Saturday, February 21, 2009

Back in Beitou

I've been back in Taiwan for about a month now and most of the time its just work work work but got out for a little day of digging and managed to get in 1 run before it got too dark.

It must be kinda strange for the Taiwanese people seeing 2 white dudes [me and lance canfield] heading up the mountain with shovels and other digging tools cause we sure get a lot of strange looks. One dude stopped us and asked me if we were looking for treasure. Of course they have no idea that anyone is digging mountain bike trails so I guess the imaginations run wild.

We did manage to build a little hip with a burm before it and then tore down a wall ride that was totally rotted and rediverted the trail back onto the new section of trail. Thankfully we had the help of some local guys who love to dig and love to ride.

There is quite alot to do over here if you know where to go for fun. Before I came over I always heard horror stories and how most people couldn't wait to get back home. Maybe it is a pain in the ass for some but so far I always have a blast and also get a bunch of stuff done.

Soon it'll be off to Malaysia - Kuala Lumpur to see the Fakawi Tribe. I'll be grabbing my Legend and hope to get to see their local trails and do some riding.

Should be lots of fun.
I'll only be gone a couple of days as I have a ton of work to get finished.
Currently working on a catalog which should be completed in a couple weeks. Ryan has been the guy whose been working on it and he's done a stellar job.
Also were working on the plans for Interbike. Yeah its in October... or is it september??!!! anyway if you don't start planning now you end up going crazy doing everything last minute and I hate working like that.
I also have a bunch of other stuff to do as well but thats boring stuff that I'm sure you have no interest in hearing about... like a S&OP for 2010.

So after I get back from KL we will have lots of people showing up for the TPE show, so its gonna start getting a little Zoo-ish around here.
Steve, John and Chris from Niner will be here soon. Peter - another Canadian who is working on a folding bike thingy. Chris Canfield might also show up unless he gets selected for the US national DH team... hopefully he doesn't show up cause that means he got on the team - good luck Chris!! and I think Todd and Gabe from Evil might show up. Gabe is a cool guy and would be fun to party and ride with so I'm hoping he comes along with Todd. Stijn will be back and then my good friend and Banshee distributor Gabriel from Brazil will also be here and we'll be hanging out with Ollie, Lynn and the rest of the Funn components gang.
Hopefully I can stay on top of all my emails during this crazy period and still get some riding in.

So I'll leave you with some other interesting sights and sounds from Taiwan.

From the Latern Festival, gokarting, to my crappy drum solo at a local spot called Jalepenos where you can actually get Mexican food and a tasty margurita, and lastly some pics I took of Stejn doing a little urban jibbing on the Paradox.