Slowtwitch Brunch

This morning the founder and maestro of Slowtwitch.com, Dan Empfield, hosted a brunch at his seaside Kona home.

Dan and his lovely wife Toni laid out an impressive buffet for their friends, loyal Slowtwitch readers and colleagues in the multisport industry.  The turn-out was strong and the location was amazing, only 40' from the breaking surf.

These private, casual parties are just as interesting and fun as the official Ironman activities, because they allow you to catch up on the latest triathlon buzz and gossip in a relaxed and intimate setting.  You never know who might drop by...

Empfield, who completed his first Ironman in 1981,  has maintained close contact with the folks at Amercan Bicycle Group, the holding company that now owns the Quintana Roo brand that Dan created in 1987.  Dan's an innovator; he was instrumental in creating markets for high performance wetsuits designed specifically for triathletes, and for the adoption of the smaller 650c wheels that are still found on many tri bikes.  Some would even credit him with inventing the triathlon-specific frame geometry (including, for example, the 78 degree seat tube angle). Most recently, Dan had a hand in refining the design of the 2007 Lucero, a carbon TT masterpiece that is expected to reinforce QR's leadership in the triathlon category.

That ol' Bavarian cowpoke Herbert Krabel darkened the door at high noon with a buffed out Lucero, to the "ooh's" and "ahh's" of the guests.  Herbert and Dan beamed like proud parents.  Check out the bike in my last blog post, found here. 

We spotted Sarah Reinertsen, the paralympian who last year became the first female above-the-knee amputee to finish the Hawaii Ironman.  Sarah has been busy lately with an overwhelming amount of business and media projects, including starring in the current season of The Amazing Race on CBS. 

Ironman North America president Graham Fraser was caught soaking up the sun in a rare moment of relaxation.  With 8 Ironman Triathlons to produce every year, Graham and his wife Sue have very little down-time.   Graham is largely responsible for the immense popularity of Ironman races throughout the USA and Canada.  As most of you know, his events sell-out in hours, usually a full year in advance.  If that wasn't enough, he can still spank you with a 16 minute 5 km.

Finally, I had an interesting chat with Scott Montgomery, whose father Joe was the founder of Cannondale.  Now Montgomery is one of the visionaries behind Scott Bicycles' re-emergence as a triathlon power brand.  This Saturday watch for Kiwi Cam Brown -- last year's 2nd place finisher -- to put down a blistering bike split on his Scott Plasma, a time trial bike that has had made its mark in both the pro cycling peloton and triathlon.

Comments

[Herbert]

Thanks, but I am actually Swabian not Bavarian. :-)