So first things first and its definitely late but as the proverbial saying goes better late then never.
Stayed with Greg from Straitline and friends in the Carlton during the Crankworx weekend and watched it with a bunch of great people on the top of the Longhorn.Met Kev and Kyle, Sam and the rest of the crew from Transition bikes and Metzger was running around with my camera and took some pretty cool shots.
I
have to say that it was great. We all set aside that we work for, as some may consider competing bike companies and just revelled in the wonder and love of being riders. We cheered on all the riders whether it was McDermot's sick front flips, or Andreu L. double back...I think crashing beer bottles together and just taking it all in with a bunch of guys and gals who really love the sport was definitely awesome.
We also had Keith there from Scotland, and Alan Hepburn, Marcelo, and it was awesome just hanging out and having laughs with our riders too... something i won't forget and hope to do it all again next year.Other highlights were bumping into Steve Smith in the hallway and he was nice enough to bro down with us before heading off to go meet with Cody Swansboro who is now doing the Redbull thang.
And who i thought was Cedric because i had seen him earlier playing with that bellboy cart thing end up infact being the dudes that were staying with us getting busted by the cops for surfing it down the streets of Whistler Village in a drunk and disorderly fashion - haha
Well after Crankworx came and went it was off to Eurobike which was cool and of course i didn't take very many pictures but I did stay a few weeks after the show in Bad Camberg and ripped around in my rental car.
It was fun hanging out with people I know from our factory like Ryan from Astrix, Stephan and Steijn from Risse and Muller, and Hans and Marina from Shock Therapy. We ended up watching the formula 1 together before I had to say my goodbyes and head back to Canada.
Back home for a week and then it was off to Las Vegas. I also posted about that but I'll pick it up where I left off - the day after our little urban MOB session with our Colorado crew and the guys from Trident.We had one more day of the demo left and Tom Delacy from WTB showed up earlier wanting to pwn us in the Canyon. I guess he likes riding with me and Dalen from Trident cause we don't complain and can at least keep up with him.
Although I'll give the guy mad props... I did not expect a guy from Northern Cali to throw it down like he does. He did win the Downieville DH race in Elite Cat. so he is definitely good and fast but I really didn't think he'd have the balls to hit some of the stuff i saw him hit.I know next time he comes up for his vacation in Whistler I'm gonna be ready for him... although someone who rides with the likes of Mark Weir I can only imagine what kind of punishment that dude dishes out on Tom.
We never did meet up for the ride. I went up to get my gear and miss-communication ended up having me riding up without them. It was the first time back on a bike after I tore my MCL and the knee felt good but definitely wasn't 100% - I was super happy tho.
Double flat at the sametime forced me to put the bike away and start tearing down as it was the end of the day.Couple little punks decided that a good trade was their BMX bikes for 2 Scythes and 1 of which was Dalens personal bike - that sucked!!!!
Later found out that on that same weekend Kens Wildcard got stolen and Johnny's scratch... unbelievable??!! that was 3 trident employees bikes all in one weekend.
Our luck didn't end there as we blew out the trailer tire at 11pm driving home in Payson UT. Ended up having to stay the night but i guess we were tempting fate on that one as Johnny admitted to knowing there was a screw in the tire... i'm amazed we made it down there and half the way back.
Well
got home and had a week or so to catch up on all the emails and stuff and then off to go visit Dennis, DJ, and Greg from Straitline. OMG that shop is super killer with all the machines buzzing around and stuff - all top of the line stuff and those dudes are super smart. I love talking to Dennis because he's the kind of guy I used to have to work with when I was a production manager at Syncros and other places in my colorful past where I would have to work closely with the machinists. It was cool to see that "he gets it". Look for Banshee and Straitline to team up in the future on some really cool stuff. As Greg likes to say both DJ and Dennis love to geek out on stuff and I know Banshee Keith loves to as well so we just need to find the right project hmmmn??? maybe we already have one hmmmn?? oh i'll never tell.I was there
also to visit with Casey who as you know is another one of the owners. The guys were working on pedal axles and tore him off a brass one he could keep which was pretty awesome. In his spare time Casey restores old classics and has currently a little 2stroke pulled apart on a little scooter. I've seen the collection a few times and he always has a few more he's acquired since the last time I've seen him. It was fun showing the Straitline guys the collection of stuff he's working on because its cool to see where we came from in terms of bike and component design.
Next day it was off to visit a few shops in the Victoria area and Sunday I went out to see the mtb park they're building. Looks like a ton of work to do but all the volunteers were plodding away and even got to meet drew mitchell which was cool.Back on my rocket over the ferry to Vancouver and a week later on a plane to Taiwan.
I got a sh*tload of work to do and first and foremost is finally shipping these Legends.
Yes they are done... just need to be painted. I gotta get a call in to Tom at WTB... i need a set of wheels and tires, and Alex from Fox... need a fork... oh damn forgot Josh at Cane Creek.
My Legends gonna be Gold with Team black front, probably black links or gold and a Shimano Saint kit... [i'm still waiting on a few parts] and FYI the Legend will work with Saint stuff.
