lawyers send the contract overnight to me and you can sign them when you get here if that will work for you.”
“Not a problem – I’ll call you later today to let you know when my flight arrives.”
“Great, is it ok to let the guys know you’ll be joining BMC?” I asked.
“Yeah feel free to tell them anything you need to do. I’ll talk to you later.”
I couldn’t have been happier and started to dial Andy to tell him the good news, but before I could hit send another call was coming through…….. It’s looks like its going to be a good day.
“Hey Adam, can you believe the activity we had yesterday? Fourteen signings? The legal department will be busy for months. You should be proud, I did it way under budget also.” I was beaming.
Adam had showed up at our staff morning breakfast at Adell’s, the local breakfast spot, this morning suprising us all. Before he sat down with us, Taylor, Frankie and Tristan were all expressing their worries about handling all the extra riders we just signed. They were really still in shock, and kept asking me how I had done so much in such a short period of me (meaning 24 hrs). I was trying to tell them that I’d been working on this for months and it all came together in one day when Adam showed up.
“Great work on the phones yesterday Alex” Adam said taking my hand in a firm harty shake. “The guys in legal were cussing you out yesterday. I don’t think they’ve every been so busy in their lives.” Adam’s smile was beaming ear-to-ear.
“Thanks Adam – I told you not to worry, have a little faith in me. So this is a new BMC record?” I asked almost half joking.
“Dude, you doubled our squad size overnight, what do you think?” The whole table laughed at Adam’s comment. “I can’t wait until our next Board meeting, this will be the update beyond all updates. After you landed George and then Pliuschin within that first hour, the office was buzzing with excitement. And it didn’t stop all day! Alex, after breakfast can I spend some time with you discussing your hires? I have a few questions and wanted to review the scouting reports with you.”
“Not a problem, do you want Taylor to join us? He’ll give us some more insite that I might not have on my own.”
“That’s a great idea, I’ll let you guys finish up here. I got to make a few calls and then I’ll see you at the office around 10:00”
“Frankie, Tristan can you guys run practice for me this morning? Have the guys go on a long recovery ride 200km. Then work in the weights and flexibility before a late lunch. Let them whine, but no sprinting today – I don’t want to have any pulled muscles. Keep me posted from the road, heck do the Solvang route – you know the one that we’ll be riding at Amgen? I’ll have my radio with me so I can listen in and make comments from the Confrence room. I’ll see you guys after lunch for the afternoon training session.”
We finished breakfast up quickly then Taylor and I rushed back to the office to put together a report from our software program:
We highlighted the first four guys, the rest I put in a summary report just in case Adam wanted to discuss anyone else. “Taylor, I need completed updated scouting reports on the whole squad before the end of the month – I was hoping you could include your thoughts and possible gains from the training camps I’ll be sending them to this month. Is that possible?”
Taylor paused with his hand-outs to think, “I don’t think I can have a report to you until Feb 7th, is that going to be a problem?”
“It’ll have to do, maybe we need to approach Adam here in the next month to get you some help. I’m going to want quicker turn times to get the information I need – I was hoping to send you out to scout for young talent next month in North America and Canada.”
“Sounds like a good idea, would I be his boss?” Taylor asked.
“I’ll think about it, most likely he would report directly to me, but I would want your reports to look the same. I’ll let you know before I pull the trigger on anything assuming Adam doesn’t object to the additional salary.”
BMC after Transfers 01/07/07 (26 riders) – we’ve got a lot of room to grow. (Sorted by AVG)
Overall our meeting with Adam went fairly well, he had concerns with us signing Bax, Summerhill and Armstrong – but Taylor stuck to his guns and defended his scouting reports. I got to give it to him, either he’s total wrong in his assessments, or a genius. We’ll find out as the season grows…..
I’m still a little worried about our mountain strength – or lack there of right now. I’ll look into a camp to see if anything fits before the Amgen tour……
