Junior's Ride

The crowds are a big part of what makes the Tour of California such a phenomenal race. Whether you're a racing fan or not, it's still cool to just be part of the spectical that is the pro tour and what the race brings to American racing. We had all types stopping by the Trek tent along the way. Everything from spoke-sniffers to bored housewives whose husbands spend more time on their bike than on their marriage (not judging, just making an observation), to grommets rocking bmx' latest trends (who says straight billed fitted baseball hats are only for rappers?), and then we had Junior stop by. Junior showed up in Santa Rosa rolling one of the sweetest Treks I have ever seen. In Levi Leipheimer's hometown you'd think that the story would be all about the big guy but nobody at the Trek booth could stop talking about Junior's tricked out MT. 220. Here's the how the interview went:

Hootie: "Sweet ride! Can I get a photo?"
Junior: "Yeah, for sure. This bike is all custom. Made it in my garage."
Hootie: "Full fenders? nice."
Junior: "Gotta keep the kicks clean, y'know."
Hootie: "No doubt. What's up with the crazy basket?"
Junior: "Crazy nothing, I can fit a 12-pack in that thing."
Hootie: "Is that the reason for the basket lock?"
Junior: "You can't leave a fresh 12'er out in the open. This is California, man."
Hootie: "I dig the skulls"
Junior: "You gotta add a personal touch."
Hootie: "Who cuts your hair?"
Junior: "That's custom too, homey."

To put Junior's accomplishment into proper perspective, keep in mind that the frame is an MT.220 - that's a kids frame. Big props to Junior for letting us talk about his bike. Obviously a lot of soul went into the project and it shows in a big way. That beefy lock draping the bars is no joke. If I could carry a 12 pack on a full custom job i'd lock it down too.

California Dreamin'

I have to apologize for my total blog-slack. I know that the 4 of you that read this on a regular basis are probably disapointed that I've been away for a week or so. I wish I could tell you that I was sleeping in a hammock somewhere working on a wicked bad burn contemplating potential blog topics in between pina coladas and games of domino but alas I was relegated to being the ringleader of the traveling circus that was Trek's expo booth at the Tour of California. If you're hip to the roadie speak, the TOC is the first major race on the pro tour and has grown into the biggest race in the US. The race is super fly with typically great weather and some serious big hitters riding. Our boy, Levi Leipheimer, won last year and was poised for the repeat. All exciting stuff if you're there to watch. If you're there to run an expo, here's your schedule:

- Wake up at 6 am and scrounge up enough free breakfast at the Quality Inn to suffice until real food can be located. Tip from the road: the waffle bar is not easy to transport in your pockets. Steal the fruit or bagels.
- 7am - 11am: Set up booth, avoid monster paper cuts from posters, fold t-shirts, complain about weather.
- 11am - 5 pm: Stand on concrete and sling t-shirts, posters and stickers, wax about carbon fiber and how awesome it is, explain to consumers that the bikes used by the team weigh very little, cost a whole bunch, and no, sorry, we're not giving them away.
- 5 pm - 7 pm: Tear down booth, pack everything into a truck, argue whether to stop for chinese or mexican, dial up directions to the next finish city on the Google Maps feature on your Blackberry while maintaining the look that you're really helping to haul bike displays back into the truck.
- 7 pm - ???: realize the drive is too long to stop for food and accept the fact that it's just another night of Taco Del Mar, drive, complain about the reception on your itrip, try to hunt down the only La Quinta in Buellton, collapse.

I would've checked in a lot sooner but the wireless internet reception in the 16' box truck between Palo Alto and Pasadena was less than stellar. The weather was tragic with cold downpour and was a constant combatant of our promotional materials and good spirits. Living in the midwest will make you hearty so the weather never really got to us, especially when the temps back at HQ were at Kelvin status. It was all good though as Levi repeated and we scored a ton of love from the Californians on our Let Levi Ride campaign. I'll explain more about that in another post. Big props to the left coast for the hospitality.

Tag Backs!

You may remember a few posts back when the cabinet by my cube (my "cubenet" if you will) was so mercilessly vandalized by a Pearl Izumi sticker. You may also recall that I declared open war upon my fellow Trekies and even claimed that no cabinets would be spared. I'm happy to report that I didn't have to drop the big one on the unassuming populace as my bloodhound-like abilities led me directly to the culprit. I discovered that under the guise of altruism our director of advocacy was the offending vandal. I am happy to report that justice has been done and the honor of my cubenet has been defended. We ordered a bunch of stickers to help with our Tour of California-exclusive "Levi in 08" campaign (Levi Leipheimer is our rider who is defending his title next week). Let's just say our target has a new candidate in mind this year. No tag backs? I think not.

Only thing is I ordered like a thousand Hello Kitty stickers for which to rain sticker pain upon my colleagues. What am I going to do with a thousand Hello Kitty stickers?

Pinocchio's Ride

Last week the North American Handmade Bicycle Show went down in Portland, OR bringing with it a host of custom creations and bicycle artists. You'll have to check the website for the lowdown but we sent several of our designers and product managers to see what was going on and they've brought back a ridiculous amount of photos of some of the greatest gears created in somebody's basement/garage/workshop over the past year. I'll try to share a few with you in the coming weeks. I'll put it this way; bicycle people tend to be the free-est of thinkers and when given a forum to display their wares they come correct.

One bike that wasn't at the show but i thought I had to share with you is this hand-crafted wooden bicycle that was created by........are you ready for this.........a 16 year old! When I was 16 I had bad acne and couldn't pass my driver's test. This kid made a working (stop and reflect upon that word) bike chain and gearing out of wood. Out of wood! That's some serious wittling. The creator's name is Marco Facciola and apparently the bike was a project that he did for school. I made some pretty sweet dioramas in my day but this kid just took school projects to a whole new level. Kinda makes the kid who made the Mancala board in wood shop look a little sick. "You made a working bicycle? Thanks a lot Marco. Want to play Mancala?" Sadly, the answer is always "no" because Mancala is boring. To Marco, my hat's off to you kid. Way to set the curve!

To all of the hardcore Mancala players who I have now offended, I apologize for nothing. While I recognize the historical significance of the game, I still think it's lame. Try Connect Four. Now, that's a game.

Starting Off On The Right Foot

It's not exactly wedding season in the midwest (High of 28 degrees today with between 7-9" of snowfall expected) so when this photo dropped into the inbox this week I felt it needed to be shared in order to increase the warm and fuzzies. It takes a special couple to be able to ride harmoniously on a tandem (which is why I don't do it) but to do it on your wedding day is taking it to a whole new level. The photo is of Erik of Owen Cyclery on his wedding day a few years back to the most tolerant woman in all of Tennessee. Love the white kicks with the dress! Heels would've been a dicey undertaking on the bike.

The bike in the photo is a Trek T900 which isn't stocked with a wicker basket but looks great with one*.  The most impressive piece on the bike is the custom made skirt protector; an invention all of the groom's doing. Now that's a gentleman.

*Martha Stewart Moment of The Day: Adding a wicker basket to your bike gives it a vintage, classical, feel and also adds to the utilitarian uses. Also, adding a dash of nutmeg to your hot cocoa will give it a nice subtle spiciness.