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We learned the sad news that Brent Thomson, the master trailbuilder at Bootleg Canyon, passed away yesterday. After seemingly recovering well from his post heart attack surgery, he took a turn for the worse in the last few days.

A previous post here about Brent’s condition has become a place for family and friends to post updates and now farewell wishes as he embarks on the most epic of rides.

There is chatter in the industry about how to best honor his memory and continue his legacy. Will keep you posted.

Here’s the latest update on Brent Thomson’s condition as he recovers from quadruple bypass surgery following his heart attack earlier this month. I’m posting verbatim from an email from friend Steve Boehmke:  

Las Vegas, NV – January 28, 2009 – - As many of you know, Brent Thomson, Trail Master of Bootleg Canyon suffered a heart attack a few weeks ago, and underwent Quad Bypass surgery last week. While now recovering at the hospital, Brent is coming back into his old self, despite suffering a stroke after surgery.

“I went and visited him last Sunday at the hospital,” states Steve Boehmke, author of this e-mail… “He had tubes down his throat to help him breath and eat, was all morphined out, couldn’t speak and had limited movement on his left side. Despite that, he still showed classic “Brent-ness” by his reaction when asked questions, and his attempt to French-Kiss my girlfriend Courtney when she said hi!”

On Monday, doctors removed the tubes, and Brent is quickly becoming his old self. Now able to speak and move both sides of his body, he is anxious to get going on physical therapy.Ever the enthusiast, Brent is ready to get back to work, though he knows it may take some time. “I’ve got trails to build!” said Thomson. “I want to thank everyone who sent their good wishes and support through this time,” continues Brent, “I’ve got a lot of work to do before I’ll be 100%, but I’m already getting a lot of creative ideas on how to motivate my body. I can’t wait to see all of my friends from the bike industry and get back to doing good work again.”\

PayPal – Click Here to Donate, thanks…

Please Continue to Support Brent Through PayPal Donations

Hopefully Brent will be able to get home within the next week, but for now, send get well wishes to:

St. Rose Dominican Hospital
San Martin ER c/o Brent Thomson
8280 West Warm Springs Rd.
Las Vegas, NV 89113

call Brent at 702.204.7810.

Thank you sincerely.

Read a few more updates from his sister in the comments of my last post aboiut Brent here.

Just spoke to Steve Boehmke who’s keeping close tabs on Brent’s condition for an update following his quadruple bypass surgery yesterday. According to the doctors, they are “cautiously optimistic” about his recovery. He’s in a medically-induced coma at the moment to aid in his recovery from the major procedure he just underwent in response to the heart attack he suffered while riding last Saturday. That’s about all we know at the moment since the operation took place late yesterday. We’re hoping for the best here.

To keep up with the latest info, you can follow Steve’s updates on Twitter: twitter.com/chunkyflyrite

To send get well wishes to Brent: 

St. Rose Dominican Hospital
San Martin ER c/o Brent Thomson
8280 West Warm Springs Rd
Las Vegas, NV 89113

Link to the site of Brent’s pride and joy: http://www.bootlegcanyon.org

And finally, be sure to make a donation if you can to Brent’s healthcare fund since his job at Bootleg did not provide him with health insurance. You can make a safe and secure donation via PayPal to barretstudio@gmail.com (his son Barret set this up). Visit PayPal.com and click on the “Send Money” link.

We are sad to hear that Brent Thomson is presently down after suffering a heart attack this last Saturday while riding one of the many excellent trails that he has carved out at Bootleg Canyon. Simply put, without Brent’s endless support for the past half a dozen years, Interbike would not have the world’s best annual product demo test lab that is attended by so many in the industry. 

Brent is one of the strongest people we know.  We wish him a speedy recovery and look forward to having his continued support, wit and charm at the 2009 Outdoor Demo.

Update:

We’ve learned that Brent’s job at Bootleg does not provide him with health insurance. As industry insider Steve Boehmke put it in an email yesterday:

“Brent’s hospital expenses are estimated to grow to hundreds of thousands of dollars, so any help that his friends in the bicycle industry can provide will be graciously appreciated. Click on the link below to donate securely with Debit, Credit, PayPal and Bank accounts. It is simple, quick and safe. Brent’s family and friends send you appreciation in advance.”

PayPal – please donate to barretstudio@gmail.com

In busy planning mode for our new OutDoor Demo East event in Providence, Rhode Island right now. Can’t wait to get back to my New England roots for a week. Such an awesome bike culture back east that sometimes gets overlooked by the mainstream bike media. Great clubs, teams, events, associations, manufacturers, people, scenery and passion for cycling.

Hearing from some of the exhibitors who will be at the event about some of their plans and it seems like no one is holding back and this will be a great event with lots of bikes and gear to try out. Jamis plans to bring no less than 40-50 models of bikes. Specialized just signed up to exhibit. Chris King should be showing their new bottom brackets and brown anodizing that was a big hit out West two weeks back. Haro, Masi, Storck, Giant, Scott USA, Santa Cruz, KHS, Felt, Zipp and BMC, to name a few, are all top brands that will be showing their lines and bikes to East Coast dealers. Regional suppliers Cannondale, Mavic, Pedro’s, Thule and Downeast will be their representing the best in Northeast bike and gear innovations. Civia, Salsa, Kuota, Fuji, Fox Racing Shox, Niterider… the list goes on. This event is the real deal.

I’m planning to head east a bit early to visit some shops in New England before the Demo. Shame I’ll have to miss the Gloucester Cross race this weekend. Last time I went to that race was back in 2000. Richard Fries and Chris Zigmont of Pedro’s are still the announcers and they are a treat to listen to while enjoying some tough New England style cross racing. Richard was the host of Good Morning Interbike and announced at CrossVegas and the USA Crits Finals at Interbike this year, by the way.

I also just learned that the Boston Bike Film Festival will be going on in Harvard Square the Friday and Saturday night prior to the Demo. I’ll probably be staying with some friends in the Boston area prior to Providence and I’d love to go to the festival. Wow – just noticed that the Head of the Charles is that same weekend. Will be hard to avoid, of course, but would love to see a bit of that since I raced there in ‘91 (6th place in the Club 4’s, by the way).

We really want this event to take off and become a real fixture on the east coast calendar. We see a lot of potential to build this into something bigger than just a trade-only event and really tap into the regional bike culture. I hope that East coast retailers see what we are trying to do for them in creating this event. We know that the expense of sending your staff out to Vegas each year is not trivial and a few of you have had to choose not to attend because of the cost or to just send the owner or buyer. So much of Interbike and the Demo are a real benefit to all staff members to get them up to speed on the latest gear and industry knowledge. This is the real reason for OutDoor Demo East: get as many of your buyers, mechanics, sales and staff members to ride the latest in bikes and cycling gear, learn from the SRAM and Mavic technical clinics, educate yourselves at the NBDA’s Super Seminars at ODDE and meet the people behind the brands.

Interbike and some of the best companies in the industry are placing a first-class trade event in your own backyard – take advantage of it! Let’s see the best East Coast, New England and Mid-Atlantic shops in Providence on the 21st and 22nd! Prove us right that the East Coast is worthy of its own trade event! If you’ve skipped a few Interbikes or sent less staff because of travel costs or timing, here’s your chance to reconnect with the best in the industry. We’re all looking forward to seeing you there!

So now that I’ve got more than one, I guess this is now a series: Guitar Ted on the Latest in 29′ers. I first caught him last April at Sea Otter for his comments on what was new in two-niner land and he did a great job in one take. Ran into him again at the OutDoor Demo last week and asked him to do another one. What a pro: on the fly in one take. Enjoy:

Day two of the OutDoor Demo started in the most glorious way that any day could: with a beautiful bike ride with over 300 of your closest industry friends. Left the hotel at 6am to head out to Boulder City with an awesome Felt AR2 (with new Dura Ace group) in the back seat. Ride started easy with police rolling closure and then turned onto the insanely fast downhill to Lake Mead Park. Happy to say i wasn.t dropped on the descent like last year. Stayed with the lead Wayne Stetina (of Shimano) group to the turn around at the lake. They just spun around and headed right back but I stopped to have a drink and mingle with other riders on the ride. Good times. Refreshments at the turn around courtesy of Hutchinson Tires.

Camelbak was serving up their Elixir hydration drinks to attendees in a fun loungy tent with great music all day.

One of the big stars of this year’s show will definitely be the new electronic Dura-Ace. While we were setting up to film a video presentation of the new group by Shimano’s Wayne Stetina, Zap and the guys from Road Bike Action stopped by for a demo. Prediction: the (very) cool sound that the front derailleur makes when shifting to the big ring will be one of the reasons people will buy it. It sounds like a high tech Star Wars  sound effect and just screams “I’m riding electronic Dura Ace” to your riding buddies(for you geeks out there, think AT-AT leg moving sound in Empire Strikes Back). Big crowds in the booth at the Demo for eDura-Ace.

You’ll see tons of photos of the new DA group all over, but I had never seen one of the control panel under the bars. Monitors battery life and allows you to trim the derailleur ala normal barrel adjusters.

The DA group is great, but the SRAM Hammer schmidt was awesome. Really wasn’t expecting to be be floored by it but was convinced after a test ride. The planetary drive system (don’t ask) allows for 2 “virtual” chainrings with just one small cog. What you get is near instant shifting even under pressure. Shift speed and eases felt like shifting to a smaller cog in back. The small cog allows for much better ground clearance. You have to check this out if you haven’t seen it yet.

Michael Zellman of SRAM showing off the new SRAM wheels for our camera crew. Look for our videos soon on the site.

Wandered the show floor at the Sands for a while doing final setup at the Media Center. Saw all the exhibitors doing their final building and decorating of booths. Noticed that Campagnolo have a totally new (and huge ) booth this year. Met with Cervelo guys and they said they will be having a big product launch ceremony in their booth today at 9:30.

Good Morning Interbike show kicks things off this miorning at 8:30. If all goes well with our systems, it should be live on interbike.com’s Media Center Live page for all to see around the world.

Gotta go to the Sands now. I’ll leave you with the Michelin man (did you know his name is Bib?) welcoming all to the show. Hope you enjoy following along back home if you’re not here!

Finally was able to score a bike for the Tour de Lake Mead industry ride Tuesday morning. I say finally since it was tougher than I expected. I’m 6′2″ and normally ride a 62cm c-c bike (84cm from center of bb to seat top) so I’m at an understandable disadvantage in trying find a bike that fits. Look had some, but couldn’t commit till the end of the day, the Italians didn’t seem to have anything larger than a 58 on hand and Giant wasn’t loaning bikes for the ride. Felt wasn’t either, but they let me borrow one of their new AR2 aero road bikes (it’s sitting in the corner of my hotel room right now). I got the whole pitch on that bike from the man himself, Jim Felt. Good guy. It was really an honor to meet him finally. The AR2 is supposed to be just about as fast as their TT bikes but in road geometry and with drop bars. Also looking forward to trying out the new Dura Ace parts on the bike. This is definitely one of the cool parts of the job. It’s one fast looking bike.

Shot of the Demo area from the top of our RV near the end of the day. The new venue we started using last year for the Demo is really working out well again this year.

Chris King’s booth was as classy as his parts. Their parts display case are hung with bike chains for a nice touch. Notice the CK bottom brackets display on the table in the center. I’ll have to head back there tomorrow to spend a bit more time with them.

This next one is turning into a great little tradition here at the OutDoor Demo: the fi’zi:k saddles Italian gelatto stand with vintage Italian romantic tunes playing in the background. When I stopped by after lunch for some desert, the ‘gelatista’ told me that they had already served 1,500 cups of gelatto to hot and dusty attendees so far.

Hutchinson is sponsoring toomorrow morning’s Tour de Lake with their tubelsss road wheel system. I’m hoping to snag a set to throw on the Felt for the ride. Hutchinson’s Steve Boehmke is Mr. Tubeless.

Camelbak hosted drinks throughout the day as their sign below indicated. Fat Tire Ale was was the dehydration drink of choice.

The Fat Tires’s were served under the brand spanking new Interbike pop-up. Pretty, huh? Good times, good times.

Ran into SRAM’s Michael Zellman and had him recount the crash at last year’s industry cup crit that took him out and launched his bike over 6 rows of spectators. I know he feels passionately about denying the rumor that Cipollini crashed or even caused the crash, since he was right there. Michael seems to take it as a personal mission in life to dispel that rumor so make sure never to suggest to him that Cipo may have seen the asphalt up close and personally.

In a moment that reminded me that Interbike is a face-to-face event, I had lunch with fellow bike industry social media evangelist Neil Brown of Road Magazine. I know him from the online world but never really sat down with him in person. Had a good chat and we sympathized with each other’s efforts to promote the benefits of social media at work. And then in a bizarre – yet somehow appropriate – moment, he whipped out his iPhone and Twittered about our meeting…

Just a quick post with a few photos I took at setup on Sunday. It’s brief since I’m rushing to head out to the Demo this moring for the opening.

Check Campagnolo’s company VW wagon’s license plate:

Cannondale looks to have the largest fleet of demo bikes again this year. This photo doesn’t do just to the quantity that are packing their tent.

The commuters are in attendance too. Here’s Civia:

Dahon:

Pashley from the UK:

I guess there’s something to those 29″ inch bikes. Niner’s got a monster presence:

Trek is back with a bigger booth this year:

 

 I received the complete schedule of events that Bicycle Retailer & Industry News compiles every year for Interbike. Looking over it, it always amazes me with all the awesome events, signings, giveaways and other happenings that our exhibitors put together for all the retailers that are traveling out to the show. You can see the whole list in the “2008 Schedule” link above orhere.

Here’s a few (very few) highlights to whet your appetite (if times aren’t listed, check the schedule as they may happen on more than one day):

OutDoor Demo:

• Free Gelato [served with the biggest Italian smiles] courtesy of Fi’zi:k Booth D2179. All Day, both days.
• Free massages for women demoing Giant bikes. Giant for Women tent. All Day, both days.
• Group rides with Chris Van Dine, Aaron Chase and Tinker Juarez. Cyclocross Clinic with Cross Champion Tim Johnson. 3 p.m. Day Two – Tuesday. Booth D3309.

 

Interbike:

• The Awesome Dudes Printing guys will print Interbike T-shirts off their screen press track bike, which was created as part of Fuji’s Rolling Canvas Art Collective. Fuji Booth 1825. See schedule for times.
• BMX Olympians Mike Day and Jill Kintner sign autographs in USA Cycling’s Booth 6225. See schedule for times.
• Canari Cyclewear will have two graphic designers doing free jersey design. No obligation to order. Booths 1381 and 1581. [Ed: sorely needed service in the bike club community...]
• Guess how many Dahons fit in a Toyota Prius. A Prius will be at the booth stuffed with Dahon Curve D3 bikes. Guess correctly and win a Dahon Mu XXV. Drawing will be Friday morning. Booth 3541.
• “Do You Have a Dream of Starting an Inner City Cycling Team in Your Town?” clinic at b.i.k.e. Booth L4.
• Meet Giant team riders Olympian Adam Craig and Singlespeed World Champion Carl Decker. Mountain Flyer Magazine/Secret Agent Publishing, LLC Booth 403.

Not on any schedule:

Possible very large press conference on Thursday morning. Details to come.

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