Bike Expo
I’ve probably said it before, and I definitely think it again: I like bicycling much better than bicycle riders, bicycles way better than the bicycling world.
I was reminded of this today when Mimi and I rode the tandem down to Cascade Bicycle Club’s annual Bike Expo, that strange mixture of corporate bike store warehouse sale and trade show for makers of (mostly, it seemed) energy drinks, candy bars, and alternative human “fuel” sources.
In fact, the most “bikey” part of the whole thing was our ride down there and back; the scene inside the exhibition hall—Pier 30 on the waterfront—felt more like, (at best) the MacWorld convention, (at worst) Nordstrom Rack on sales day.
My intent was to shmooze exhibitors in the hope of drumming up prizes for the Taco Truck Time Trial, but I soon learned my heart wasn’t in it. I did pass out a couple handfuls of flyers and gave a number to folks I knew and/or recognized, but it wasn’t as if bicycle products corporations are falling all over themselves to offer up free merchandise to some random guy trying to promote an illegal race geared to riders who aren’t really the demographic those companies are trying to sell to. (I can safely say, for instance, I’ve never seen anyone on a .83 ride eating Gu Energy Gel and washing it down with electrolyte water.)
There was an impressive display of vintage bicycles from the collections of Elliot Bay Cycles and Bainbridge Classic Cycles, including a very cool Schwinn Paramount track bike with curved seat stays as well as a bicycle-powered lawn mower.
Mimi and I also tried to stay and listen to the Metal Cowboy Joe Kurmaski, but found his schtick a bit too over the top and lacking in humility, so we split, the plastic bag handed to us as we entered especially for schwag, all but empty, just a single free Clif bar and a map in the bottom.
I was reminded of this today when Mimi and I rode the tandem down to Cascade Bicycle Club’s annual Bike Expo, that strange mixture of corporate bike store warehouse sale and trade show for makers of (mostly, it seemed) energy drinks, candy bars, and alternative human “fuel” sources.
In fact, the most “bikey” part of the whole thing was our ride down there and back; the scene inside the exhibition hall—Pier 30 on the waterfront—felt more like, (at best) the MacWorld convention, (at worst) Nordstrom Rack on sales day.
My intent was to shmooze exhibitors in the hope of drumming up prizes for the Taco Truck Time Trial, but I soon learned my heart wasn’t in it. I did pass out a couple handfuls of flyers and gave a number to folks I knew and/or recognized, but it wasn’t as if bicycle products corporations are falling all over themselves to offer up free merchandise to some random guy trying to promote an illegal race geared to riders who aren’t really the demographic those companies are trying to sell to. (I can safely say, for instance, I’ve never seen anyone on a .83 ride eating Gu Energy Gel and washing it down with electrolyte water.)
There was an impressive display of vintage bicycles from the collections of Elliot Bay Cycles and Bainbridge Classic Cycles, including a very cool Schwinn Paramount track bike with curved seat stays as well as a bicycle-powered lawn mower.
Mimi and I also tried to stay and listen to the Metal Cowboy Joe Kurmaski, but found his schtick a bit too over the top and lacking in humility, so we split, the plastic bag handed to us as we entered especially for schwag, all but empty, just a single free Clif bar and a map in the bottom.
posted by Professor Dave at 4:48 PM
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