Apr
18
Sea Otter Video - Pedro’s Chris Zigmont
Filed Under Deep Thoughts, Exhibitor News, Green Efforts, Industry News, Video | 4 Comments
Man, doing the video thing is alot more work than just posting. Finally after some quality time in the Sea Otter Media Center, I’ve got something to show. I interviewed Pedro’s current GM and soon to be CEO, Chris Zigmont, about their efforts to be green and a socially responsible company. Good stuff from a passionate member of our industry. Also includes news about the management buyout of Pedro’s back from Swix. (Please excuse my noobi-ness as an on-camera interviewer…) More videos to come.
Apr
4
This is a Good Thing, Right?
Filed Under Deep Thoughts, Green Efforts | 1 Comment
Leaving work at the end of the day earlier this week, I snapped this photo while stopped at a light just around the corner from our offices here in San Juan Capistrano in Southern California. This particular station has always had obscenely high prices, but now premium gas is well beyond the $4 per gallon threshold. And this morning I noticed that they’ve adjusted the price up to $4.13 with super at over $4 now.
While I never buy from this station, the overall trend is now REALLY starting to play with the economics of bike and mass transit commuting options versus driving. SoCal is not exactly designed for easy mass transportation use given the infamous suburban sprawl of the region and car-centric mentality of the original urban planners (effectively the developers and politicians), but I think it will finally start to noticeably affect pocketbooks and wallets.
I’ve got to start up the bike commute again now that there’s enough daylight at the end of the day for the 14 mile bike leg of my multi-modal commute (which includes a train ride up the coast to Orange County). With my kids’ school schedules in the morning and wife’s work, I can only do it two days per week, but gas prices should now make it a financial win as well as a Wilford Brimley-esque “right thing to do”?
So the high gas prices are painful, but it’s a good thing for the bike industry, right?
Sep
21
A First: Organic Food at OutDoor Demo
Filed Under Attendee News, Green Efforts, Interbike, OutDoor Demo | 1 Comment
With the greater flexibility we have out in the desert of Boulder City, we have been able to work with our caterers and food service providers to make organic food options available for the first time at the OutDoor Demo. It’s another small move among the many that we are taking to improve on the environmental performance of the industry’s tradeshow.
If you’re out at the Demo and hungry, check out the organic options. I haven’t seen the menu, but I hear that the choices are really good. I’m looking forward to trying them and helping to encourage the organic food industry and eating healthier at the same time.
Along with the new food, the eating utensils and dishes it will be served on will be made of biodegradable materials as will the garbage bags that they will be disposed in.
Every little bit counts, right?
Sep
20
Solar & Wind Powered at the OutDoor Demo
Filed Under Green Efforts, Interbike, OutDoor Demo | 1 Comment
Continuing with the greening of Interbike, I’m really happy to announce a partnership that could be the start of something big. The VIP tent at the OutDoor Demo will be powered and cooled by solar and wind energy, courtesy of the guys at Eco-Pioneer.
Lance and I met Scott Gibson of Eco-Pioneer back in July of this year at Pedro’s Fest in Massachusetts. He had his self-designed eco tent set up with solar and wind energy equipment that powered a large screen tv showing live Tour de France coverage out in the middle of a farm field in the Berkshire mountains.
My thoughts instantly jumped forward a few months to our OutDoor Demo. With all the sun and nearly constant wind we get in Boulder City, it seemed like a perfect place to generate some green energy. He had a tent that he was cooling with renewable energy and we had a tent that needed cooling. We almost instantly put the invitation out to Scott right there at Pedro’s (after the end of the day’s stage coverage, of course). It took some planning on Scott’s part to make it happen, but we are super excited to have him with us.
What Eco-Pioneer will be doing is powering their swamp cooler system (perfect for the dry desert climate) with their system of solar panels and wind turbines to cool our VIP tent out at the Demo. In the past the tent has been powered by gas-powered generators. Any chance to turn off a gasoline engine is welcome. We use renewable Read more