I ask only because I know it’s a province/state in Mexico, that happens to have one of my favorite places in the world (Cozumel – I’m a diver).
How did you decided to give that name to your company?
That’s not the story I’ve been told, but I’m laughing so hard I’m going to cry. Thanks for the history lesson!
They even made a movie about Dan and the monks playing football at Notre Dame. “Roody” is a great flick if you haven’t seen it, but the big screen makes Dan look much shorter. In the movie, he had to help cut the grass as well as iron the robes. He was never much of a hand with the mowers, though, so while the monks with the really crisp robes called him the “Ironman”, the head grass-cutting monk nicknamed him “Slowman”.
I heard from Dan himself on Thanksgiving 1996, that when he first started in his business he took over the lease of a failed Mexican roofing contractor “Quintana Roofing”
As a start up business, Dan had lots of great ideas (they’re still coming) but very little money. So little money he couldn’t afford a new sign on the factory. The broken sign out front actually read “Quintana Roo” and the name stuck!
Now grasshopper, you know the truth.
TriDork
yes. But what if it’s really the grassy head cutting monk?
I heard somewhere that the name ‘Quintana Roo’ is actually an anagram of that famous quote from the first and only Latin/English speaking competitor in IronMan Hawaii. He had arrived at the start without a bike or running shoes, wearing jams and water shoes. He was rumored to have exclaimed “No Tri on Aqua!?!?” upon seeing all of the other competitors and their bike and run gear. He had arrived at the race under the misimpression that the triathlon in Kona would consist of a trio of water events: dugout canoe racing, surfing, and skimboarding.
I guess Slowman just fiddled around with this famous quote a little to come up with something more marketable. I suppose he figured that a company name starting with a Q would be cool, but that Qempfield Wetsuits didn’t sound exotic enough. And tagging something having to do with kangaroos onto the end of the name couldn’t hurt. Kangaroos are cute.
I think I read someplace (maybe on an old Quintana Roo brochure) about the origin of the company’s name. It all began with one of Dan’s sojourns to Thailand and a side trip to Australia where he was looking for future business ideas to manufacture cushioned bicycle seat covers (pre wetsuit neoprene). He was out and about in a place called McBride Station (home of Australia’s largest Red Kangaroo populations), where he met a old, crusty, self-reliant, rancher named Quinn McBride. In an early morning conversation (after a night of lifting a few), Quin was telling Dan how he used a Kangaroo pelt under a horse’s saddle for cushioning and to protect the horse’s back from saddle sores. Thinking processed kangaroo skins could have commercial value in relation to Dan’s dream of cornering the worldwide cushioned bicycle seat market. He asked, “Quinn, could you tan a Roo hide?” Since it was early morning and the rancher was still shaking the cob webs out of his head , he mockingly, muttered, and repeated to himself - “Quinn, tan a Roo?” Dan said, “Well, excuse me - hmmm - Quintana Roo.” The rest is history.
I heard a similar story, but it had something to do with a late-night trip to the outhouse, strange noises from the barn, and walking in on Quint an’ a 'roo.
Now I KNOW I’ve heard the real story!
Aussie named Quint? Yup, I know one of them.
Stranded in the Outback? Plenty of times…
No women around? not alot of shielas in the outback
Roo’s. Heaps o’ them, just waiting for a first date.
Quint getting caught with a Roo by a forgotten guest?
Sorry, but I’ll bet my first born that THIS is the ACTUAL origin of the name “Quintana Roo”
TriDork
Yes I’ve heard similar.
In the outback for 10 years, no human women for miles. Asked an old Aboriginie stockman what they did for sex and was pointed in the direction of a coral of 'roos. Apparently he chose the prettiest, sweet little Quintana.
Reported the happy experience back to the stockman who called him an idiot, said he’d been pointing to the horse he could use to get to the brothel in town !
Don’t know if it’s true though.
I’m never gonna be able to look at my QR the same way again. Dan, please tell me these stories are a little (or a lot off.) Otherwise, Anyone looking for a slightly used Australian breeding machine?
Nope. I found the true story behind the name in a mayonnaise jar on Funk & Wagnall’s porch recently. The name is in fact Mexican in origin, but has nothing to do with the province. Many people know about the Hispanic tradition of the “quinceanera”–a party for 15 year old girls celebrating their passage into womanhood. Less well known (much less well known) is the rite of passage for young males called the “quintana roo”. Basically, it’s like a fraternity hazing and involves a large paddle. Traditionally, the paddle was made of wood. Today most are made of aluminum, although there have been surprising gains by titanium and carbon fiber paddles in recent years.
The quintana roo is not just a one-night party, but instead a series of paddlings held over the course of nine months or so. For each paddling, the young man gets down on the ground on all fours, while the paddler stands behind him, winds up while whispering "quintana . . . " and then shouts “ROOOOO” on the downswing and follow-through. Normally the paddlings consist of two or three sets of five whacks, working up over the course of the nine months to five-seven sets of ten each. Worse yet, the young male must pay the paddler for the service, and these fees can sometimes run many hundreds of dollars. Anyway, back to the story.
Clearly, the quintana roo had a big (ahem) impact on young Empfield’s future designs for tri bikes with steeply angled frames suitable for a semi-prone riding style (not to mention his development of a very soft seat cover), and the company was named “Quintana Roo” to honor the custom that gave birth to these innovations.
But, you ask, how did Dan come to be in Mexico at just the age for the quintana roo? Well, that’s another story entirely . . .
I am now sure that you have lost your mind…makes me want to delay MY surgery even longer…
It’s official…you’re all nuts…and I have found a new home. I haven’t laughed this hard since…well…since the carbon fiber toilet seat thread. And we’re all a bunch of tight assed type A personalities…whatever. Between this and Tom Demerlys thread on the life of a bike shop owner I no longer need to do ab workouts…they’re totally sore from laughing my guts out. I hope Dan never tells us the true origin of the name…I’d rather not know now.
You guys rock.
I was cooking up a pot of gumbo this weekend and got to thinking–If Dan had started his business in Louisiana, would he have called it Quintana Roux?