Hey, I just found out that Quintana Roo is a state in Mexico! I never knew that. I always wondereng where the company got their funny name from, and now I know. Here’s proof:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quintana_Roo
Wow
si senor.
Interesting you should mention the Mexican State of Quintana Roo on the Yucatan Penninsula: At this very hour, Hurricane Wilma bears down on it with 165 M.P.H. winds. Hopefully the storm will turn and stay at sea.
dude… 
do not get on wiki… you will waste you life there… it is worse then slowtwitch… although you will come away the best trivial pursuit player on the planet
Yep, that’s how you know it’s “KEEN-tana”, and not “Quinn-TAna”.
-C
Quintana Roo is also the name of the author Joan Didion’s daughter. Just read it the other day in the NYT.
Did Mexican officials have to pay a licensing fee to Dan to use the name?
Please note my motto, which I believe was Dan’s first choice for the name of his new company. Am I correct, Dan? “Festina Lente” is Latin for “make haste slowly”. I freely admit that I stole it directly from you! It describes my triathlon outlook, training, and career perfectly. I’m thinking of getting a tattoo…
Sharon
They’re in the news quite a bit with this storm. Still, I always do a double take when I see it.
"…Huge waves crashed over the narrow strip of land that holds Cancun’s resort hotels, washing away their beachside tiki huts. Shop windows were shattered, cars were crushed under fallen trees and pay phones jutted from waist-deep floodwaters.
Quintana Roo Gov. Felix Gonzalez Cantu, whose state includes Cancun, called the destruction “tremendous,” but with the storm still raging, it was too early for damage estimates. Officials do not even expect to be able to reach Cozumel — whose ferry service is out of commission — until late Saturday at the earliest."
Great. Now that that’s settled, what in the world does “cervelo” mean??
Hi,
Cervelo is the combination of the Italian word for brain and the french word for bike: Thus, Cervelo, or “brain bike.”
Hope that helps!
Best,
Robert
Ps. I have a Quintana Roo Santo and Cervelo Soloist. They’re awesome.
From Cervélo’s site in the FAQ section: “Cervélo is a combination of the Italian word for brain “cervello” and the french word for bike, “vélo”. So it’s a brainbike, or a bike with some extra thought put into it. We thought it was funny at the time, so we used it as a working title and it stuck. We usually pick a name very early in the development of a product and always say it definitely won’t be the final name but we’ll use it internally until we come up with something better. We rarely do.”
Sergio
So much for my cervesa & jello theory.
With just about every thread here ending with something “cervelo” I just made a decision: This kind of advertisement gets on my nerve so much, that I will NEVER EVER consider buying one of these bikes.
Not if its the last bike in the world and I have to do “nordic walking” instead.
What a thoughtful sentiment.
So much for my cervesa & jello theory.
Yeah, just wait until you hear Gerard start chiming in about “that one wild night down in TJ…”
Quintana is a last name that originated in the Basque Country (Spain). Roo was added by toponymy in México to the last name to form “Quintana-Roo”.
Andrés Quintana Roo (1787 - 1851) was a writer, phlilosopher and lawyer born in Mérida (the capital of the state of Yucatan. Also a bicycle brand). He along with her wife played an important role as insurgents in Mexico’s independence. In 1902 Quintana Roo was decreed “federal territoty”. It was not until 1974 when Quintana Roo (along with Baja California Sur) got their “State” status. Quintana Roo along with Baja California Sur is the youngest state of México.
IMO QR could choose better names for their bicycles. Tequila is a popular distilled spirit, but Tequilo means nothing and IMO sounds awful to Spanish speaking people.
Sergio
No, no, no! That’s what they want you to think. It is a combination of cervesa (beer) and pelo (hair). The bike is so fast if you try and drink beer while riding, it will fly into your hair. That’s the honest truth.
It’s also the name of Joan Didion’s late daughter…FWIW.
I was there when Signor Guvernor gave him some bottles of Tequila and chased some chiquitas in his motel room.
The rest is history.
And Dan is actually Mexican, his real name is Jose.
This is his first Driving License, later in life he made all the “adjustments” and passed himself off as Empfield.
But look at his face and the height, it is all there.
Although, he looks to me somehow desperate on this photo?