So - our 3rd morning waking up to the rising outside our 23rd floor window. We face due east and the sight of the dawn over the low hills east of town is a mighty purty sight! #rd day here but the first day of the actual show.......so we ate an enormous breakfast (in an effort to stay clear of the 7 dollar greaseburgers or 10 dollar tiny salads @ the Sands Expo Center) and headed across the street to the Big Show.
Big it was - it sure doesn't seem any different than the past 15 years or so - a virtual city of bike stuff, bike folks, bike dreams..........it's hard to find a way to express what a e-nor-mous gathering of people and stuff this whole deal is!
So - what cool stuff did I see, you ask? Well....there was some to be sure. Rolf has new wheels, Twin 6 has a buncha new jersey designs, most of which I like so much that it's gonna be hard to pick what to stock, Co-Mo's tandems are lookin' good, I still really like the Salsa 29ers, Giro has a new helmet that weighs 200 grams (about 7 oz!) and the flat-out, #1 lust-inducing-make-ya-wanna-howl-at-the-moon gorgeous bike was a simple RetroTec roadie featuring a 3 speed Sturmey Archer fixed gear set up! Dang was it sweet!
After the show closed fo rthe day we rushed back here, unloaded and headed back to the Expo Center to catch the Lazer bus to the 'Cross race. I guess they don't have a lotta big helmet dealers if our lil' shop qualifies for the type of royal treatment we got tonight! We sat on the open upper deck of a funky old double decker bus, eating pizza and enjoying frosty adult beverages. (Most of us, anyway). In my most notable brush w/ fame (or infamy, perhaps) I helped Tyler Hamilton find his missing I-Phone and received an as-far-as-I-could-tell-non-chemically-inhanced fist bump in return. (Oh boy!)
The race was a massive hoot - Euro-dogs and US Pros tangled head-to-head amidst the clamor of cowbells, 2 announcers that sounded like frustrated "radio personalities" and even a white jump-suited "Elvis" performing the National Anthem! ( He even said "Uhh thank yew verra much" afterwards!) Katie Compton slayed all in the Women's Elite Race and Cannondale guy Jamie Driscoll made an early 2-up break stick to surprise the monster field of studs from both sides of the Atlantic. Then back on the bus..........which wouldn't start. We sat there for 3040 minutes, having fun @ our own (okay - and the driver's) expense. It was a beautiful night and no one seemed to be in to big of a hurry to get back to the Strip but eventually the driver gave up on his bus and we abandoned ship for other buses, taxis, etc. (Tyler did not offer us seats in his cab it must be said. Short memory!
Tomorrow I have a buncha appointments - Terry, Endura, Electra, QBP (home of Salsa, Surly and a bazillion other brands we carry) & at least one more that escapes my weary brain @ the moment. Then it's the Cervelo party, the airport, a red-eye flight and then.........back at the shop!
See you there!
MC
By the way - lime green is the new white! You read it here first!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment