I told you...

Yes, it really has been a week from hell, just like I said it was gonna be. I'm glad it's Friday, though I'll be working a fair bit this weekend and getting packed for the week long trip that starts Monday morning.

Had two great nights of roller workouts on Wednesday and Thursday and a nice ride at lunch today. Legs should either be total crap for the ride in the morning or they'll be feeling really great... so we'll see if I defend my title.

I had all kinds of cool things I was gonna talk about, but since it is almost midnight, I'm cutting it short and leaving you with this...



Next time,

Tim

Oh... the prettiness is too much!

I posted this picture collage over on the company site and the Masi Twitter feed yesterday...


I know I'm a terrible hack with Paint (how else can I make photo collages on a PC- suggestions appreciated), but you get an idea of how sexy the new bikes will be. There are SO many good looking bikes coming out over the next several months.

As always, I'm really, really, REALLY excited about the new bikes. I would be here being my usual exuberant and gushy self, but as of late I've just been struggling- with only a little success- to just keep my head above water. We're beyond busy with numerous projects and rapidly approaching deadlines, so I've been nearly invisible here and elsewhere online. I hope to be back to my usual verbose self soon. I keep wanting to record more of my Masiguy Podcasts as well as get more discussions going over on the Shut Up and Drink the Kool-Aid site. Hopefully soon... please be patient.

First round jersey design is done! I'll post the final artwork soon, as well as get the ball rolling for feedback on the matching jersey and bib short "Team Masi"designs. So far, the early design comps' look mighty cool. Hopefully we'll have the first design ready to ship by the Interbike tradeshow in September, so stay tuned for more news.

Ok I gotta run and get to the office. Hoping to sneak out a few minutes early after I get all my catalog copy written and turned in today; tonight is race night at Fiesta Island, so it's crit night! Hoping to get out of the office early enough to pick up my wife from home and bring her to the race to watch- she's very excited about watching me race because she's never seen a bike race up close before. So hopefully I can power through the remaining copy needs and get out of the office quick enough to get her for the race.

See you all again soon... I promise.

Tim

Coming up for a quick breath of air...

In case you don't follow my Twitterstream and didn't see the news elsewhere, we recorded a new episode of the Spokesmen last night with a new special guest... so check it out.

Still running around busier than a one-armed cotton picker, but I've been managing to ride my bike here and there and have not completely regressed to tubbiness. Got through the filming of our video last week and have been running through other major projects this week... and now have to focus my attention on getting the next edition of the catalog written. We've done all the studio product shots and the new bikes look simply astounding. I always say this, but I am extremely proud of the bikes we have created and I am sure they are going to turn more than a few heads... and hopefully find a way into YOUR living rooms (rather than mine, though I'm sure I'll get a few more).

Married life has been great- my lovely wife and I have been spending as much time together as possible as we settle into all this newness- hence my lack of presence here lately. I'll be back though- I promise- as work settles down a little and things get a bit calmer.

Alright- time to get ready to head out the door to work.

Tim

Insanity

I rode at lunch today for the first time in a long time- seems like months, but maybe it hasn't been. My schedule and workload has meant a lot more rides on the rollers than I would care to admit to. That said... I'm trying not to complain too much.

Tons of projects going on all at the same time right now- each on it's own would be enough to cause headaches, but all of them combined is enough to cause an aneurysm.

I've been wanting to post more and to share more about the wedding, but I still have another week or two of total commitment to these projects that require the small, remaining amounts of cerebral capacity I still possess.

I will be back- promise. And, as always, I'll have lots to say... or at least I'll say a lot.

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

Getting back to it.

This past weekend was spent mostly cleaning and doing chores around the Masiguy Casita (that's Spanish for "little house"- I don't know the word for "tiny apartment"). Saturday was exciting because of the revelation of the SoulVille showing up in the Audi A4 commercial being aired during the primetime coverage of the Olympics. Sunday was spent doing more of the cleaning but also at a BBQ at my folks' place. As I was getting ready to go to thBBQ and to go pick up my daughter for the week, I removed the Band-Aid I had on the thumb to protect the nail and removed the nail as well! After regaining my senses and managing not to barf, I cleaned up the finger and got my shower.

****WARNING: GRAPHIC THUMB PICTURES- DO NOT LOOK IF YOU'RE SQUEAMISH!****

The nail; free of the thumb itself.

The thumbs; minus a nail.

It's far from pretty, but it's still attached!

Tonight, after a long day, I got out on the stationary trainer for my first trainer ride since the crash on 4/29. It was very humbling. I rode for maybe 40- 45 minutes on my Speciale Fixed with a 46x16 gear, which is normally a pretty easy gear for me... but it felt like an actual workout. It also took my forever to get into "the mood" to ride. I don't like riding a trainer t begin with, but riding it at far below good fitness just sucked... but I sucked it up and enjoyed myself regardless. Towards the end, I began to enjoy myself more and feel less like I didn't know how to pedal anymore. It was a very humbling experience to feel like I was starting from such a low level- which I basically am. My right arm tires out almost as soon as I start riding; I am still unable to fully extend it and the strength is really gone from it. The triceps have lost almost all strength and with the arm unable to straighten, they are really getting a workout. Towards the end of the "workout", I switched back and forth to do ILT (Isolated Leg Training) work. My right leg has been dominant for as long as I can remember... until now. My right hip burned out very quickly and my left just kept chugging along, by comparison. After 3 sets with each leg, both hip flexor muscles were cooked and I was done. I also seem to have an undiagnosed wrist injury and a possible rotator cuff injury as well- both the wrist and shoulder were very sore and weak during the workout. Needless to say, the ride was far from perfect... but I did just grin and bare it. I'm just glad to be riding again; the night of the crash, I weighed a solid and fit 205lbs. After leaving the hospital for the second time, I was down to 184lbs. As of this morning, I am now back up to 211lbs! For the math averse- that's 27lbs! Oy... not good. So as of this morning, I am riding as much as I can force myself to do and I'm going on a diet.

Leaving Sunday for Vancouver. Will be in town to present at the Norco National Sales Meeting and then I'll be heading out to meet some Masi dealers in the area- best of all; we're doing the shop visits by bike! While there, I'll also be meeting with Mia and the lovely "Momentum Girls" from Momentum Magazine. All in all, it should be a great time and a great rehearsal for my trip to Montreal and then Interbike (both in September).

Needless to say... it's still a very busy time and the rest is far off in the distance. That said, it's still good to be back... and I'm enjoying the fatigue.

And now it is time for sleep.

Tim

Plugging along

Yes, as I normally say when I've missed a few days of posting here; "I've been incredibly busy with..."

There has been a lot of follow up after our National Sales Meeting a few weeks ago. I'm heading to Vancouver, BC on the 17th and return on the 20th (or 21st), for the NORCO (our fantastic distributor) Sales Meeting. In September, I travel back to Montreal for the Canadian equivalent of Interbike, BTAC/ Expo Cycle. Then a few weeks later, it'll be time for Interbike. So there is a lot going on that has a lot of details and a very short time to complete... hence my sporadic posting as of late.

The good news is that I am officially back on the bike and riding a little, but as much as I can handle. Last Friday was my first ride in nearly 4 months, then I did my grocery shopping via my SoulVille on Sunday, then rode my Speciale Fixed on Tuesday night and did a ride at lunch today! 4 rides in the past 6 days! Nothing in the way of mileage or intensity... but it's a lot for this banged up body. Slowly, but certainly, I feel like I am getting some small bits of my lilfe back.

The ride on the Speciale Fixed was a trip! My legs have a lot of relearning to do and the 46x16 gearing felt just barely small enough to get around town on. Today's lunch ride felt really weird though, just because I had so little strength and the loop I rode is one that I would normally use for my recovery days. Today though, it was my own little Spring Classic- we have almost no flat areas to ride near work, so you have rolling hills in every direction you ride. I was stubbornly pigheaded and refused to allow myself to ride in my 39x23 granny gear and would grit my teeth or stand up on the pedals and crest each little rise in my 19t or 21t cog... because I was trying to prove the point to myself. The point was made and I rode without any real pain. My right arm still doesn't straighten completely, so I have a lot of muscle weakness there and the arm fatigues very, very quickly... but I made it. I also have noticed that after 3+ months off the bike, even my favorite saddles seem to hurt my ass!



See- I've got my helmet on! (Thanks Chris!)

Umm, yeah, I know it's a lame shot... but it's all I got using my camera instead of my video camera.

I'll be back again- I promise... but it's back to work now...

Tim

In the bag!

This week is done and in the bag... finally! Just a couple little things away from being done with catalog copy 100%- just need to finish the last of the individual bullet specs. Almost done.

Now it's time to make a total change of gears and start new product development again. Got LOTS of projects on the plate for my Product Manager and I. Lots and lots of work ahead. Fwew... no rest for the wicked- ever.

Got through the week without losing my mind- which is good. Presentations went well and things looked good. I'm very excited to be getting ready to begin some video projects soon. Speaking of video...

Help me with content for videos you'd like to see. I have a bunch of my own ideas, like educational pieces on different models of bikes, or videos on why we do things the way we do- the basics. But I also want to do things like little interviews with people in the company or team riders/ sponsored athletes. I also want to do my own version of a mini tradeshow from Las Vegas- discussions about the various bikes, impromptu conversations with industry folks abd athletes. Looking forward to some fun bits too- like videos riding on the track, or out on training rides. Maybe going through some product reviews as well.

Thing is, I really want to tailor these videos to what YOU want to watch. So send me some ideas and I'll put them all together and start building a library of ideas. After all, there for your entertainment/ education... not mine. It's all about you... no really... it is. So gimme thoughts/ ideas.

Ok. It's been a long week folks. Masidaughter is now sleeping and I will be doing the same shortly. Enjoy your weekend... please.

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

Busier than a one-armed paper hanger...

As is somewhat customary of me to proclaim, I find myself "busier than a one-armed paper hanger"... as my father would say... but with a stronger Alabama accent than I have anymore.

I got back in to San Diego late afternoon Saturday, around 5:00PM, and was reasonably useless the rest of the day. Sunday I was up early, though still pretty worthless, and then got my daughter around 2:00PM and my son a few hours later. Since then, I have been running at pretty much full speed- and then some. We have a major set of meetings Monday and Tuesday of next week and I am now feverishly working on a PowerPoint presentation for those meetings (have I ever mentioned my desire to choke the creator of PowerPoint?). Thing is, Friday is also the first day of the Bicycle Leadership Conference (BLC) and I will be attending all three days of the BLC, along with Haro MTB Brand Manager Jill Hamilton. AND I have a meeting on Friday (that I may have to skip) with my good friend Kendall Young from Ritchey Components. Saturday and Sunday will be consumed by the conference and then Monday and Tuesday we have the important internal meetings. All the while, I still need to wrap up and finish the Spring '08 catalog copy. The icing on the cake is that this is my week with the kids and I am going to have to shuffle them off to family members for a few days. AND... I'm getting a slight cold!

I rode my trainer tonight for about 45-50 minutes, for my first ride since the 4th of this month. Not surprisingly, I felt stiff and sore and had no lung power. But, the legs themselves did not feel all that bad. IF I can manage to hold this cold at bay long enough, I might still make it to the 3-day stage race in Henderson, NV starting next Friday (1/25). I'm not holding my breath because I know how hard it is going to be to stay healthy with all this stress and the lack of training time is going to really put my fitness in question. However... I still really want to go to this race. I haven't done a stage race in years and I really enjoy them. Historically, by day 3, my legs usually feel fantastic. Since the road race is on day 3 and it is very hilly, that might save me from being dropped on the first climb. Day 2's crit might suffer, but I can pretty much do a crit with my eyes closed at this point in my life. The 20K TT on day 1 might be a challenge, but since it is nearly board flat and is almost a straight line, I have a good chance of not losing too much time. We'll see what happens. Fingers are crossed... but I might just take the time off from work and spend the 4 days I would be racing/ traveling just riding and getting some sleep!

Got a bunch of goodies over the past couple days that make it feel like a late Christmas. I will have more on that in the next few days, if my head doesn't explode. Maybe I'll even do a vidcast instead of a blog post- been awhile since I've done one. Stay tuned...

Ok kids, I'm going to bed before my feeble brain finally cracks.

Tim

Jetlag, schmetlag...

If it wasn't for caffeine, I think I would cease to exist this week. Thank God for Juan Valdez and his legion of coffee bean carrying mules. If it weren't for the brown brewed gold, I'd be a dead man this week. But I digress...

So I owe you all some more Taiwan follow-up and pictures. I'm also going to try and create a Flickr gallery of images as well. That may take me a little longer though because I want to get a few more podcasts done also and put up more video stuff. There's lots to talk about, so let's get going...

I have a soft spot for the machines that create bikes. Sure it may not be as romantic an idea as some sweaty person toiling away over each and every detail, but in some cases it's even better- thanks to the precision of the work. However, my fascination has always been with the machines that do some of the more mundane things. I always spend a little time around the wheelbuilding machines. They just fascinate me. There are many types and they range from very precise machines to less precise machines. This one is somewhere in the middle- it's truing up a hand laced BMX wheel that will go on to be hand checked;

It's pretty cool to me at least... but I'm kinda simple like that.

We took the high speed train back and forth between the airport in Taipei and the hotel in Taichung;

It was cool.

Here we have a very happy Brand Manager standing by a container filled with SoulVille bikes headed off to the Ohio warehouse (so go start placing your orders now if you're on the East coast).

I really was happier than I look... I promise. FYI- The SoulVille is currently the best selling bike in the entire Masi line for this season. I had faith in the bike, but never would have guessed sales would be this good. So, thank you for your support of the bike.

A beautiful sunrise...

A beautiful park in Taichung on the night of a beautiful dinner...

The long awaited and much anticipated SoulVille Mixte step-through frame...

Mood lighting in an incredibly beautiful restaurant on an incredible night...

Two very happy Product Managers soaking up the reward of their efforts...

Incredible beauty...

All mine! (And eventually yours...)


You'll have to wait for more... so keep on coming back.

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

Yes, I'm still alive.

I know it's been a while since I've posted and the posts have been a little "light"... but it's still amazingly busy after Interbike. You may remember that I've talked for the past few years about working towards getting away from model years with our products. Well, we've done that, but we've also decided to go to two product releases a year as well. That means that the Fall '07 products you see in the new catalog (which you can download from the current company website) are not even on the ground yet and I am wrapping up design of the Spring '08 products. In fact, my esteemed colleague and Product Manager (Wayne- "Fuzzy"- Doran) is headed to Taiwan next week to work out a bunch of product details. Shortly afterwards, in early November, I'll be headed to Taiwan again and then on to Tokyo for the Japanese version of Interbike- called Cycle Mode. So, I think maybe, just maybe you can see why the posting has been light and why I'm slowly, but certainly, losing my mind. (Not that I'm complaining because I still feel like a lucky bastard to have this job... just in case the bosses are reading...)

Anyway, there has been plenty to talk about over this gap in my posting and I really don't even know where to begin. I never really finished posting about the Eurobike show and the products there, I didn't really talk about all the Initerbike stuff, I've skipped over lots of the cool things that have been going on with people, places and things... and the ongoing saga that is professional bike racing. BUT... I will do my best to get back on track and back to covering it all.

I have recently been riding my Speciale Fixed a lot and have been enjoying it immensely. I had been riding it for the past several months set up very close to my Kilo position, so that I could do the occasional Kilo workout on my lunch rides (thinking I was going to be racing a lot more than I did this year... once). I recently rebuilt it with a more traditional track/ road set up;

It's set up with a bunch of parts I've been holding on to for a while-

• SunTour Superbe Pro track cranks (167.5mm length) and NOS Superbe Pro bottom bracket- NJS stamped!
• Sugino Mighty Comp 46t chainring and Campagnolo 16t cog.
• TTT Mod Dazzan alloy track sprint bars- a whopping 39cm wide too!
• Deda Zero stem.
• Old Lorica bar tape that was on my first track bike from 1992/93- complete with all the scuffs from crashes.

The saddle is a sample, with a couple colors wrong, of what we will be using for the new artwork on our Masi-branded saddles. The "Masi" lettering is not going to be yellow, as it is shown, nor is the Masi "M". However, the rest is pretty close- though the off-center Masi headbadge artwork will be black. The cool thing is that the saddle sample is of our low-end saddle... but it rides really, really well. With some nice Ti rails, this thing would be on a few more of my bikes. With the shape, curved at the rear, it kinda reminds me of an old San Marco Concor (my second most favorite saddle ever- behind the Arione).All in all, it feels really good to be riding my bikes again. All the travel has made it very difficult to keep any kind of rhythm and I'm sure to lose it again with the travel on the horizon. Still, I'm enjoying each revolution of the cranks I am able to get.

I've also been spending a lot of time on my SoulVille. Yep, I'm cruising around in mega style on a 20" SoulVille from our demo fleet from Vegas. It's a pre-production bike, so the fender rubs the tire in the rear, the fork axle-to-crown height is short and the virtual top tube length is too short so I get toe overlap on the fender. Still, even though it is a little small for me, it is a dream to ride. Once the final version is done, it'll danged-near perfect. You folks will LOVE this bike when it finally arrives- most likely in late December or early January. I'm actually going to be playing around with this bike quite a bit. I'm planning to load it with a rack and baskets.. more on that later... and will be testing the platform for a true utility bike. More to follow on that, so stay tuned. I'll also have photos soon too. I may remove the fenders and do some other mods, so it won't likely look like the catalog bike... at all.

Ok, time to get ready for my nephew's christening. It's raining here today, so like a true SoCal resident, I'm not out riding. Hey, it only rains twice a year here... so why bother?

Tim
(Let's see if the BSNYC comes by to rip my bike apart... go easy- I'm delicate.)

Are we there yet?

Is it Vegas yet? Lord, merciful Jeebus... we finished building the booth for the show today. It got crated and put on a semi today, so it is officially out of our hair until we get to Sin City in a few days.

(Totally OSHA approved...)

Oh yeah, and this morning, before the sun came up- in all my spare time- I finally jumped back in on an episode of the Spokesmen Podcast. It was great to join the crew again... and also reminded me how I've been absent from the world of blogging and podcasting for far too long- not to mention actually riding a bike (it's been way more than a week since I've been on a bike). Anyway, it was a great show so go give it a listen.

Ok... good night... I'm beat to hell and need some sleep.

Tim

I can't wait for Interbike...

... because then I'll be done with late nights at the office and the mad, mad scramble... for a little while at least.

Wrapping up the new Masi catalog tonight- heads off to the printer first thing after we finish proofing tonight.

I have beer at home that should be cold by now- hopefully very cold.

Tim

Not as late tonight...

Today I got to leave work at 7:00PM and got home just in time to tuck my daughter in to bed and read her a short book. So it ain't all bad... plus I just made myself a nice, cool Pina Colada (yeah, I know it's foofy... but it's also tasty and it's hotter-n-hell here right now).

Today, thanks to Jim and Susan and the entire crew at CyclArt, I got all of my last remaining samples of new products... and damn do they look great! I am supper excited about the bikes and I am confident you will all be pretty impressed too. A big thanks has to go to the fine folks who did a lot of work at Masi/ Haro to help make this happen; Wayne Doran (my Product Manager), Rick Ortiz (my graphic artist who created the look of the new bikes), Pat Crosby (who is the MTB Product Manager) and Brian Hayman (who has recently moved into a new sales roll with Haro, but has been an employee with the company for many years). It's a huge effort to get bikes into the world, from concept to artwork to parts spec and final product... it's a big effort. Needless to say, it's a very stressful and wonderful experience when the first bikes show up... and I'm pretty fried at the moment. The new stuff makes it all worth the headache and long hours.

Yesterday, I took a short break from work and left the office long enough to take part in a blog related talk show. One of my BBF's- Best Blogging Friends- Toby Bloomberg has a show on Blog Talk Radio and I got to be a guest, along with Donna Lyons-Miller. The topic was Leveraging Social Media to Support Niche Consumer Brands. It was a great conversation, so go give it a listen! Thanks again to Toby for being kind enough to invite me and to Donna for suffering through my usual ramblings.

Ok, I gotta finish my laundry before the sales meeting starts on Friday. Tomorrow is final prep and set up, so it's gonna be another very long day. I'll try to get a few more spy pics for you though... so be patient.

Tim

Another late night...

Still at work and will be for hours...

... for the record, I hate PowerPoint and Excel with the white hot intensity of a thousand burning suns!


Tim

Update- As Al points out... I'm a whiner. The two benefits to working late/ after hours; 1) no phones ringing and no emergencies and B) I get to drink a beer at my desk while I try to dislodge some creativity.

Thanks for the reminder Al!

What a day...

Today was one of those 12 hour days that just seemed to drag on forever. 8:00AM to 8:00PM in the office...

... and I'm really tired. I know, I know, I know... a) I'm doing what I love, 2) tons of people work long days too. I know. I'm a whiner.

In the end, it should be worth it. The new (newerest?) bikes are going to be sweet! Lots of cool new stuff happening with the products. Today, one of my many complicated tasks, I delivered 7 frames and forks to local bike painting gurus CyclArt (thank you Jim and Susan!). They are going to paint my pre-production samples so I can have them in time for our National Sales Meeting and for Interbike. Without their help, it might not be possible to pull of what I'm trying to pull off... not that I can tell you yet.

(Photo- Pete Demos; you can see this one since I've already shown it to you anyway.)

So, yeah... I'm cooked. Very, very cooked. AND... I still have a ton of work to do before the Sales Meeting and Interbike... and I have a week in Germany in the middle of the two. Yeah! (I know, I'm whining again...)

Tim