Cranking and burning...

Today was "one of those days" packed with too much to do, too little time to do it and no chance to breathe... some people call it "Monday". (I hate that day.)



Since I have the punkin, aka Masidaughter 1.0, this week I didn't get to go on a lunch ride- because I leave early to pick her up from school. However, with the day I had, I really, really needed a ride. So, as I have done for many years, once punkin was in bed and asleep I headed outside with the rollers and the fixed gear. Thankfully, my wife really encourages me to do so... probably because she lives with me and knows what a mess I become when I'm too stressed out and don't ride.



After a solid hour of burying myself into the pedals and that smallish 46x16 gear, I now feel a little more human and a lot more sane... not to mention a few pounds lighter after sweating like an ox (I'm fairly sure my long sleeve wool jersey now weighs about 8 lbs). My legs weren't really into the whole thing for the first 10 minutes, but as they warmed up they began to feel great and eventually felt incredible. I ran out of water with about 15min to go and then ran out of music with about 10 to go... which was far more bothersome since I rely so heavily on my music to stay focused on my workout when I'm on the rollers. I held on though and pedaled through the distractions to reach that place where the pain in the legs went mostly away and the frustrations in the mind became a lot softer.

And now for the numbers... 1:00:32, 20.8av/40.3mx MPH, 21.08mi, 92av/181mx RPM, 147av/163mx HR. That max speed of 40.3 is my favorite number because I don't think I've hit that number before on the rollers on the 46x16 gearing. I've hit nearly 50 with my geared road bike on the rollers, but don't think I've hit the 40+ mark with such a small gear before tonight... which again gives me hope. (Unfortunately, my form was really terrible at that speed and I rolled off the rollers and grazed the fence... but we won't bring that up...)

Now it's time for bed so that I can hit the ground running for another truly crazy day tomorrow. But for tonight at least, I'll sleep the sleep of the truly tired... thankfully.

Tim

The sun came out today!

Today was one of those glorious SoCal winter days that people dream about- it was warm enough to wear a light jacket/ sweater with a t-shirt and maybe even shorts, if you're the shorts type. The skies were insanely blue and clear- if you looked to the east/ northeast, you could even see all the mountains capped by snow. The air was crisp and clear, as only a winter's rain can provide. In short- amazing.

You can't really tell from the photo, but there is snow on the distant hill tops

I snuck out for a 1.5hr ride today, after Ann came home from her swim at the YMCA- 6.5 months pregnant and still swimming 1500M in the pool nearly every day! I left home with legs that felt a lot like wood, but they slowly warmed up gradually and I found myself pushing my pace. The first part of the ride was largely a headwind, so I had no choice but to push... but as I warmed up, I wanted to push. The first real hill kicked my ass and the pain from the day before was lingering in the legs. As I reached the top, I forced myself to not relax and kept pushing to the stop light at the top of the hill before turning left for the second climb heading out to the Cabrillo National Monument. As is my tradition, I stopped at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery to say hello to my grandparents before motoring on to the end of Point Loma and heading back toward home. I rolled the hill pretty good and zipped through Pt. Loma and then raced back by the airport before hammering through downtown and up the hill to home- never letting the pressure off the pedals the whole way.

The air quality was incredible and clear for miles.

I didn't feel great or ride with inspired legs, but I rode happily through the stiffness and made myself feel the burn of the tired legs... because I could. I rode the scandium frame again and really relished the stiffness of the frame- it's so nice to dig way deep and feel the frame not relent at all. Carbon has a special ride to it, but I love my non-carbon bikes a lot too. It wasn't an epic ride and I only won sprints where I was beating myself... but it was a nice ride in the sun and cool winter air. Not a bad day at all.

Happiness is being on a bike... well, it's one form of happiness anyway...

This week is going to be an unholy busy mess as I prepare for a week out of the office 2/1- 2/5 in Boulder City NV again. The yearly tradition continues this year, so we'll be heading out for a demo event for one of our major retailers. It's the 3rd year for me and I look forward to it... because, rather selfishly, I get to ride every day while I am there! The roads around the Hoover Dam are not the best roads, per se, but the riding itself around the area is really a lot of fun. I am hoping that being in Boulder City will mean some good training while I am there. This week, however, is going to be pretty much the exclusive territory of roller riding at night in the driveway. After the last week I've had, it will hopefully be good leg speed work and help me regain some of my pedal stroke. Sunday, 2/7 is one of my favorite crits of the year and I am giving really serious consideration to being on the start line for the Masters 35+ race. It's 50min long- about 45-48min longer than I really want to be pegged at anaroebic threshold... but it's a great course with a short power climb to the finish. The course has always treated me well in the past, so I hope it will again. But first... this week.

I have a couple PowerPoint presentations to create, some research to do and a bunch of demo bikes to build and tune up before packing the trailer full on Thursday. It's gonna be one helluva week... so don't be surprised if I happen to get quite here on the blog for a bit. I'll be back... eventually.

Tim

Good to relax

This weekend should've been more productive, after such a crazy week last week. I was bound and determined to get a bunch of work done that I wasn't able to finish during the week. We're in the midst of several major projects with overlapping deadlines, so there is no shortage of things that can lead you to have a minor aneurysm all day, every day. I left the office just shy of 9:00PM on Friday and still had plenty of work to do over the weekend- like finishing writing the catalog copy for the new catalogs that are due to be completed any second. It wasn't like I wanted to spend the weekend working, but it was clearly becoming a necessity as I left the office on Friday night.

I woke up Saturday and my lovely bride made sure that I got myself together and out on the road for a ride and she headed off to the YMCA to go for a swim (her thing is swimming). I had a great ride with one of the local groups I irregularly train with. I won't spin a yarn of epic pitched battles and sprint won by bike lengths... but I did have a great time. My legs were "OK", but not stellar. I screwed up my positioning and timing on the main sprint of the ride, so I missed out on the bragging rights (until next weekend any way). BUT... I had fun and realized my fitness is not too terrible, though not anything spectacular.

After the ride and some lunch, Ann and I headed off to a local cafe I recently turned her on to- one that I used to spend nearly every waking hour of my life in nearly 20 years ago. With coffee in my veins and free wifi, I was convinced I'd bang out the last of the catalog copy in short order... but as is frequently the case, I was distracted by my surroundings and the fantastic weather. So, rather than get any meaningful work done, we drove t othe beach and enjoyed the rest of the sunlight and then watched a very nice sunset.

Sunday was a day to sleep in a little and then we hopped on our SoulVille bikes and headed off to ride around the neighborhood and then to the Farmer's Market to get our week's worth of fruits and vegetables. Before we knew it, it was late night and I was sitting here at the dining room table finishing the catalog copy after 11:00PM... but it got done!

(Note the lock; there is only ONE BRAND of lock I trust my bikes with- period. )

In the end, contrary to my intentions to get work done in an orderly fashion, it got put aside for the weekend so I could spend time with my wife and enjoy the weekend... and THEN I scrambled my brains to get the work done! It's not the right technique for everybody... but it worked this time for me.

Tim

Gonna need a nap...

I'm gonna need another nap after this week. My brain is totally worn out- not that it takes all that much to wear it out.

Managed to ride my bike every day this week and have been watching the diet pretty well. I'm exceptionally tired from the stress-filled week, so I am very much looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow morning a little. I would like to hop on my rollers and ride tonight, but I'm worn out enough that I might take a night off. I've ridden every day since last Saturday and rode 3 of the 4 days before that. Coming off of not riding at all for a long time, I'm a tad tired. That good tired again.

Next week will be a busy one, so I may be "off the radar" for a few days... but I'll be thinking of you, I promise.

Tim

"I'll sleep when I'm dead..."

I've been awake since 3:00AM because I fell asleep on my couch last night, when I was trying to just get a short nap before digging into a mountain of work. Ah, the glamorous side of being a Brand Manager...

I won't bore you with my usual moanings of "oh my gawd, I'm so busy". I'm trying to get away from that, since it is now the permanent status quo. But yes... I'm darned busy right now... just like many of you.

Thank you all, again, for the support regarding my recent cholesterol issues. I sincerely appreciate the support and hearing your own stories of how you are dealing with your challenges. Once I get my head more above water, I am thinking of doing a little fitness challenge or just a simple support network. I have been riding every day since the "diagnosis" and have been watching my diet. My weight has bounced around over the past week by about 2 pounds, but I am hoping to lose about 20 pounds total. With that in mind, it would be fun to start a group to encourage all of us to meet our weight or fitness goals for the year... so stay tuned for more. It may be something here or maybe a group in Facebook, not sure yet.

Anyway, just wanted to let you know I'm still here and that I haven't vanished and also that I am staying focused on my health and riding as much as I can.

Thanks again for the support and friendship... now it's back to work before I have to leave... for work.

Tim

A bit of randomness...

There are so many things crammed in my head these days as we do a lot of strategic planning for the new year and huddle to assess the economy and the possible impacts of it- good and bad. It's also time to start that catalog process again, as well as begin thinking about the Taipei trade show in March- on my birthday this year. We've also been looking at planning of the timed release of the new 2010 bikes- which will be awesome- before we've even gotten the bulk of the currently new 2009 bikes! It's insanity at its finest.

But... today, for the first time in nearly 3 months, I went for a ride during my lunch break. I've been on my road bike about 5 times in the past 3 months! Work and travel, and being daddy, have kept me off of my bike for a very long time. It's sad to say that I am well enough to ride and have not had any time or energy to actually do it. Needless to say, my fat, outta shape arse was suffering just to do a short 45 minute ride. I was breathing hard and standing to get slowly over short rises I normally spin seated over. It was humbling, but energizing. The day was beautiful and it only took a few seconds to remember why it is that I love to ride bikes. I'm SOOOOO far from being in any other kind of shape than "round", but the short, simple ride had me itching to get back into real shape so I can race again. It's just in my blood- which is no longer full of thinners, by the way- and is something I sincerely love to do. So hopefully a slower schedule will allow me the chance to get on the bike enough to be able to consider racing again by the end of the summer. It's a longshot, but it's my new goal... that and losing at least 20 pounds!

Some friends of mine and I were having a little discussion recently about messy desks, so here is my submission for review;

It's been much worse in the past, but this is pretty bad just the same. Now that the new year is upon us, it's time to roll a dumpster over to my desk and start getting rid of things. Painfully sad, but true.

One of the cooler things about my job is the people I have gotten to meet and get to know. Yesterday I got a little package from my friend Nick in San Francisco (formerly of San Diego);

I already know that I look like I swallowed a whale...

Nick is now a full-blown cross junky living in the Bay Area and racing for the cool Crossniacs team. Nick knows that I like cool t-shirts. Nick knows a cool t-shirt when he sees one. Now I have that cool t-shirt. That's cool! (Thanks Nick!)

Tomorrow is another day of trying to consolidate my power so that I can take over the free world... I mean... so we can better develop and provide you with the best bikes ever made!

Now it is time to sleep.

Tim

Back at it

Today was the first day in the office for 2009. Oddly enough, it felt no different than the last day in the office for 2008. Well, I feel a little fatter- because I am- but that's about all.

We had a series of different meetings today to get ready for many upcoming things... including the planning on the next catalog. It dawned on me during the meeting... "CRAP! I have to start writing another catalog!" A few months ago I was full of ideas for the new catalog and all kinds of ideas of what I wanted it to look like... but now that I have to start actually thinking in terms of execution, it seems that all those ideas have vanished. ARGH!

It appears that my brain is suddenly running into fatigue... on my first day back in the office for the year! 2009 might be a looooooooonnnnnggggg year!

Tim

I'm not dead yet...

I know I have been missing in action for the past few days, but I'm back in the real world and no longer on vacation. Things have been very busy since arriving here in Taichung. We've had numerous visits with vendors and have had plenty of factory trips as well. It's been very busy indeed. But I'm not dead yet and many photos have been taken that I will post soon. Until then, thanks for your patience... see you soon!



Tim

Bring it!

The past two days have seen marathon meetings (nearly 7 hrs yesterday and another 3-4 today). The meetings gave birth, in a big way, to the next, next line of Masi bikes. The bikes we just showed in Vegas haven't even arrived yet, but we have to wrap up out designs for the next year NOW to be able to get them to YOU at the right time next year. I swear, it seems like the development process gets crazier every year, but I am already very proud of the bikes we sat down and created. There will be more than a few surprises- trust me on this one- but you waon't see them for another year... and I'm not saying a thing until next year. BUT I will say this; we make the sexiest looking bikes around! I will proudly stack these bikes up against any other brand out there. They're going to be that good. I'm already proud of the bikes that haven't even arrived yet, but I've been living with them for several months now... and I've moved on.

I've said it once and I'm saying it again; we make great bikes and I love my job!

Tim

Let's get something straight...

Yep- it's busy. Super busy. WAY super busy. Interbike starts in just a few days for us- hopping in the trucks and driving to Vegas early Sunday morning and heading out to Dirt Demo. We should be there mid to late afternoon again so we can set up for Demo and then head back into the city for the show on Tuesday night. Needless to say, as is always the case with Interbike, we're scrambling to get things done in time for the show and to make the booth as sexy as possible. If you're attending Dirt Demo this year, make sure you stop by our Demo booth; I'm bringing a pretty big fleet of bikes to the event this year. 3VC 105, Speciale 105, Speciale Fixed, SoulVille 3spd Mixte, SoulVille SS, Vincere and two new models that I'll leave as a little "secret" until then. All together, it's about 39 bikes. So come ride some beautiful new bikes... somebody should, since I might not be able to.

After losing my phone in Montreal, I had to buy a new phone... but I had to pay full retail since I had just renewed my contract this summer and do not qualify for any discounted upgrades. My "old" phone (3.5 months) was slightly less expensive at full price than either a Blackberry or iPhone... so I got the iPhone. I won't wax poetic about it; I like the phone so far and it is easy to geek out on the technology in the little thing, but I'm personally averse to the iHype that goes along with it. Last time I checked, Steve Jobs hasn't cured cancer, nor has he stopped world hunger or war... so he's just a terribly smart man who has created one of the slickest technology brands ever... but he's no messiah. There... I'm done. That said, one of the main reasons I got the phone is to finally be able to use Social Media on the go. Quick blog posts whenever I feel like it. Uploading photos when I am away from my laptop. It's a great tool for those things and I look forward to seeing just how well it works. BUT... all the pictures I had on the old phone are now gone for good. I can't tell you how much that hurts.

Speaking of hurting... this is my current nighttime companion;

It's supposed to help straighten out my right arm, since I am still unable to straighten it completely. The device has an adjustable spring tension that forces the arm to try and straighten while I sleep... if I sleep. Some nights the brace feels fine and I sleep normally and other nights I sleep poorly until I rip the thing off of my arm. It's pretty medieval looking and seems like something that would've been used during the Spanish Inquisition.

Another member of the pain family is this little white piece of something- possibly shredded thumb nail or sliver of paint from the velodrome boards- that I pulled out of my thumbnail bed this evening.


I first saw this ?? when I lost the old thumbnail. It was just a tiny spec of black in the middle of the fleshy red of my thumbnail bed. Tonight, during my nightly cleaning of the finger, I decided to see if I could grip it with my tweezers- just to see if it was attached or was simply a splinter. Again, all I could see was a tiny spec the size of the tip of a needle. Whatever it is, it's paper thin, but about 4 x 8mm possibly... so when I drug the piece out of my nail bed, it was a bit "surprising" to say the least. AND the finger bled like crazy for a few minutes. It was a bit more than I bargained for, but the bleeding stopped and I'm typing again.

The next few days are seriously chaotic as we put the final touches on many, many things before the show. Posting is likely to suffer until I get to Vegas... but with the iPhone, maybe posting won't drop off at all... you just never know. And with the iPhone during the show, there is no telling who and what I might be able to snap a quick pic of...

Stay tuned people.

Tim

It's like dejavu all over again...

Busy. Still.

Leaving for Montreal on Saturday for the Canadian industry tradeshow. Eurobike is this week, but I'm not there... obviously. Looking forward to being back in Montreal- it's been two years since I was there and it is one of my favorite cities I've visited so far. Can't decide if I should take a geared bike or my Speciale Fixed. Have considered taking one of my carbon bikes, but It might be nice to reign myself in and just take the Fixed and stay off the Mont this trip (though the view is unreal). The view along the St. Lawrence river is incredible too and the bike path that runs along the river meanders for many miles without a single stoplight and barely anybody else to contend with. It's pretty much heaven.

Interbike will be directly on the heels of Montreal and somewhere in the middle of all of that, we have to finalize what we're doing for our Spring release bikes (mostly color changes for a few models and a tiny few "enhancements").

Yeah, I know- broken record.

The things we do to keep making more and better bikes for you... you folks are a tough crowd!

Tim

The fun never stops...

Sitting here in the near-dark trying to select new colors for bikes that will get color updates in the Spring of next year and also trying to get my head around exactly what new models will be introduced in Spring as well. You folks haven't even seen the new Fall bikes and I'm already on my way to Spring and Fall of next year.

For the record; the tiny paint samples in the color books are hard enough to look at in good lighting and in the crappy lighting of my apartment are nearly impossible. Spring bikes might have a few color surprises... to say the least!

Tim

Friday leads to Saturday leads to Sunday leads to Canada...

This week, like many of the recent ones before it, was busy and hectic and nutty. The highlight was having my daughter with me for the week- though that sorta goes without saying.

I did manage to ride my trainer 3 times this week and I feel pretty good about that. The muscles seem to be fine in my legs and my right knee is almost totally pain-free. The right shoulder and arm are both giving me a few issues- the arm still doesn't straighten fully and the tricep muscle is terribly weak. The shoulder might have a rotator cuff issue, so I am watching it closely. But all told, I am able to ride well enough- though I feel incredibly rusty. I rode my rollers one night this week, on my fixed, and the small drums were kicking my butt!

This week was filled with all kinds of surprises as well. I spoke to a few different magazines and have also been contacted about potentially supplying bikes for a movie that is going to be filmed soon- no details I can share yet, but I will when I can... of course.

We're getting really close to that time of year when things really do just explode in a frenzy of activity and travel. Sunday morning I jump on a plane for Vancouver Canada and will return late Wednesday night. I'll be in Vancouver to support our Canadian distributor (NORCO) during their national sales meeting. We (the folks from Haro/ Masi) present on Monday. On Tuesday, I'll be traveling to see a handful of retailers in the Vancouver area... and I'll riding my bike between shops with Paul Burnett from NORCO, as he handles the Haro/ Masi bikes there. I am sincerely looking forward to it. I'll also be visiting with Mia and the women at Momentum Magazine on Tuesday evening. I'm looking forward to this trip for many reasons, but mostly because it means getting back to the life that has been put on "pause" for the past 3.5 months.

The new Fall '08/'09 catalog looks so damed good! I just love the thing. Of course, after printing it, the mistakes were found. I have a short bit of copy for each model and the copy for last year's Gran Corsa ended up in the space for this year's Alare. The other mistakes are all very small and hardly noticeable... but I know they are there. Still, the final product is the best catalog we've done for the brand and I'm very proud of it and look forward to your response to it.

Ok... I'm getting cross-eyed now, so I'm gonna go to sleep. Vancouver is coming up fast.

Tim

Busy...

Super busy...

Tim

Random bits and Tour stuff...

Sorry I've been gone the past few days, but I've had lots of decent excuses. It's been a busy week... even busier than all the other busy weeks I've been complaining about.

Monday was a big day for me; the PIN came out of the right thumb! It's out and the bone looks good and like it is healing well. Today I had my first session of physical therapy specifically for the thumb and the elbow. Things are looking better, little by little. I am now 100% hardware free and it feels pretty good. I was supposed to have an MRI on the right knee tonight as well, but somebody apparently didn't tell the MRI office and I ended up wasting my time waiting for an appointment that wasn't.

The tools of medieval torture... and pin removal.

Nervousness kicking in...

UGH... that's an ugly image, but the bone looks good.

Pin free- yep, that's a hole in the end of my thumb!

That's a big pin!

The Tour de France continues. Another rider has been tossed out of the race for a "non-negative" test result. The teams of the ProTour have decided to leave the ProTour and will not be renewing their ProTour licenses with the UCI next year. ASO is now worked up in a lather over their self-importance. The doping lab behind the tests this year is the same lab (AFLD) that mishandled the Floyd Landis tests and was chastised by the CAS for their shoddy procedural record. L'Equippe has been instantly leaked the results of the failed tests seconds after the tests are done and before the teams even know. The power-brokers of the sport continue to make cycling look like a minor three-ring circus- the kind that drives around in a beat-up old van with fake wood panel sides and 4 bald tires. It's a farce. Maybe the teams pulling out of the ProTour will for the UCI to try to work better with all the other parties involved. ASO needs to grow up as well before they help to kill the sport for good. The dopes in the sport need to be driven out on a rail and never allowed to return. I really like guys like David Millar and others who have seamlessly returned to racing, but being able to return to the sport means there is less strength behind enforcement of the rules- which ever rules we end up trying to defend and enforce. This has been a great race so far and I am really excited to Evans in yellow, as he is a great bloke by all accounts, even if he doesn't like the press very much. All of the drama surrounding the race is sucking the joy out of the experience for me. Once again, it is the circus and the dopers that are grabbing headlines and not the riders on their bikes. It's another year of having to defend cycling to my non-cycling friends and family. To say it makes me angry is an understatement. I look forward to the day when we simply talk about the riders and their bikes... that'll be a great moment.

An old friend and former co-worker of mine, John Holderness, is the man behind a cool new cycling social media site called CyclingNutz.com. I'm a cyclist and a social media geek... so I took a look through the site and it's pretty damned cool, so I suggest you give it a look. Adding to the Six Degrees of Masiguy, the photos scrolling through the header are by one of my former Excel Sports Boulder teammates- Mark Johnson/ Ironstring. Join me in welcoming John's site to the family (and in singing a verse of "It's a Small World After All..."). Seriously, go check it out... it's cool... I promise.

Speaking of cool and speaking of speaking... the latest Spokesmen Podcast is up and ready for your listening enthrallment.

The new Masi Fall 08/09 catalog is now done! All the hard work has paid off the create what I can unequivocally say is our best catalog to date. It's a beautiful catalog, the bikes look great, the photography is excellent... the only weak link is the copy I wrote. But the bikes are pretty.

Next week is out National Sales Meeting, so I'll be in and out of the online world again/ as usual. Posting might be sparse again... ok... WILL be sparse again. But I promise I'll get pictures and I'll do my best to post and get more Tour coverage for you too.

Ok... my eyes are crossing, so I'm heading to bed.

Tim

Coming up for air...

Today was another busy day- of course.

Finished the editing of the catalog copy. Worked with the Graphic Department on setting up the pagination layout and photo needs. Nearly finished the short "bullet spec" that goes with each model.

Had a late day meeting with our important visitors. Originally, the plan was to give my presentation, along with my other Brand Management cohorts, tomorrow. Plans got changed, so we each presented our brands and had our brand discussions. I went last at 3:30- I was lucky to get my sister to pick up the Masidaughter from Y-camp, so I didn't have to worry about the time. The presentation seemed to go well enough and I am looking forward to a likely increase in some budgets. One thing you can definitely expect to see coming from the Masiguy Global Domination HQ- more video. I'm going to get a Flip video camera in the coming days and begin a very informal, but informative, video program. Look to see product highlights, product spotlights, sneak peeks and other cool features in the near future.

That said, I'm whooped and ready for bed... so I'm heading off to sleep.

But first things first; I want to congratulate my good friend Tim Grahl and his wife Candace on the birth of their second son- Max. Max' older brother Conner will be keeping him company and showing him the tricks of the trail in no time. Congratulations Grahls!

Ok... now sleep.

Tim

What a week... ugh...

This first week back in the office was great, but also very taxing/ tiring. I don't really fear that I did too much too soon, but 6 weeks of doing nothing really weakens you to doing anything. Yesterday, with the frequent trips up and down the stairs really took a lot out of me. I slept really well and didn't wake up until around 10:00 today... and it was only because of the crazy heat we're having here now.

The week was good for me though- it was great to be back in the office among my other family. But at the same time, after 6 weeks of being out of the office, I felt a lot more like a stranger in my own home. Being unable to "be me" still, things just feel incredibly foreign and different. I know it has a lot to do with just being physically out of the office for so long and I know it'll get better soon enough... but it still felt weird. That said, I'm still happy to be back.

My main goal for the week was to finish writing all of my catalog copy... and I didn't... and I'm still struggling with it now. It has to be finished before Monday though, so I've got some writing still to do. The bike photo shoot yesterday was a great though- it felt great to get to see all the work we have done come together. A bike lives in your head for a long time before you get to see it as an actual bike. That day that all the parts go together correctly and the bike is built is a really great day. Seeing the paint shine and the graphics sparkling under the clearcoat... really hard to describe how great that feels.

Well... I really just wanted to check in and say hello before throwing myself back into trying to finish the catalog copy. So... hello... and now, good bye.

Tim

HI!

Sales Meeting is done! I'm still here. Lots to talk about... when I catch my breath again.

I'll be back tomorrow with a meatier post, complete with pictures, so just hang on a little longer.

You KNOW I love you all and will be back. Promise.

Tim

Not dead, just busy...

Sorry for the drop in posts and podcasts and vidcasts... it's been a very hectic December/ January time period. Lots happening. Finally finished the copy for the Spring '08 catalog that will be done and printed in March. Just going over the final tweaks of spec information and assessing the last photo needs. All of the Spring sample bikes are done and in our hot little hands. My Product Manager, Wayne Doran, scrambled and managed to get the samples delivered to us and built... so at least we'll have pretty pictures of pretty bikes in the catalog. Also have to work up a PowerPoint presentation for a very important retailer training camp next week out in Boulder City NV... but the good news is that I get 4 days of riding in warm, dry weather in Nevada. Bonus!

Tomorrow is Thursday and already this week is a total blur. Hard to believe I came off of a 4 day weekend because I'm already wiped out... though that could have something to do with the cold I'm still fighting off. Hopefully I can get healthy by Sunday, as one of my all-time favorite crits is this weekend. I don't think I've ever finished out of the top 10 on this course and I've won once and been on the podium a few times, so I have a soft spot for this course. If my head clears up from this cold enough (and I can get my sister or mother to watch my daughter for a couple hours), I'm gonna try to get in the race and mix things up. The last time I did the race was two years ago- and it was won by '84 Olympic gold medalist Steve Hegg. I was 8th that day and I would argue that I have better legs this year. So we'll see.

Ok, I have a lot of work to do tomorrow and need to get a little sleep... so good night folks!

Tim

Leaving again soon...

Saturday morning, before the sun comes up, I'll be driving to the airport for my 4th trip to Taiwan in the past 12 months. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining at all because I enjoy Taiwan. It's just amazing to think about the amount of traveling that I have been doing lately. I'll be back in Taiwan again in March too and probably again after that during this calendar year. Honestly, I could easily see being over there for a week every other month. Scary.

I'm going to try and get some good video while I am over in Taichung and try to do a few podcasts as well. The internet service at the hotel is sometimes a bit sketchy, so I may or may not be able to get the podcasts or videos to upload- it can sometimes take several minutes to just upload a single photo to the blog. Still, I'm going to give it a try and see what happens. Float your requests to me now and I will try to cover them. I'll try to get some video of some of the factory stuff, if they'll let me- not everybody wants you filming their factory operations. That said, I'll still try... anything for you, my faithful readers/ listeners/ viewers.

We're flying in to Taipei, as always, but we are skipping the usual 2 hour drive to Taichung in favor of taking the recently completed high speed train. The drive is normally 2 hours, but the train ride is less than an hour! I'm very excited, as I've never ridden a high speed train before. Should be cool- I'll try to get video and maybe even record some audio for the podcast. We'll have to see...

On an unrelated topic, my legs felt much better today than I thought they would. After the climbing I did yesterday, I assumed my legs would feel like wood today. However, they did not! I did my customary ride at lunch today and my legs felt far better than I expected. They didn't feel great, but they didn't feel like I had ridden as hard as I did yesterday either. That hopefully means good things for this new race season. I want to win some races this year!

That's all I've got for today... but I'll have more tomorrow and maybe even another episode of the podcast too. So stay tuned...

Tim