I've been through the desert on a horse with no name...

I just back home last night, after nearly a week in the desert around Lake Mead, in Boulder City Nevada. Once again, I was there as part of a group with Jill Hamilton (Haro MTB/ Lifestyle Brand Manager) and James- "Monkey"- Ayres (Eastern Regional Sales Manager). Together, we were in Boulder City to speak to the bike department managers of one of our largest retail partners, Sun & Ski Sports. We also did two days of demo rides on various bikes. It should be noted that on one of the slides of my presentation, where I was thanking them for our partnership, I inadvertently spelled the name of the company as "Sun & SKIN"... amazing the difference in meaning one little letter can cause. After our time spent with "Sun & Skin", we did a few more retail shop visits with some Haro/ Masi bike shops in the Las Vegas/ Henderson area to complete the retail interaction experience!

During the time we were there, we also had a few chances to get out for some great bike rides as well...

Monday was spent driving, so there was no riding.


James almost always falls asleep as soon as the car starts moving- he's meditating on how to make Masi an even bigger success... or checking his eyelids for holes.

In all the years I've made the drive to Las Vegas, I've never seen this much snow in the desert- this was at about 4,000' elevation. Pretty surreal to see snow this low... with cactus all over the place.

Tuesday morning, James and I got out for a ride down to the Hoover Dam and up the other side to the Arizona viewpoint.


Overlooking the Hoover Dam/ Colorado River- always an amazing view that just never gets old to me.


In all the years I've been riding in this area, it's the first time I've actually seen big horn sheep. These two females were nibbling away just below the Arizona overlook. Two males were up on the ridge above. They seemed totally unimpressed by the modern, mechanical world that rolled around them. Pretty cool.

James looked a little happier to be finishing the ride after all the climbing we had to do coming back from the dam. Not sure of the amount of climbing we did on that ride, but it's a pretty fair amount!

Tuesday afternoon the S & S guys came out for the 1st day of demo rides and that evening we did our brand presentations... where I made my simple typo that I will never get to live down... I'm pretty sure.


The guys getting their demo rides ready- the Speciale CX was a popular bike of choice, as were the 3VC 105 bikes.

Jill, during her presentation- she did an awesome job and was a very tough act to follow.

Wednesday, I got to ride with a few of the S & S guys on a nice 20 mile out and back loop. The wind stayed mellow, so it wasn't a total death march... even though the last few miles were all up hill.

Thursday was our big dealer visit day, but that morning we got out for a nice ride in the Boulder City area on their fantastic 31 mile bike path. Jill won the studdette of the day award for riding the last half of the ride without a functioning front shifter. She muscled her way up some pretty good hills in her big ring before allowing me to finally release the shift cable so she could ride in the small ring the rest of the ride.

Jill and James after an incredible section of bike path that had some amazing, rolling, twisty climbs. Such fun!

After our ride, we headed out to three excellent bike shops in the Henderson/ Las Vegas area;


JT's Bicycles has a few great Masi bikes and the guys there were all very nice. Tell'em the Masiguy sent you in when you go in to buy your first/ next Masi!


Bike World is an "old school" bike shop- in all the good ways. It may not be the most glamorous looking, high polished shop, but after 40 years in business they've built a loyal following by providing good service to their customers. The poster above was on my wall for many years- Francesco Moser was a great hero of mine when I was a starry-eyed teenager dreaming of racing in Europe.

Our last shop of the day was Bike Shop in Henderson. Though they have no Masi in stock at the moment, they have had some in the past and may be bringing them in again- so go talk to Terry and the guys about getting more of them in the store! I fell in love with the Land Shark in the above photo. Land Shark was one of those brands I always lusted after and respected when I was racing in the late 80's/ early 90's. The paintjobs were always among the nicest around, at the time. Land Shark remains one of the most beautiful bike brands I know of- equally as impressive as those by Dario Pegoretti.

Friday morning I got out for one last ride to the dam before we hopped in the truck for the long 6+hr drive back to San Diego. It was a cool, grey morning, but the ride was still great... except for the gnarly headwind I had coming back up the nearly 10 miles of climbs back to the hotel!


The gorgeous twisties that lead into Arizona after you cross the dam.


The view from the top, from the Arizona side.


After a shower and a cup of bad, hotel coffee...

These very impressive bronze statues are a part of a memorial to all the men who died during the construction of the Hoover Dam- we should never forget that great civil projects often come with an unspoken price; there are 96 officially listed deaths from the construction of the dam, though many believe that number to be significantly greater.

All in all, it was a great week spent with some great people... and I got to do some pretty good riding as well!

Tim

Manager's Camp 2009

This last week I was in Boulder City, NV for the Manager's Camp put on by our friends at Sun & Ski Sports. Just like last year, we went to Boulder City to educate the store managers and key personnel on the Masi (and Haro) lines and to get the chance to answer questions and go for some rides! This year, unlike last year, the weather was much more accommodating- relatively warm, beautiful blue skies and only one day with heavy winds. Last year it was freezing cold and very windy, so this was a welcome change!

Jill Hamilton during her presentation of the Haro MTB line.

The demo truck and trailer- time to set up before the riders show up.

And there they are! Picking over the fleet of Haro and Masi bikes, plus the offerings from Marin, Scott and Look.

My ride group on the first day at the lookout over the dam, from the Arizona side.

Riding back from the dam and back to the demo area. Notice the smiling face of Michael Beach of the San Antonio store; super nice guy with a ton of enthusiasm for the Masi brand... and the happy owner of a 3VC Ultegra, I might add!

Just like last year, we had a day of indoor presentations and then we moved outside for some bike riding. The terrain in Boulder City, around Lake Mead and the Hoover Dam, is pretty hilly with some great views around the lake and dam. It's a beautiful place to ride a bike, even with all the road work going on as you head to and from the dam. There is a bike path that goes along the lake and back to Boulder City that is nearly completed and is an incredible ride. The terrain of the path varies from gentle rollers, easy flat sections and leg-busting steep climbs- it's got a little bit of everything.

Our first ride was just minutes before sunset on Monday evening after driving 6+ hours to get to Boulder City... but we just HAD to ride!

Jill and James cruising along the really great bike path in the dessert- it's just a ribbon of asphalt that winds through the dessert and is a real blast to ride.

The view of the Hoover Dam from the Arizona lookout. Such an impressive piece of man made architecture.

Jill and James on our "epic" ride Wednesday morning on the bike path along the lake.

FYI- They have poo.

All in all, it was a great trip and we were happy to be asked again to participate in the event. I always enjoy getting to spend valuable time with our customers... and the best times are when riding bikes!

(more pics to come)

Tim

Back. Tired. Buried.

Back from Boulder City, Nevada now. Our trip went very well- our customer was very happy with each of our product presentations, as well as the nice fleet of demo bikes we brought (between all the Haro MTB and Masi road bikes). All in all, reports are that things went well.

The first day there, as mentioned before, was freezing! For a SoCal boy (even though originally from Alabama), 26 degrees is danged cold... especially when you only packed for 50 degree weather! The second and third days were warmer, though still quite cool. But, the good news is that the wind died down a bit as well and made the riding much more enjoyable.

Wednesday provided two different rides- one with our fantastic customer/ host and the other with my fantastic coworkers! And then Thursday served up one more group ride with the fine folks from Sun & Ski.


James Ayres (our Eastern Regional Sales Manager), me (duh) and our good friend and customer TJ (after all these years, I still can't remember if TJ even has a last name or what his official title is- he's just always been TJ to me) standing on the Hoover Dam.


My fat head/ helmet, Jill Hamilton (Haro MTB/ Lifestyle Brand Manager) and the peeking-around-my-shoulder head of Bryan Hayman (our Western Regional Sales Manager) down near Lake Mead.


I didn't really get any good group pictures on Thursday, but I did get this great shot of a chipmunk hanging around at our scenic stop. He looked hungry and not at all bashful.


Here's Bryan getting bikes out and ready to be ridden by some happy guys. Between the Masi bikes and all the Haro MTB bikes, we had around 30 bikes being ridden... and we saw lots and lots of smiles!

Though it was "work", it was also a lot of fun. Getting to ride and talk bikes for a few days is not a bad job... I admit I dig this gig (as if I really need to repeat that). The riding in Boulder City really is quite good. There's hardly a flat spot anywhere- it seems like you are either climbing or descending nearly the entire time- and even though the shoulder is very narrow and roads are heavily trafficked in places (mostly in the construction areas), the riding is still great. The views are incredible as well- the Lake Mead and Hoover Dam areas are really quite beautiful. BUT... Boulder City, and to some degree Henderson, have also really embraced cycling. In fact, there is now a fully separated bike/ pedestrian path that goes 31 miles along the lake and then into and around Boulder City/ Henderson. It is smooth, fast and fun to ride. It's a beautiful place to ride a bike. So much so, I can easily see myself going back for a cycling vacation... and you should too. If I were to organize a team training camp of my own, it would likely be in Boulder City... if you're reading this, Squirrel...

Now the work restarts though... now I have to get our catalog finished for Spring. The copy is all done, but now I have to work with my Product Manager (Wayne Doran) to make sure all the bikes have been photographed by our Photo-God (Pete Demos). Then I have to work with our Catalog-Dog (Rick- the Hispanic Panic- Ortiz) to finish layout and work with Pete some more for some nice action/ lifestyle/ image pics for the catalog as well. All of this has to be done so that we can turn in our catalog layout to the printer by February 19th. Yeah, the February 19th that is only 11 days away... that one. AND our Spring sales Meeting is the first week of March. AND then I head to Taiwan on March 10th. At least all the stress has helped me lose weight and keep it off. That's cool... right?


Yeah, the happy me... the one riding his bike... he'll be back in a while...
(Sorry for the spotty posting as of late... again. I'll be back with more posts, more podcasts and hopefully more video as well.)

Tim

Hello from Boulder City Nevada

So the drive out yesterday was pretty easy and we are now in Boulder City, home of the Bootleg Canyon site of Interbike's Outdoor Demo. We're staying in the same hotel we usually book for Outdoor Demo, so it's like a pseudo homecoming of sorts.


This morning, the day started cold. With the 25-30mph winds, the windchill brought the temps down to around 26 degrees. The wind was sustained in the high 20's with gusts into the 40's.

The day began for us with our brand presentations; Jill Hamilton with the Haro MTB/Adult (lifestyle) bikes and myself with Masi.


After a few hours of talking... it was time for some riding! However, due to the high winds and the very narrow roads, the large road ride was canceled and the group rode MTB in Bootleg Canyon. Since I didn't come prepared for a dirt ride and didn't want to risk wiping out in my carbon soled road shoes, connected to my road pedals, I ended up riding solo today.


I left from the hotel and rode the few miles to the Bootleg Canyon area to see everybody off on their rides... but they drove the rig up the hill pretty far for me to be riding skinny road tires on rough gravel... seemed like a good way to ruin a good bike. So I rolled off on my own from Bootleg Canyon and down the hill past Lake Mead and down to the Hoover Dam again. I've done this ride many times over the few years I've been coming here and the dam still remains a source of incredible fascination for me- the sheer size and scope of the dam is truly amazing.


From the dam, I rode further up a long a steady 7 mile long climb that took me out of Nevada and in to Arizona for several miles into the desert. It was a great ride, though with a lot of wind... enough so that I got clipped by the mirror of a passing RV- but I believe it was because the wind blew them hard enough to move them to my lane... but still scary.

All told, I rode for about 3 hours and between 50 and 60 miles... with LOTS of climbing along the way. Speaking of riding and climbing... the new bike rides SO well.

Man, I love the ride of this new frame. One ride doesn't surmise the entire experience of a bike, so I'm trying to remain objective... but it sure impressed on a first ride. I still need to get the shifting totally adjusted, but it is a great ride... great ride. I opted to not ride the carbon deep section wheels because it was just too darned windy to risk riding on them today, but maybe tomorrow instead.

Tomorrow is another day of riding, but the winds are supposed to be mostly gone. Maybe I'll whip out the carbon wheel sew-ups for the rides tomorrow. Hopefully, because I really want to see how they ride.

Ok kids, tomorrow will be here faster than I want, so I'm going to bed. I'll see you tomorrow... with more pics and stories to tell...



Tim