Aching feet from the miles of walking; sore shoulders from schlepping heavy bags; and nauseous feeling from excessive alcohol consumption, but what an amazing three days it was. I won't bore you with all the details, but it WAS a good show. Saw a few CR listees, in spite of missing the Krispy Kreme breakfast meeting on Thursday - Mark Ritz, Dale Brown, and I think a couple of others. It's all kind of a blur now. Saw Dave Perry from NYC - and the very cool t-shirts that Verge Sport produced for Interbike featuring the artwork of Dave's sweetie, painter Taliah Lempert, recently of Cirque Symposium fame. Here's the link:
http://www.vergegear.com/
You can order the t-shirts right off of the Verge Sport website's online store. Support Taliah and her work. The t-shirts are sublimated, so the artwork is infused into the cotton fabric. Stunning.
The Bianchi 120th anniversary display in the foyer of the Sands Convention Center was spectacular - and the 1951-52 Bianchi Team Issue bike on display that was reportedly one of Fausto Coppi's was impressive. I shot 15 or so close-up photos of the bike: one in particular, of the rear derailleur and spokes,turned out very well. Also, not to be missed was Richard Bryne's pedal collection at the Speedplay booth. Some pedals dating back to the late 20th century were interesting. He had the entire collection of various toe clips, toe straps, cleats, and pedals, all contained in two industrial-strength aluminum (aluminium) and wood cases with glass fronts. The two halves clamp together to make a nifty shipping case. The display will definitely be part of the "Legends of Framebuilding" event scheduled for Friday evening, November 12th in San Francisco. We now have 14 legendary framebuilders planning to attend.
In between talking to manufacturers and retailers about the upcoming VeloSwap events in Denver, Chicago, and San Francisco, I had the honor to hand-deliver some one-off prototypes of exquisite Italian-made Merino wool sweaters that were commissioned by such well-known manufacturers as Ritchey, Cervelo, Seven Cycles, and Specialized. The response was overwhelmingly positive. Dealers all over the U.S. are eager to start carrying these beautiful boutique items. When packing my suitcase for Vegas, and knowing how warm it can be there in October, I was not hesitant to include four or five of my own Woolistic sweaters. I knew that there would be some great photo opportunities at Interbike, and I was glad I had the FAEMA and Molteni Arcore sweaters.
Here is the result of my amorous encounter with the Great Eddy Merckx.
Check it out:
http://www.dailypeloton.com/
Eddy looked wonderful; down 30kg. from what he weighed at this time last year. Between him and me, we've lost almost 120 POUNDS!!! I could actually wrap my arms around his body, which was heavenly. We shared a few laughs together and I had a friend snap an excellent photo of me and Eddy, in a warm embrace. Not many women get to hug Eddy at Interbike. And no one can get him to LAUGH like me! It was the highlight of the show for me. Even Axel got in on the fun and cracked a smile.
Scroll down to the 6th photo and you can see how solemn Eddy and Axel typically look when they are signing autographs. Then see the photos of me and Eddy - it appeared as though he actually enjoyed my groping and caressing his lean body. The photos of Eddy's old steel DeRosa (?) are very cool. That bike was absolutely pristine. What I wouldn't have given to take that bike back to California with me.
I'm already looking forward to next year.
Jan Johnson
Portola Valley, CA