A Slowtwitch Road Show in NC
The first Slowtwitch Road Show took place at Inside Out Sports in Cary, NC and here are some impressions from a day filled with clinics, demos, bike fittings, gear and people.
The day started at 8am with a run sponsored by Salming. This Swedish shoe brand also brought in 6-time IRONMAN World Champion Mark Allen to partake in the festivities.
Slowtwitch founder Dan Empfield flew in from California and was busy with bike fits all day. Here he worked with Paul Rudnicke who came to Cary from Winston-Salem, NC – a roughly 1:40 drive.
Meanwhile outside, folks were busy getting limber and relaxed.
Mark Allen spoke several times about his racing experience, and he drew a large captive crowd every time.
Here Mark Allen shows one of the newest Salming shoe models.
Timex pro Kelly Fillnow worked with sponsor Blueseventy to assist people with wetsuit demos at the pool at O2 Fitness, less than a mile away from InsideOut Sports.
An enthusiastic Blueseventy Helix wetsuit tester.
Slowtwitcher Brian Randolph is from New Bern, NC and he was in the area for the GYSSA League Championships swim meet (for kids Blake and Breanna). The Slowtwitch Road Show was a great bonus and daughter Breanna was smitten with Hokas.
Hoka One One was one of several industry partners at the Road Show in Cary.
Brad Devaney of Quintana Roo helped a customer at the Inside Out Sports store.
Slowtwitcher David Daggett of Winston-Salem also got his fit dialed, and tested a variety of saddles.
T Blocks is a new brand with a very clever transition rack system. It is modular and can be adjusted to fit a variety of tire widths, including mountain bikes. Plus there is space for sponsor logos, athlete names or race numbers.
Marcus Robinson is the man who come up with the T Blocks system and he will travel to many of the Slowtwitch Road Shows.
The SRAM/Zipp crew was busy too, and they had various new toys and gadgets to show off.
For many people this was the first opportunity to try out the SRAM E-Tap system.
Slowtwitcher Eric Reid lives in the vicinity and he came by to check out the activities. He tried to get a gait analysis, but the system was not playing along. Reid however still got some good feedback and information.
At 2pm a group left for a ride in and around Cary.
Back in the mechanic area of the shop it was business as usual. Bikes always need love and attention.
The folks in the shoe department were busy.
Bruce Richter aka thechromedome in our forum was a great friend of Dave Mirra, and he managed to smile, although with a heavy heart.
All day long raffle prizes were drawn, but you had to be present to win. Bruce Richter had just left when his name was drawn.
Another popular session drew a crowd.
Without passionate bike shop owners such as Cid Cardoso Sr, such shows would not be possible.
All images © Herbert Krabel / slowtwitch.com
