Tuesday and Wednesday at Interbike

Jimbo Probably Talking S**T To Someone






















Conor Telling Someone What To Buy And Why






Tuesday we awoke again to the alarm at 5a.m., and James and I ran out to O.D.D. for the day. James had some things to do for the team agenda early on, then went to help his boys at NINER BIKES to build bikes and tear down their booth, and Kenda's booth. Undoubtedly, King James handled the bulk of the work at Kenda until Jim W. arrived with the truck.
I did my politician thang for a couple of hours, having a pleasant conversation both at Hydrapak and with E.J. at Titus. Both guys were a rare exception to the rule of annoying people at trade shows, and I was pleasantly surprised by their demeanors. After a quick stop to say Hi to old CFR team rep Bob Meeker from Specialized, I made like a banana and got out of there.
Things of interet were the impressive wares at suspension house XFusion. The owner was previously employed by other major suspension brands as project developer, etc. His DH fork was innovative (travel adjust and wicked axle set-up) and very plush, and the trail fork was light and stiff. Certainly worth looking in to. Also, the Maverick Speedball adjustable-height seat post, newly revised with a thumb-lever! Super trick, and well made...I like that! Jude with Magura brakes is not only one helluva great guy, but also has come up with some incredible brake/suspension designs. I have rarely seen such devotion to customer service as I have seen from Jude.
I split around noon to take the shuttle back to the show, enjoying the ride with Michael from KHS who I used to work with at Supergo! Once there, I spent some time with James "Stellar" Keller at Sigma. He showed me the toy I have been waiting for...the new ALTITUDE enhanced HRM/Computer! None of you are cool enough to have one, so don't bother! :) The rest of my Tuesday was spent with Kenda's Matt burying ourselves in the task of polishing the rest of the trailer in the booth to a lustrous glow. We busted our asses until around 8pm, then had dinner and talked strategy for wednesday until 1:30am or so.

Wednesday was openeing day for the hall, and Jim W. was nervous as a choir boy in a preacher's convention. The crew from Asia was on the way, and Jim's heart was pounding with the unbearable pressure of a pop-corn fart. Up at dawn, we all made for the show to prepare for a HUGE day. At 10am we had the unveiling of the "legends Of The Sport" tires, with Lopes, Tomac, Carter, Hans and Tinker all under one roof for the first time ever. Press was huge, then the Santa Cruz Syndicate Team arrived! They were followed by two time NORBA National Champ and Olympic MTB Racer mary McConnelough and her Stud Mike Broderick (also a phenomenal racer, look for him to be in contention for a U.S. Olympic spot in 2008.), so you know it was busy! I took some time to walk around and work my baby-kissing, hand shaking, smile through the pain politikking for the future of the team, and was pleasantly surprised by the support from all the sponsors but one. Amazing how it's always this one all the time, but more on that later. Anyhow, Wednesday saw the arrival of Jim Roff, Bert Blanchette, and Timari Pruis. Now it's fun time!
Bert was able to meet his benefactor, Jennifer Miller at SEVEN CYCLES, and was very gracious. Bert has never been to the show, and was abe to see the equally important side of "face time" in the pro racing scene. Many a pro career has been cut short due to a lack of personality or willingness to make people see you on their radar.
Leaving late from the show again, Jim, James, Bert, Timari and I all went to T.G.I.Fridays for dinner. After more beer than body weight, BERT SAID "DOUCHE BAG!"
His complete moral destruction has begun, you can all thank me for that. Pretty soon it will be titty bars and Goldschlager, just you wait. :) As we left the hotel bar, we passed another one of the KENDA family of elite athletes, Hillary Harrison. Hillary you may recall spent last year as a "ghost" for us, racing some events under the Backbone name. She then lost her jersey in some third world country, and will never be viewed the same again. Hillary promptly lost her wallett, and received a call fom Seattle that someone found her personal belonings in a public park. Hilly's bike was in the car that these items came from, so along with losing her wallett and cash in Vegas, she apparently lost her car and bike in Washington as well. Sweet.

More tomorrow night, don't touch that dial!

C