16 September 2009

What happens in Vegas......

Mary and I have started gearing up for our first trip to Interbike next week. It is both exciting and a little nerve-racking to leave the shop for that long. We have been elbow deep in getting folks ready for 'cross season, and its been tough getting rides in. Yesterday, 5 wheelsets for the RedZone juniours team showed up that I have to glue, aquaseal, seal for the weekend. That on top of other customer's wheels, my own, and Mary's sometime soon. Whenever you are getting ready to leave for a trip, it seems that everything piles up, and it certainly has this week.

We are very excited about checking out all the latest wares, and meeting a ton of folks that we've had relationships with over the phone, or by email for years. We're also going to be Waterford Fit Kit certified after the first couple days. I'm really excited for Mary to learn a bit more about bike fitting, because she is just on the cusp of being a very good fitter. She has learned a lot in her first couple years of doing this, but this will certainly make her the most qualified woman in any shop around. I've had a great relationship with Waterford for the past few years, selling a couple frames for them, and owning Kermit(my beautiful Gunnar Crosshairs). So, it will be nice to see those folks.

The other downside to the trip, is that it forces us to miss the first 'cross race of the season. Last year, I would have been thoroughly disappointed, but this year is very different. I wanted to race as much as possible and really didn't have any "A" races. So the plan is to start a little later than everyone else, and really build all the through the season. I've been working more and more intensity into my rides, and have done some 'cross specific workouts for a few weeks, so my legs are feeling pretty "good" now. By "good" I mean that they are sore, and a little beat up. I always know when I'm starting to really pack in the intensity when the legs need a little cajoling to get moving in the morning. I am going to pack in a couple more days of hard riding, and then we'll see what Vegas does to me.

I am very excited about traveling somewhere though. Mary and I both get itchy when we stay in one spot too long, and we could really use a trip to get away from Lou-vul. So, we'll try to post up our favourite Interbike goodies, and hopefully share some good stories.