Why isn't it Friday yet?

This is one of "those weeks". Been super busy all week; catalog pressures are still high- working on final edit of the copy I finished writing Sunday night, have important meetings tomorrow and Friday with our most important VIP's, been dealing with doctors and insurance and I have Masidaughter this week (though that's a highlight).

The catalog copy needs a final edit and then is done. After this hectic week, I'll also write the short bullets of spec highlights that accompany the photos of each bike model. I also have to work with my Product Manager and the creative folks to lay out the way I want the spec pages to read. All of the bikes have been photographed though and that is a big deal.

Our VIP's are here this week, for meetings that start Thursday. It's always a stressful time because it;s just always stressful when you go over all those budget things and talk about financial performance over the past fiscal year, etc. I am NOT a number person- anybody who knows me can vouch for that- so this stuff is painful for me. However, after the number part of things, I get to cut loose and talk about my goals and vision for the brand and what I hope we can attempt to accomplish in the coming fiscal year. It's a stressful presentation, but I love what I do and the product that will either keep me employed or get me fired, so I get pretty worked up in the meetings.

Got my blood drawn yesterday and my INR values are finally where they want them to be, so I actually don't need to see them for another blood test for 4 weeks! Woohoo! I'm happy about that. But I also find out that my referral information and other things have been getting mailed to an address I haven't lived in for 14 years. Also found out my neck x-rays didn't get ordered. Had to cancel my follow-up appointment with my neurologist because of the x-rays. But now I'm getting the x-rays next week. My crutches are bruising the hell out of me and are making me very cranky. Plus tonight, cleaning and re-dressing the Bionic Thumb, I moved the pin again... and nearly barfed and then passed out. I managed not to... but it was close, especially after watching it bubble like crazy when I poured hydrogen peroxide on it. Ugh...

The doodlebug is with me this week, which certainly improves my outlook on life, but it does add an extra layer of stress in my current condition. She's on summer vacation, so this week she is going to camp at the YMCA. It's swimming camp, so she's in heaven because she loves to be in the water. It just means very busy mornings getting her and I both ready for work and then that mad dash out the door. But... at night she is like a tranquilizer and I can feel a lot of stress just falling away.

Ok, tomorrow is another big day so I'm off to bed. Wish you all well.

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

Back to work...

Back in the office today. Back to working and trying to get a new catalog written. Fortunately, I get to recycle most of the Fall catalog in this new Spring catalog. But with all the new models I'm adding, I have to write a bunch of new copy anyway. I'm rewriting or tweaking a few other things as well. I think I have the pagination worked out, so the "flow" of the catalog is largely ready and done... I just have to finish writing the darned thing and then work with our Creative Director, Pete Demos, to get photos taken. Lots of work ahead... for sure.

I admit that I had a hard time focusing after being out for the past 5 days. It was hard to concentrate and the day seemed to go by very slowly. I think the ride yesterday- my first century in a couple years- just left me feeling a little loopy too. I was ready for a nap by noon! My legs were dead and heavy and getting up or sitting down was frequently accompanied by a grunt or groan. However, I went for my hour lunch ride today and the legs did loosen up a bit and actually feel much better now than they did this morning. That's a good thing. Hoping/ planning to ride this weekend and then there is a big ride on New Year's day that climbs a local mountain that I hope to do as well. But I think I'll be on my SRAM bike since it has an 11x26 cogset instead of my 11x23 on my Campy or Shimano bikes (I know, I know... I'm spoiled.)

Speaking of spoiled, I have been meaning to send a special thanks to my good friend Daniel at Shimano. My older Shimano carbon sole shoes were damaged by my Thanksgiving crash- I wore a nice big hole through the carbon sole. Daniel helped me into a new pair of the new SH-R220 shoes. These are the second tier pro shoes with heat moldable insole and upper. Not only do they look pimped-out hot, but they are incredibly comfortable. I LOVE THEM and highly recommend them. In fact, the Shimano shoes and pedals both get the Masiguy Two Thumbs Up Seal of Approval. All of my road and track bikes use the Shimano SPD-SL pedals and all of my road shoes are Shimano as well... even on my SRAM and Campy bikes. Come to think of it, my mountain bike uses Shimano SPD, my cross bike uses Shimano SPD and my new concept flat bar bike has a new set of XTR pedals. I even have Shimano mountain shoes and a bithin' new pair of Shimano "commuter" shoes (thank you Chad for those). Yes, I'm spoiled... I know it.

Further speaking of spoiled (as in you folks)... I'm working on a Masiguy podcast that I hope to have set up and the first episode posted by the end of this week or early next week. Ideally I will be able to post a few episodes while in Taiwan the 5th -12th. Keep your eyes peeled for details here. I am working on creating a new blog to support the podcast, but the podcast itself is supposed to be called The Masiguy Podcast... for lack of a more creative title. I thought of using the title I've been planning to use for a book I have been intending to write for the past 17 years- The Bald Man Speaks... but that would just be confusing. More details will follow in the coming days, so stay tuned. It'll be a very low budget production for a while, as I work out the kinks, but it will hopefully launch soon!

Ok, time to shut down and relax.

Tim

One step down...

So this week I finished my color selections for the Fall 2008 range of bikes (including some new bikes you're gonna love). Now I am in the midst of writing new copy for the Spring 2008 catalog- mostly a revamp of the existing Fall 2007/Winter 08 catalog. The new Fall '07 website is almost ready to unveil as well. Soon you'll be able to see all the lovely images of the Fall '07 bikes and then we'll be getting ready to plug in the new Spring '08 bikes in just a few more months. Oy... I'm getting dizzy now.

Lots of good development has been going on and I am really excited about the bikes that are coming in Spring and those coming on their heels in Fall. It's a pretty exciting time to be a bike nerd... I promise. If you are one of the many folks who like the steel bikes we're doing at the moment, then you'll be pretty happy with what is coming.

Christmas is just a few days away and I'm looking forward to some quality time with my kids. I'll get a chance to ride a little as well, which is good because I hop back on a plane and head back over to Taiwan in the first week of January... so building a little base fitness before losing another week of training will be good. But this time, I swear, I'm gonna try to fight my jetlag and actually go to the "fitness center" at the hotel. No really... I mean it this time.

So much going on and so many things to update you on and post about. I'll get caught up soon and will get back on schedule... I hope. Thanks for your patience- in advance.

Tim

What a week...

I'm glad tomorrow is Friday. It's been a long week- on lots of levels. I'm glad to get this one into the "done" pile, for sure.

Almost done picking the new colors for the Fall '08 bikes. Just a few more to go and I am done! All I'm gonna say is that if you like what the line looks like now, you're gonna love where it is headed... you can take that to the bank.

Heading to Los Angeles for the weekend. Gonna go spend the weekend with my best friend, the dreaded Blue Squirrel, riding and riding and riding and riding... and then riding. It's our super double secret training camp. It's only two days, but it's intense... I could tell you more, but then I'd have to track you down and kill you. No bags of blood and no syringes, just lots of riding (and lots of me whining about not being a climber) and "dude time". There might be a beer in there somewhere- after all, one of our team sponsors is Peroni.

I took the night off from going to the gym, but the previous two nights I put in very hard work with the weights and nearly hobbled myself, but managed to avoid injury. Today, though they felt a lot like the steel plates I was lifting the night before, my legs felt really good on the bike. They felt heavy, and stiff, and lacking any kind of "snap", but the power felt great. As much as I hate weightlifting, my legs have always responded well to weights. Hopefully this means that I can fight the negative effects of all the travel and loss of training time and still manage to find racing fitness for next season. I want to get some podium time this next season, so I'm trying my best to actually "train" this winter. Hopefully that means that I can get my former racing fitness back and get back to the front of the field.

So, since I'll be away from home for the weekend, there may not be any posting here for a few days... but don't worry, I'll be back... and I'll be thinking of you while I'm gone. I promise.

Tim

My mind is spinning!

It's a nutty time to be in the bike business these days... at least it is for me and my cohorts at Masi/ Haro...

Most of you have not even seen the newest bikes we have produced and many models have not even been shipped to us yet. However, my product manager (Wayne Doran) and I have already wrapped up all of the Spring '08 bikes and now I am working on creating that new catalog (and it seems like the ink is still wet on the current one). Now I have to wrap up selecting new colors and finish spec (like within the next week or so) for all of the new Fall '08 bikes. No wonder I always feel dizzy and disoriented (I thought it was all the hits to the head I've taken...)

I leave in a couple weeks, January 5th, for the next trip to Taiwan. I also made the decision today that I'll be back in Taiwan for the Taipei show in March... which means I'll either be in Taiwan for my birthday (March 18th) or on a flight back, most likely. I'm going to Taipei, rather than returning to Germany for Eurobike. As amazing as that show is and as much I really want to be there, I am still unable to sell into Europe. That means that my trip to Germany is solely as a spectator doing research. Now, it was worth going this year, but if I am only going to do research and find ideas/ inspiration, then I think I should go to Italy next year instead and keep going to different markets. Plus, our distributor in Canada (Norco) is having some good success with our newest bikes and it makes much more sense for me to travel to Montreal again and go back to the Canadian version of Interbike- Expo Cycle. Besides, I really do love Montreal and was sad that I didn't go this year. Norco is a great company and they have been very good for Masi in Canada, so I really want to return to Montreal and help them as much as I can with the brand there. Since the dates for Eurobike and Expo Cycle are so close, I had to make the painful choice to return to Montreal (but I'm taking my bike again and riding up the Mont and along the river once more).

Oy, I'm feeling jetlagged and dizzy just thinking about it all... I gotta go lay down.

Tim

Back from The Otter...

I'm back from The Otter.

Unearthing myself from hundreds of emails, etc.

Will post lots of pictures and stories very soon- promise.


Tim

More stuff

Finally getting more accustomed to being home and the time difference- slightly less jetlagged at this point. Lots has been going on, all over the world and at home, so there is just so much to try and catch up on.

Taiwan was great, again. Going to Taipei and seeing cool stuff and cool people was awesome. As a bike nerd, I live for that stuff.

Keirin beer... how could I possibly pass that up?

The happy Haro family, heading off to dinner at the Velo/ Wellgo party the night before the opening of the tradeshow. (They're flipping me off because I wouldn't stop taking pictures all day...)

Jill Hamilton and I with the incomparable and really wonderful Stella Yu of Velo. She's an icon in the Taiwan bike industry and a true force to be reckoned with- as well as a damned nice person.

You can't go to Taipei without seeing the Taipei 101- world's largest building at 504M high with the world's fastest elevator (600M a minute). It's an amazing building... truly.

I saw this frame and fell in love with it. It's all aluminum, but I might have to find a way to work something like this into the line. I mean, the tube shapes and curves were amazing- and the thing was very, very light. With Masi geometry and sizing, it would be mighty cool.

I know I've been skimpy on development news. So I thought I'd let one of the many cats out of the bag, just to get you all salivating and begging for more...

So meet the new Speciale CX!


It's steel and it's real! Flat crown lugged fork with lugged dropouts. Full chromoly frame. It will be a complete bike, aimed at crossers, commuters, light-touring riders and anybody looking for a sweet steel bike with gears and the ability to mount fenders, fat tires and looking for a great ride. Pricing is TBD, as is final spec, but the target is to keep it at $1,000 or less- if at all possible. It might go a little over that, but not by much... I hope. This will be a late summer intro, or maybe even sooner. As I've said before, we are trying to get away from model years for bikes and simply produce bikes and deliver them to the market when they are ready, rather than waiting for a big product release at one or two points during the year. I mean, why wait to unleash a bad ass bike on the world? (Oh, the lighting in the office does not do the metallic burgundy color justice at all.) I know... I'm a genius.

The seat tube decal was placed a little high on this first run sample, but it is otherwise what we will be planning to ship to shops. A few things may get tweaked, but what you see here is mighty close to what will be sitting on shop floors in the near future. Yes, I love me too.

Ok, I'm going to bed.

Tim
(PS- A special "get better" wish for the Masibestfriend, Blue Squirrel. The Squirrel crashed during a race over the weekend and broke his collar bone... again. Good news is that the Masi was unhurt- I knew you would be concerned. Get well brother!)

Some of the reasons why my head hurts.

The blogging has been taking a hit around here for a long time (too long really). Between health, travel and other issues, it has been really difficult to get back into a rhythm. It hasn't been a conscious decision, just a matter of division of labor.

There are a lot of different issues that have been consuming my time (some that I won't cover here), but one of the biggest right now is wrapping up all of the bikes for the next series of product. For the record- I am very, very excited about these bikes and the new models that will be coming out. Ooh, wait... did I say new models? Forget I said that. No... really. There are some really, really cool things on the horizon and I am really confident that you will be really happy with these bikes. I feel pretty confident about that statement, given the success of the new models introduced recently like the Speciale Fixed, Coltello, Coltello Aero and CXR. Things are only getting better... trust me on this.

The thing is, all of these new bikes (I didn't say that), require a lot of work to create. From the very mundane detail of selecting a color to the much more rigorous task of determining the target retail price and the needed parts/ features. It's such a difficult process, for a new product or product category, but it is also very rewarding. Let me tell you, working on the models listed above was a labor of love, but when the bikes showed up and they started selling... my heart skipped a few beats. The bikes I'm working on now are every bit as exciting to me and I am pretty sure that you will like them too. I'm pretty lucky to be working with my new Product Manager, Wayne Doran- you may remember Wayne as our former QC Manager. Now he's a full time nuts-n-bolts guy and works with me to make Masi the coolest road brand around.

Here you see Wayne inspecting the structural integrity of a Taiwan beer pyramid. He's very detail oriented.

The point is, it really is a huge process, even for a very small company like Masi, to bring a bike to market. Again though, it's worth every single moment spent sweating the details. Especially when the feedback starts rolling in and folks utter those first "wow" comments.

On top of all the product stuff, lots of travel is on the horizon. Just got back from Taiwan at the end of January and now I am heading to Washington DC for the National Bike Summit next week and then it is back to Taiwan for the Taipei Cycle Show and then Sea Otter in April... so it's a busy time. The travel is great fun, but also a lot of work. Sure, I get to do what I love doing for a living... but I also have to do the run around stuff and spend a lot of time away from home and the office. When I'm gone, especially when there is such a time difference, work gets done at a much slower pace. Since I have a lot of work to do... that kind of becomes an issue. However, I'm not complaining because I realize that I am lucky to have a job I enjoy so much. I know there are a lot of people waiting for me to get fired so they can take over when I am gone (give up already).

Ok, my eyes are crossing because I am really tired, so I'm going to bed.

Here are a few bonus items for this evening:
1) Finally got back in on the Spokesmen Podcast- episode #13 is now up for your listening pleasure. (I need to learn to shut up.)

2) My friend, Skinny, conducted a little informal interview with me. It's fun, so give it a read. Maybe it's scary... maybe it's not. I'll let you decide for yourselves. I'll be paying him back with a little interview over here soon too... that'll teach him a lesson.

Good night!

Tim