Images from East Coast Shows
I'm 14 weekends without a break roaming around from store to store hosting Slowtwitch Road Shows. These were the two weeks I dreaded because it was right in the middle, 4 shows in 9 days, and teaching a F.I.S.T. Workshop at the GURU bike fit headquarters in between.
But it turned out to be fine. Yes, tiring, and I crashed for 2 days upon my return home. But I enjoy these Road Shows and spending time in front of your customer does not mean spending it all in front of a computer.
I'm always surprised by what works, because what I predict will work and what ends up working are not the same. Take Yoga classes, for example. We've had these at 2 Road Shows and they've been a big hit each time. This one took place at the Brielle Cycery Road Show in New Jersey.
This Jersey Show show was well attended, and this area has more triathletes than you'd think, unless you live here. Stephen Del Monte and Delmo Sports is the most important local triathlon race organization.
Here's Carl Matson, the Trek engineer most closely associated with the Speed Concept, giving a clinic to Brielle attendees, many or most of whom are Jersey Shore Tri Club members.
Kathy Penna owns this store, I'm sitting in front of a group delivering a stunningly insightful and positively riveting address while Kathy looks on.
My 10-day trip ended at Brielle. It began at Cycling Concepts in Glastonbury, CT. It was 66 degrees when I landed at the Hartford airport. By the following morning the sky was deciding between rain and snow but a number of game Connecticuters showed up for the scheduled ride the morning of the Road Show.
Keith Sherman owns Cycling Concepts and is introducing the next clinic.
Food and hospitality, beer usually, are staples of every Road Show, but every host store determines what it wants to do. Cycling Concepts treated everyone coming in from the morning ride and run to a Waffle Bar.
Overnight I traveled to Pacific Cycling and Triathlon and Stamford, CT's idea of morning hospitality is a Bloody Mary bar.
And their idea of a morning bike ride, when it's snowing out, is to perform it this way.
As is the case at most Slowtwitch Road Shows, fitting breaks out.
A ubiquitous presence at Road Shows is the Hoka One One field service rep. One run in a Hoka is worth a hundred forum discussions about the theory and nature of running shoes.
In between the CT Road Shows and the shows in NY and NJ the following week I taught a bike fit workshop at GURU, including a pair of fitters who sling hash at Now Bikes in Arden Hills, MN, the scene of a Road Show upcoming on the 4th of June.
The morning before the Saturday Road Show at Brickwell Cycles and Runner's Edge I'm answering y'all's emails in the bagel shop next door.
Polar's folks braved the cold and rain to set up in advance of this show. Polar has done some traveling. I spent this past weekend with them in Portland, Oregon and I'll see them this upcoming weekend just north of Sacramento.
I'm with Andrew Motola, owner of the Brickwell Cycling chain in Long Island, along with Bob Cook, longtime owner of Runner's Edge which shares a common wall with Brickwell in Farmingdale, NY.
I met Richard Izzo, the man behind the Toughman series. While a lot of North American race organizers are going sideways Toughman is marching straight ahead.
The day after Brickwell and Runner's Edge we were at the aforementioned Brielle Cyclerly show. Quarq's power meters were demoed there as they are at many Road Shows.
After 10 packed days I'm all done, except that I've got 7 more weekends in front of me without a break! I'm talking here with Cannondale's Damon Rinard (far right) and a couple of hours about… of course… bike fit!
