Ah, the love...

Got a call from somebody I have a ton of respect for, Chris Distefano- the former PR Guy/ Mouthpiece for Shimano America. He called just to say he liked the blog and was enjoying reading it. Wow! Absolutely made my day because I really respect the work he did with Shimano. For years Chris was THE VOICE of Shimano. If you saw a press release or read a quote from somebody at Shimano it was nearly always Chris. On top of it, the guy is just cool. I spoke with him at Interbike this past year after he left Shimano to pursue something new and he was just as cool as ever. We had met very briefly a few years prior and he remembered me like it was just the day before. Sounds corny, I know, but this industry has a revolving door of people going from company to company and you meet some really cool people and some not so cool people. He's one of the cool ones in my opinion. Honestly, the people you meet and get to befriend are one of the major reasons I have worked so hard to stay in this business. The bikes are cool of course. Meeting star riders is totally cool too. It's the people you get to hang out with at events or trade shows, or send occasional emails to that really seal the deal. So Chris, I know you'll be reading this, thanks for the call today.

In regards to an inquiry placed here on the blog; the 2005 website is under construction and will hopefully be done very soon. Images and product information will be up soon... I promise. In the meantime, if you need information on the '05 line, I can certainly supply it to you.

Tim