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David loves checking in hundreds of new models.
At this time of Thanksgiving, we here at the BW like to ponder our many blessings. One of those blessings is David, our receiving guy. You see, we just got in our big pre-season order from Ritchey, chock-full of all kinds of new 2011 models. David (with some help from Greg and Oran) has been going through that huge order, piece by piece, getting all the new models ready to be listed. You’ll also notice him working on lots of Camelbak stuff. Yeah, that’s right. We said Camelbak. We’re now a proud dealer.
More big pre-season orders are on their way. So look out world! We’re going to be shipping out all kinds of goodness to a front porch near you.
Dave, a cycling novice who recently toured Europe with the Bikewagon crew, has decided to keep a good thing going and commute to work by bike. He’ll blog about his commuting experiences every once in a while. Today, he’s still recovering from riding 400 miles in Europe:
I don’t know how many of you are reading this. Maybe thousands. Millions? Mom, are you still reading this? ‘Cause I’m going to pose a question at the end, and if you have some insights, comment, deal?
I’ve been home from Europe for two and a half weeks and I can’t feel my big toes. It started just outside of Munich, I think. They just started getting numb on the long days and then melded into being numb all the time. It wasn’t really a problem because they didn’t hurt or anything, but now, now it’s just awkward. I’ve stubbed it like 20 times and it’s not hurting. It’s wrecking my world.
Anyone have any suggestions on how to cure my numb toes? Or how to prevent it from happening again?
Jon checks in from Interbike and gives his tips on winning free swag:
Most trade shows give away all kinds of things to grab your attention and to win you over to their brand. Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. Interbike is no different.
Jon ready to win some Swag.
There is an amazing phenomenon that occurs when you throw someone a free shirt in a crowd of people. Friends become enemies and strangers become intense competitors. People will push, shove and trample over whomever necessary just to get their hands on a simple shirt. The most amusing spectacle of all, though, is that once you fight off everyone to get the shirt and finally realize what it is and what size it is, you can’t beg anyone to take it from you. After all, it isn’t the shirt that people are after, but the battle. And everyone loves to be the winner.
When it comes to winning swag, the one thing I have learned is that you always have to stay positive. My grandma has been telling me for years that the most important thing I can have in life is a positive attitude. When I was young, discussions on positive thinking were about as much fun as eating some of her whole wheat pancakes. She always told me to be grateful for the things that I didn’t yet have but was soon to receive. I thought nothing of what she had said and just went about my life as normal.
Then a year ago, a friend won a sweet GoPro HD helmet camera at Interbike. My initial feeling was jealousy. For some reason, my grandma’s words came into my head and I thought, “I can’t be jealous of him but be happy for him.” So I put on a positive attitude and went to the show the next day grateful that I would be walking away with a free helmet cam for myself.
My group wanted to head out at about 2:45 to make the trip back to Salt Lake, and they would be giving out cameras at 3:00. I knew that I was winning a camera and had to stay till 3:00, so I delayed as long as I could. When the guy got up to give out a free camera, he looked at me and I told him in my head, “You want to give this guy (me), a camera.” After a while, guess who walked away with a free camera?
This year at the show, Kyle got pretty jealous after I told him about a rack that I had won from Yakima. I told him that getting jealous would get him nowhere, and that he needed to use positive thinking. Guess who walked away this year with a free camera from GoPro? Now it doesn’t always work, but after a few raffles, contests and more than a thousand dollars worth of free swag in 13 months, I think that positive thinking has been going pretty well. So thanks, Grandma, for the important lesson, but I am still not going to eat your pancakes.
Filed under: Bikewagon Trips, New products, News | Tags: Interbike, Interbike 2010
The day started off with a less-than-satisfying Las Vegas breakfast buffet. But besides one guy almost losing said buffet later in the day, we didn’t let the bad food keep us down. There is always plenty (maybe too much?) of cool stuff to see at the nation’s biggest bike trade show. Here are few of the highlights for us. Look for them in the not-too-distant future on the mothership (that’s bikewagon.com, in case you’re wondering):
Ritchey’s got some sweet new red and silver handlebars coming out:
Crank Brothers continues to expand their beautiful lineup with their latest addition, carbon stems:
Ergon’s coming out with some cool platform pedals, as well as gloves to match their grips:
And Fizik is releasing some custom heat-molded shoes. Unfortunately, their 1st-year production will be very limited, but they look awesome, so you have something to look forward to.
The buzzword at Interbike 2010 is “urban,” and the bike fashion show certainly reflected that movement:
At the end of the day, we stumbled upon the air guitar competition Yakima was holding. Jon, Nathan and Paul all jumped in to try and impress the crowd. They rocked it, if we do say so ourselves. Check out the vid:
Unfortunately, another conetstant had a few more compadres in the crowd, so his cheers were a little bit louder. But Yakima still hooked us up with some sweet consolations.
For more updates, follow us on Twitter and Facebook. And check out our Flickr pics, too.
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Dave’s last entry from Europe:
The four of us that were left took the night train back to Budapest. It was just like we left it.
I think I changed a lot because of seeing Romania. It’s the farthest I’d ever been from home. I’ve stuck pretty close to the West so far in my life, so being that far away gave me a new perspective on what it means to feel familiarity.
Bike fashion show
We checked back into our hostel (here is a link to the Groove Hostel, if you want more info) and had quite a time explaining in Hungarian that we needed cardboard to pack our touring bikes. We’ve been riding Lapierre Passports.
We packed. We reflected. It was cloudy and cold outside. I was glad I wasn’t next to the trail. Those nights of rain and cold were tough. Outside our window was the strangest thing: a bike fashion show. I included some pics. Of all the streets in Budapest, Hungary to have a bike fashion show, they picked our street. It was a wink from the bike gods. We walked along the Danube. I said my good-byes. I thought of Sidhartha. I thought of Vienna. I thought of all those dragonflies in Slovakia. I thought of my bike and bike parts. I thought of this blog and all the secrets I’ve told. I thought of home.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this. You should check back regularly. Deal? I’ll be contributing one post a week about my experiences as a bike commuter and, as you’ve read, everything that comes along with it.
Stay safe,
Dave
Filed under: Bikewagon Trips, Touring | Tags: adventures, touring, touring Europe
More from Dave, road trippin’ in Europe:
So, we’ve been following the Danube. If you’re thinking you know where that is, but are like me and really don’t, check the map. We’ve ridden through valleys, plains and cities. I’ve seen more in the last three weeks than possibly the twenty-five years before it.
I used to live on my bike. I used to know how to get across town using only the bike trails. You know, the ones that run through vacant lots, past crazy dogs and behind fences. The trails the kids use. My bike was my car. But then the car came and I didn’t have time anymore. On this trip there has been a reconnection with my bike. How can you not feel connected spending so much time with something? Actually, I think the reconnection came when I couldn’t get the clip of my shoe to fit in my pedal and jammed the pedal into my shin. I don’t think you ever forget that kind of pain. To put it in the common tongue, this trip has been rad.
The People's Palace in Bucharest
If you’re wondering about the title of this post, I’m referring to the book by Herman Hesse. In it, Sidhartha finds peace in the river. I think the Danube has done similar things for me. Read that book, it’s a treasure.
We rode around Budapest for a day. This place is a close second to Vienna. Oh, sweet Vienna. We grabbed some of the local goulash right next to the parliament building. Another amazing moment of food on this trip. Really, anything that isn’t cold bread with some kind cheese and a slab of salami is amazing now. Sadly, Jon and Melissa had to jet early, so it’s just the Majors crew and me. Kimball is still eating my gummy bears.
Filed under: Bikewagon Trips, Touring | Tags: adventures, touring, touring Europe
Dale and Kimball takin' a break in Slovakia
More from Dave in Europe:
I’ve learned out here on the trail that I don’t know a lot about a lot. It’s been hard but rewarding. The crew I’m with is filled with sharp tools. We rode into Bratislava, Slovakia. The buildings were grey and efficient. It was cloudy, which seemed fitting. The people seemed guarded and reserved. At the local super market we got our usual regiment of yogurt, bread, cheese, salami. I got some gummy bears. Kimball, the one-and-a-half year old who’s leading the trip, likes to share them. It took me a second to warm up to that plan. Those gummy bears are gold out here on the trail.
Slovakia street
We made our way through town. A lot of tourists were there. We took a trip to the train station (the next step in our trip is the train down to Budapest), but it ended up that they had sold out of bike spots. That’s where the day’s fun started. We figured out that we could ride 25 kilometers to another town to catch a train. The problem was that we only had an hour and a half to do it. This was possible, but we had to push it. We were all sweating. Moving that packed bike is nothing easy. What I noticed was that the path was straight. We figured it was a retired railway line. Maybe it was the communism that had been here, but people here are 20 years behind, because I had never seen so many rollerbladers.
We rode our bikes into Vienna. We were staying just outside at a camping spot. The bike paths were smooth and planned out. Vienna has beautiful streets and friendly people. We got chicken schnitzel for dinner. I hadn’t ever had chicken schnitzel.
Michaelerplatz
Right as the sun was going down we rode past the national library and into a place called Michaelerplatz. Michaelerplatz was alive. People were gathered around a cellist playing some standards in the middle. We gathered the stripped bikes together and I watched them as the rest of the crew went to see the inside of a cathedral. I had some time to reflect.
Life seems to come at us like a bike tour does. Hear me out. Here on the tour you’ve only got a few things in your control. You’ve got a jacket and tent for the rain. You’ve got some extra tubes for flats. You’ve got a couple of friends for security. The rest is just in your attitude. Some people never have rain, never have flats, never need friends, but their attitudes are trash, so being prepared with the rest doesn’t matter. In life it seems we have almost the same number of options: a house for the rain, some insurance for the flats, some friends for security. But even with all of it, if our attitude is trash, the other stuff doesn’t matter so much.
I walked the streets leading to the plaza. People were smiling. Louie Vuitton was selling some clothes along with Mr. Gucci and Hilfiger. I was wearing a shirt that smelled like too much Old Spice and jeans. We rode to Slovakia the next morning.
Filed under: Bikewagon Trips, Touring | Tags: adventures, touring, touring Europe
Brittany, Dale and their little dude Kimball chillin' in the trailer
Dave checks in again from Europe:
The crew pulled into Vienna this morning and finally gave the tent a chance to air out and get some laundry done. The weather has been perfect. Everyone has been in good spirits. John made a blend of spitzel and onions for lunch. It was good. We ate it with bread. We had a guest with us for this meal: Stellen Johannson, a nomad biker.
Stellen is tall and thick. He has blond hair and blue eyes. Really, he looked a lot like what you’d imagine Thor would look like. He said he’s done about 57,000 kilometers on the bike he is currently riding, a Kona Lava Dome. It has a crack in it. We invited him for lunch. He said that he’s seen the world on his bike: Africa, Asia, Europe and Australia. He only uses $2,500 a year to live. Something in the way he talked with me gave me hope like the plums had. We asked him if he’d ever been scared, spending nearly four years alone. He said he’d only been scared in Ethiopia. He’d had rocks thrown at him, one hitting him in the head. He was off the road for 5 weeks. His tone showed the love he has for being out here. He’d lost 80 pounds while in Africa, ’cause there wasn’t enough to eat.
“You can live off of tea and peanuts, but it’s not enough,” he said. I looked down at my spitzel mess. I looked at the roll in my hand. I looked at the empty juice container. I thought about how I was still hungry.
I asked him, now that he had been around the world, what he thought of it. “I think there are a lot more good people in it than bad. The news in Sweden makes you think that there are only bad people, but it’s just not true.”
Like I said, he gave me hope like the plums had.
Stellen has a website. It’s amazing, so give it a gander: www.sandstorm.se (It’s in Swedish, with some cool pictures.)
Filed under: Bikewagon Trips, Tips for new riders, Touring | Tags: fixing tires, flats, touring
Here’s another update from Dave in Europe:
We haven’t gotten too many flats out here, amazingly, but today we got a little one. I was sitting on a bench next to Dale as he patched it. He says to me, “The key to fixing a flat is overkill.” Alright, noted. But out on the trail I got to thinking, why don’t I overkill more? I mean, when was the last time I overkilled talking to my mom on the phone, or overkilled on giving change to a bum, overkilled a workout or overkilled at work? If you’re critical, you’re probably thinking, “Well, obviously it’s because of the human’s desire to be lazy.” That does seem to be the case, but I don’t think we have to give up because we usually act a certain way. I think from this trip I’ve learned that when it comes to overkills I need to overkill.
