More Interbike with a side of Bacon

Only three more blog days left before my next extended blog hiatus, Mancation. I've got some shit to squeeze out of my head, so prepare for some randomness.

A few more Interbike thoughts...

Although I ended up on the same plane with Namrita and we shared transportation to the Sands Expo Center in a vehicle piloted by the rudest driver in Vegas, she was not the first person I saw inside Interbike. That would happen to be Rob Mitchell, CEO of MOOTS, who I have not seen since before the break-up. Rob is one of the reasons I had a hard time leaving MOOTS back in 2009. He's such a nice guy that when I locked the keys to the MOOTS penthouse inside the MOOTS penthouse on the Fourth of July, he did not freak out (I did). He just started trying to scale the aluminum siding up to a second story window. He has welcomed me into his home, and he made me feel special... not the special you felt when you climbed a rope in gym class, but special all the same.

I also ran into a few folks for the first time out in Vegas. I finally met Eric McKeegan from Dirt Rag, Jen from Walz Caps, and Guitar Ted from Twentynineinches.com (who took the non-blurry version of this photo).

I shoulda done my hair.

While at Interbike, I learned of something new and horrible. I knew they were remaking Footloose, but I did not know they were remaking all of Kevin Bacon's worst movies.

"Fixed gear, no brakes. Can't stop, don't want to either."

For fuck's sake, who's gonna pay top dollar to see this movie? I'll admit that it will get on my Netflix queue, but I'm sure I will regret it shortly after punching the > button. I did see a lot of messengers getting hit by cars in the trailer, so I'm pretty sure The Pie will love this movie. Perhaps I'll learn a thing or two about how to do my job better, like jumping chain link fences, doing 360° drops off garages, riding over parked cars, or how to bust a taxi drivers mirror off with my lock and avoid crooked cops.

I can't wait to see the remake of The Air Up There.

I wish I coulda went to Interbike ten years ago, before the internet had a chance to ruin it. I'd already seen almost everything I wanted to see on my computer monitor before I set foot in Vegas. I can also see why the show is NOT for consumers on multiple levels. It's just not what the show is about, and it shouldn't be. I didn't bother too many people working the booths since it seemed like they had business to do with industry type folk. For the most part I only bothered people I knew, but if some guy from Continental of MRP asked me if I had any questions while I was fondling their product, I mighta posed a query or two. I didn't grab any stickers, posters, or any other such stuff to cram into my bike room, but I did drink free beer and accept the gift of a practical hat or two. In short, I'm glad I went so I will no longer wonder what it would be like to go, but unless I have some sort of agenda, I have no plans to ever return.

I did bother Mike Ferrentino while I was there. He's always entertaining and has a point of view that is, dare I say, very individual. He pointed out the crabon V10 frame that was on display that had nary a scratch on it from this impressive wreck:



Since I did not get enough of Mike at Interbike, I sat down to a little MTV (Mike Television) yesterday. Over thirty minutes of Mike'isms, including horse tranquilizers, woobley things and ground-up midgets.