Nov
7
I Made the Cover of BR&IN!
Filed Under Cycling, Industry News, Interbike, OutDoor Demo, Photos, Rides | 3 Comments
So this was pretty cool. We got our copies of the latest Bicycle Retailer (the first post-Interbike issue) at the end of last week and look who’s on the cover? It’s Interbike’s marketing manager hosting the Tour of Lake Mead ride at the OutDoor Demo. I’ll admit it: even though it should be old hat at this point, I still get a little excited when I’m quoted in the media. This is the photo they ended up using.
And there’s a funny story that goes along with it. Pull up a chair. Well, it won’t be that long a story.
So I hosted the Lake Mead ride this year. I made sure that my schedule would allow me to ride it this year since I missed last year’s edition. Lance here couldn’t make it this year (he was at the turn around at the lake handing out water, though) so he asked me to welcome everyone, say a few words and give out a few safety instructions about the road closures. I can handle that.
I roll down the hill to the start area and Lauren, Interbike’s Demo operations coordinator, hands me a megaphone and races off to handle other pressing tasks (no shortage of those at ODD). A police officer walks over and gives me some instructions about the roads and what they’ll be doing. We still have some time until the official start and people are still coasting down the hill from the demo area with their borrowed demo bikes, so we wait. I notice Lennard Zinn from VeloNews lined up on the front row so I roll my Masi 3VC over to him to say ‘hi’ and chat about his upcoming appearance in the Media Center and his custom long cranks (by his calculations I should be on 209’s, but that’s another post topic…).
Someone finally gives me the word that it’s time to go, so I fire up the megaphone. I don’t think that I’ve ever actually used a megaphone before and I couldn’t seem to find a button or trigger on this one. At this point everyone lined up for the ride is now looking at me. I finally figure out how to work the thing and I say my words. For the life of me I couldn’t tell you what it was I said. I sort of slip into an out-of-body mode in these un-prepared public speaking situations. Good thing it was just a group of 300 bikers - part of our extended family, right?
My monologue finished, I turn around to hand the megaphone off to someone. With my head spinning back and forth, I realize there’s no one within 15 feet of me and no one who’s there from the IB team. I must have looked dumb as my head spun back and forth around looking for someone who could help me out. Riders are starting to clip in and are getting antsy to start the ride. The nearest familiar face I see is James from Cycling.TV from the photo above. He had placed himself into the back of a station wagon to film the ride. I clumsily stumble over to him with one foot clipped in and megaphone in one hand and begin to toss it toward him.
As if that wouldn’t interrupt his cinematography duties enough, it turns out that the wriststrap is still on my wrist as I toss it and that said strap is attached to the megaphone via the battery compartment. With riders giving up on me and rolling off the line, the battery lid stays attached to my wrist as the megaphone heads toward James and his expensive camera. Unrestrained, the batteries decide to jump ship at this point and head toward the asphalt where they roll away in all directions trying to escape 300 bikers headed their way.
Confirming that they are, in fact, members of the family, riders laughed at me scrambling for batteries from the saddle of my bike (thanks, guys). James missed capturing some of the start as he caught the megaphone, but I guess he also missed catching my fumbling, so it’s all good.
The ride was awesome in the end - even though I got dropped by the lead group on descent near the start. If you haven’t seen it already, Carlton Reid of BikeBiz UK shot a video of the ride. He overlaid names of some industry people he came across on the ride so you can see us all in our natural habitat (on a bike). That’s something you don’t usually get a chance to see.
Back to the latest issue of BR&IN, I’m also in another shot inside on the photo gallery page. Here’s the shot below. Left to right, that’s me, Uwe Weissflog (our European agent), Carlton Reid and Ross Kerber of the Boston Globe with beautiful Lake Mead in the background.
I’m available for autographs at the next industry event (BLC?).
All photos were taken by Gary Newkirk.Â
Sep
18
Interbike Welcomes The Wounded Warrior Project Soldier Ride
Filed Under Attendee News, Exhibitor News, Interbike, Rides | 1 Comment
You’ve heard about them in the news, you may have seen the HBO Documentary “Alive Day Memories”, now’s your chance to meet this brace group in person and show your support.
On Thursday the 27th, the Soldier Ride High Desert Challenge Presented by U-Haul is coming to Interbike after beginning in Phoenix, Arizona the day before. The group will ride through Las Vegas to the Sands Expo Center to visit Interbike with a 4:00 pm event in Casanova room 606 in the Venetian. Please come meet and support these brave individuals who have given so much in service to their country. Selected riders will be presenting their stories as well as sharing their thoughts on their Soldier Ride experience. Bob Roll, of Tour Day France fame, will also be in attendance to support the vets.
The Wounded Warrior Project Soldier Ride is an adaptive cycling program that provides a cycling experience for servicemen and women who have been wounded in combat or seriously injured in the line of duty. WWP provides all cycling equipment and gear for the riders. In years past the soldier ride was a cross country trip but this year they are focusing on specific regions throughout the United States. The Soldier Ride also helps to raise awareness for the Wounded Warrior Project and the many programs and services provided to injured veterans.
For many of the veterans the Soldier Ride is the first Read more
Jul
24
Pedro’s Fest 2007 Report - Now More Than Ever
Filed Under Attendee News, Cycling, Industry News, Interbike, Rides | 2 Comments
A little later than I expected, but here’s my Pedro’s Fest report. I’ve been back for a week now and have been plugging away at this as I find the time, but now with the news from the Tour, I have renewed motivation. Racing is just a small part of our industry and here’s my reminder to all my industry brothers and sisters by way of describing my experiences at the 2007 Pedro’s Fest. We should all show events like this more support!
As I mentioned in my last post, Lance and I headed out to the Berkshire Mountains of Western Massachusetts to meet New England retailers and show them a little appreciation for their hard work along with our friends at Pedro’s Total Bike Care. Interbike has been at the festival in the past, but it had been maybe 5 years since the last time we were there.
The festival really has a great vibe. I’ve been to a bunch of festivals and bike events over the years, but this one just had an awesome and fun energy to it that you don’t see at most of them. Everybody, from exhibitors to attendees, really seemed to enjoy being there. Maybe it’s the lack of racing - the attitude is very relaxed and it was all about a bunch of people who love bikes hanging out for a long weekend and getting some rides in. Most attendees seemed to be camping out at the fest so the energy flowed into the night - and so did the riding, with night rides beginning at 9pm every evening.
This photo is of one of the women’s skills
classes taught by pro Alison Sydor.
The festival does an impressive job of being very family friendly and that becomes obvious with the amount of kids we saw there. We spent most of of our time at the Pedro’s tent by the trail head, and there was a constant stream of group rides going off nto the woods. They had group rides for all types of riders and skill levels that were led by pro’s and other expert instructors, but to see a group of 20, or so, 7-10 year-olds riding off into the trails behind a ride leader with parents in tow was really inspiring. They even had a “Teach your kid to Ride” class for parents. I missed that class, but managed to spend a little time chatting with the instructor, Anna, one of IMBA’s trail team crew that was there to teach the class. Lots of great tips that I can’t wait to try when I get home.
Yes, we’re in New England. A Yo Eddy!, Indy Fab
(one of MANY) and a Cannondale in attendance.
Aside from the pro-led rides, there were many other fun ‘competitions’ in the Pedro’s style: bike limbo contests. tire throwing, Dirt Rag’s Skid Mark contest and the (in)famous mud bog races. Though, with the rain a rare no-show for this year’s event, I think they had to help out the mud with a hose. Jamis brought their trials/show rider, Mike Steidley (below), who put on some impressive shows throughout the weekend.
Jamis rider Mike Steidley.
After hemming and hawing about whether to bring my riding gear, I just ended up being too busy with work leading up to the trip to decide and ended up not going prepared to ride. My heart sank a bit when Lance and I met up at the Minneapolis airport for the ever-popular Minneapolis-to-Albany flight and he had his helmet hanging off the back of his backpack. That meant that there were actual plans in place to ride. I just resigned myself to not being able to ride for a week, but Chris Zigmont, our host and head of Pedro’s, insisted that I ride and that he and his team would help me piece together everything I would would need for a ride on Saturday with “this guy Mark” who knows the roads around here pretty well. Not holding out much hope, I half-heartedly went along with it.
It turns out that the bike industry is capable of showing alot of love to one of its own as I was able to put together a complete kit from shoes, socks, gloves and shorts from Mavic-adidas, jersey from Pedro’s and bike (the sweet new Madone) and helmet from Trek. I am truly grateful to the people involved at these companies for helping me go on an awesome 40 mile ride through the Berkshires with Mark who turned out to be long time pro (and New England legend and current territory manager for Fuji Bicycles), Mark McCormack. I’ll have to do a separate post about this ride and what went into getting all my gear together. I can’t believe that I was able to have such a great ride after just “eye-balling” my position on the bike and cleats on my shoes! Many thanks to all who helped me out. I hate asking for help, so I was more than a little embarrassed by all the love I was shown.
Mark McCormack and Lance Camisasca.
I have to wrap this up to get to a meeting, but I want to close by saying thanks to the great team at Pedro’s Total Bike Care. They are all great people that love bikes and work hard together to promote their brand and their brand’s commitment to the environment. Chris and his crew really are setting the standard for their pledge to make their products and practices as environmentally friendly as possible. As a quick example, all of the (very tasty) food served at the dealer reception we both hosted was harvested or produced within 50 miles of the festival site. All of the veggies and meats were from local farms and even the soda pop (as us New Englanders call it) was from a local manufacturer and made from all-natural ingredients. Bravo, Pedro’s!
Jul
5
A Little Love for Bike Shops at Pedro’s Fest
Filed Under Attendee News, Cycling, Interbike, Rides | 1 Comment
If you work at a bike shop, Interbike would like to invite you to attend Pedro’s Fest this year and enjoy a little VIP treatment while you’re there! In partnership with our friends at Pedro’s, we want to show you shop guys and gals out there a little appreciation for all the hard work you do.
Lance (IB’s show director) and I are looking forward to heading out to Western Massachusetts (Hancock, exactly) next week (July 13-15) to hang out with our retailer friends and try to lavish a little attention on all you guys that toil away as owners, managers, wrenches or sales associates in all the great shops of the New England and the Northeast! If you want to come from farther away, by all means, come on out and enjoy the fun!
Interbike and Pedro’s will be co-hosting a reception for retailers on Saturday night of the festival at 6pm with drinks and appetizers. We’re really looking forward to hanging out with you retailers and enjoying some good music while soaking up some of the awesome New England biking scene. There’s also going to be a bike shop employee-exclusive ride on Saturday morning with a special guest ride leader. We’ll also have some great schwag from Interbike and Pedro’s to hand out.
I can’t wait to get back out Mass since I went to college there and spent a few years in Boston after graduating. Also can’t wait to see what Hancock looks like without snow and freezing rain. Last time I was there was for the Jiminy Peak road race about 9 years ago and I had to pull out after one lap in the freezing rain. It took me about 20 minutes of sitting my car with the heat on to stop shivering and that was May! The problem was, that morning down where I lived in Southern Connecticut, it was in the high 60’s so I didn’t pack enough warm clothes. I learned my lesson about Jiminy Peak that day. I think Tyler Hamilton won the pro race there that year, if my memory serves me right. The Berkshires in July should be warm and beautiful, though.
The first 50 shop employees (an their mates!) to register get in free, courtesy of Pedro’s. The next 50 get half off the regular entry free. After that, for every 5 that register from a shop, the 6th gets in free. Retailers will also enjoy express VIP check-in at the event. You’ll need the secret retailer password to register as a retailer at BikeReg.com. If you work at a shop and didn’t get one of my emails last week with the password, check to see if someone else there did get it. If not, email update(at)interbike(dot)com from your shop email address and I’ll send it to you.
Definitely come on out to the Pedro’s Festival. There’s tons of great rides to go on (XC, downhill and road) led by pro riders (including the Luna Chix with Alison Dunlap) and and there’s a great expo area with alot of great manufacturers showing off their latest gear. Trek is also sponsoring Tour de France coverage at the fest so you won’t have to miss a bit of the racing action.
After that weekend, I’m planning to head towards Boston to pay a visit to as many shops as I can get to in the area to thank them for coming out to Interbike each year - or find out why they haven’t been in a while (be nice!). Massachusetts has some awesome shops and it’s been about 6 years since I had the pleasure of being able to set foot in one of them. I spent many hours drooling over all the frames hanging on the walls at Belmont Wheelworks back in my early days of riding and racing.
I’m debating whether to lug my bike along and get in a ride or two in my old stomping grounds around Boston… I don’t have one of those cool Ritchey Breakaway bikes, and my 64cm Fuji (yes, 64) takes an XL Bike Pro case that doesn’t fit in many rental car trunks…
Anyway, it should be a great time. Stop by and say hi to us Interbike guys if you’re heading off to Pedro’s Fest.
Jun
1
An Antidote to the Dopers
Filed Under Advocacy, Racing, Rides | 4 Comments
I think the picture below really gets you feeling positive about the future of the sport following all the recent admissions that just about anyone who even thought about racing in the 90’s doped. It’s the start line of the Dana Point Grand Prix’s kids 4-7 race that happened last Saturday. Now these racers surely are clean (unless sugar is on the controlled substance list). There’s hope for the future…
That’s my daughter Sarah in the pink Giro d’Italia t-shirt in the middle. Notice the little (16″?) Mariposa road bike under the girl in the yellow jersey on the right. Pretty cool. Sarah was nervous at the start, but ended up having a blast in her first (of many, I hope) bike race. And she LOVED the cool medal and t-shirt she got as the race was a part of the Shimano Youth Series. She was so proud to wal around wearing it post-race and had to bring in to preschool for show-and-tell (remember that?). The medal has a sort XTR-look to it with the brushed metal face and the all black strap. Very nice, Shimano. Thanks for continuing to support kids’ racing.
he town of Dana Point (California) put on the race and they did a great job, too. Despite my critical last post about the course, it ended up being a very clean and smooth figure-8 loop. Since I had already psyched myself out of my return to racing after driving the course, I didn’t bring my bike to race. I was there just as support for Sarah.
Oh, and also referring back to my last post, Floyd Landis did not show up to announce the races. The organizers did, however, manage to secure the services of Dana Point native and 1984 Olympic gold-medalist (and still super strong racer) Steve Hegg as color commentator for the race.