Deb: What are you drawing?
Napoleon Dynamite: A liger.
Deb: What’s a liger?
Napoleon Dynamite: It’s pretty much my favorite animal. It’s like a lion and a tiger mixed… bred for its skills in magic.

They say that this is the last year for the annual bicycle industry pilgrimage to that town in the desert.  Next year the tribe will be gathering in Anaheim.  Or will it?  This is a topic of much debate and I am not going to beat that thought around.  Especially Bicycle Industry smart guy Rick Vosper has already done all of the heavy lifting.  See what he has to say about it HERE.

Enough about the future lets talk about the past.  The past as in last week and Interbike 2010. 

The week started out in the Boulder City.  I don’t want to be disparaging to Boulder City but man what a dust bowl that event is every year.  The whole BMC crew threw down and made it happen. We were busy and I ended up with dust in places that have never known dust.

Our Corner of the Dust Bowl

Tent City to the Right



Tent City to the Left

 Finally after a day of setup and two days in the desert we were ready to head indoors to the massive expanse of concrete known as the Sands Convention Center.  But first we had to box all of the bicycles.  We chose to do it back at the hotel.  When I finally looked up from putting the umpteenth bicycle in a box I saw this.

OOOOHHHH Purdy

I went to CrossVegas and the vibe was great.  Cross season is here.  Let the beer handup’s begin.  I had a beer handup planned for Gui from Van Dessel.  I was strategically placed had the right amount of beer in the cup and never saw him again.  He flatted two laps in.  Although he was bummed to miss the beer handup I do believe that he was glad to be done.  It was fast.  Faster than my camera.

The nice thing about cross is that people can make fun of the absurdity that is people running around in skin tight shorts.

Yes those are blue sequins.  She gave me a cute little pose when she realized I was taking her picture but it didn’t turn out.

And then there was this.

Of course that is a Praying Mantis with flames shooting out of it.

The trade show kicked off indoors and my view looked alot like this for most of the show.  Luckily and positively for us we were slammed.

Thursday morning we had a small breakfast with the company brass.  Andy Rihs the owner of  BMC was on hand to talk about the direction of the company.  He is a great guy to speak with.  Very down to earth and in touch with what is happening.

Andy Rihs

George Hincapie stopped by for the breakfast as well.  He also came by the booth later to sign autographs.  The line was gihugic and kept George signing posters for an hour and a half.

George signing autographs

The business was good and it is great to know that the brand has so much buzz.  That said one of the favorite things about Interbike is seeing people that I only get  a chance to see once a year.  Even though the industry is big it seems small when you realize how many people you know in it.  It is great to see good people going far in this industry. 

I even ran into Stevil Kinevil.  He was hurting a bit the night after his big Interbike party.  You can read about his exploits HERE.  Always a good read into the underbelly of humanity.  We talked for a while and he is a good guy doing good work.  Surf around maybe buy some socks or a T.  He will be eternally grateful and maybe name his next cat after you. 



Funny that big black bar wasnt there when I took the pic but when I downloaded it there it was. No matter how I tried I couldnt get it off.

 I did see an alarming new trend starting and frankly I think we need to nip it in the bud right now.  Yes I am talking about Compression gear as outer garments.  I understand and can even buy into the benefits of compression, but the “Baggy Short and Compression Socks” phenomenon should end.  I am not alone; The fine folks at Van Dessel  noticed and had a pretty humorous take on it.  Check it out here.  http://twitter.com/Van_Dessel

Finally on Friday when most folks had enough of Vegas and parachuted back to they’re version of reality I got a chance to go see some stuff.  Earlier in the week I ran into local Philly legend L.A. transplant and bike racing stud, Woody.  Of course Woody ended up working with some great guys.  The boys over at Ritte Racing are putting out some nice bikes and doing some of the most creative marketing I’ve seen in quite awhile.  I spent a few talking with them and… Yep they are solid dudes.  Check out they’re video’s.  This ones my favorite of all year.  Hand’s Down.

Giant Squid in an Arm Bar’s????

So it was a successful Interbike. Now time to carry that momentum forward and the real work is just beginning. 

Wednesday Quote day is barrelling down fast and it may be time to talk Unicorn’s again. Either that or the merit’s of competitive crocheting?