Greets from IOWA, no wait ... Chicago

-
One of the many things you can buy on RAGBRAI

My RAGBRAI shots (the photogallery doesn't work that well in CHROME)

I've just returned from bouncing around like an email selling Viagara .... NY, Philly, Texas, Eugene, Seattle and finally IOWA, where I rode across the state with 10,000 others on RAGBRAI. Including Lance, who, at all times, seemed to be riding his bike just outside my field of vision.

After many 'Where's Lance?' moments I lightheartedly accused his yellow and black clad platoon of fundraisers of being paid to say 'here's over there' while pointing in precisely the opposite direction. I saw one guy who I swore was Lance except on dropping my gaze to his shoes I saw a pair of sandals. Would Lance wear sandals? If he was wearing ballet slippers with a large gold button on the toe I'd know it was him - I read somewhere he was dating a NY fashion designer called Tori Burch whose signature creation for 2007 are those very slippers. But no, they were just those clunky old Shimano cycling sandals, Jesus boots with cleats, as a friend calls them.


So while I gather myself and sort out my RAGBRAI photos - and what a rolling party that was - I hope you'll be content with reading about my visit to the amazing Little People of America Conference in Seattle http://www.bikefriday.com/lpa07 and to the quirky Round*Up folding bike fest in Philly http://www.bikefriday.com/roundup where you will find a video of the Fast Folding Showdown.

Pronto ...

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Still rolling after all these years: the Kosta Boda snowball

-
Image
The Kosta Boda snowball: the classiest affordable gift of the 80's, born in 1973 FOR THE BENEFIT of those D ownunder: last month  was Thanksgiving, the day when 'mericans down tools and celebrate the "the blessing of the harvest and the preceding year," according to Wikipedia . It's more like the blessing of the buffet, and generally not a day to bear gifts except for oneself, what with stores now opening on the actual day of thanks...is nothing sacred?  As an advertising/marketing pundit I use retail therapy to keep abreast of product design and retailing strategies (ok that's my excuse). My destination? The  TJ Maxx outlet in Wilton, Connecticut, where I'm visiting for the holiday.  Today it was empty. One explanation:  TJ's  merchandise is always on sale, so there's no real reason to make a beeline for it on  Black Friday.  "You're the first customer to acknowledge that," said the bored attendant at the jewelry...
Read more

It's not a Junket. It's a Job - The making of my "Best Job in the World" submission

-
Image
This is my submission to the Queensland Tourism Island Caretaker Job , along with the 30,000 other applicants (including Dean Martin's son, the Edmund Hilarys and Jacques Cousteaus of the world, and even an hilarious Osama impersonator). I use it now as part of my bio/resume, to demonstrate what I can do in 1 minute with a pocket digital camera, a guitar, a Mac, and an old tatty straw hat. My friend and multi-award-winning Art Director downunder, Sue Carey, challenged me to defend my self-styled title as a Multimediaclast - so this is for you, Sue! Judging from the staggering caliber of applicants, I'll be surprised if it floats (ha!) but oh, I do so love a 1-minute creative challenge. I can also I console myself that I've been doing this exact same job for the past 5 years as the Customer Evangelist and chief content creator for Bike Friday. The only difference is my butt is planted on a bike saddle, rather than a boogieboard. For tech trivia buffs, here's ...
Read more

SuperGerd! 90 Years Young and a Double Centurion (twice)

-
Image
In my " decade from across the dining room table " as a former Bike Friday customer evangelist, I met so many extraordinary cyclists and adventurers that made my modest job feel like the best job in the world. Newly-nonagenerian Gerd Rosenblatt, an acclaimed former UC Berkeley physics professor certainly hasn't let the passing decades get in the way of HIS  physics ( watch him tackle this hill at age 74.5 ). I had the pleasure of crossing the country with him on an 80-120 miles-a-day Route 66 trip with PACTOUR in 2006 . While I now grumble if the mileage creeps north of 50, he's just kept piling on his odometer. Below is his personal account of his most impressive feat to date: a double century (that's 200 miles folks) at the ripe young age of 90. Go Gerd!  JUMP TO:  5 QUICK QUESTIONS FOR GERD ROSENBLATT  Grand Tour Lowland Double Century Cycling Report – Gerd Rosenblatt – 90th Birthday Ride June 24, 2023 Background This is a report on the double century that I ...
Read more