If you read the comments on my page you probably caught the one on the post about Mike and I heading to Interbike and the comment from Arleigh saying she was headed there too. I sent Arleigh an email with my cell phone number after checking out her website at 650b. I warned her that i’m not much of a bike geek anymore (there was a few years back in ‘87-’88 that i knew about every part and manufacturer of freestyle bikes) but that Mike and i would be around and to send me a text when she wanted to meet up.
I did some more web snooping and found her online persona on Flickr and then on to a few other blogs that she writes for.
Arleigh sent me a text while Mike and i were winding down from a day of riding bikes and wandering exhibits. We bounced messages back and forth but didn’t commit to anything. Just that Mike and i were going to get some food and drinks and that I’d keep her posted. After the dirt demo i was back in the hotel room for a shower and to cool off and rinse the dust from my throat. I uploaded a few photos that i took earlier in the day and saw that Arleigh had also uploaded some. I browsed through them, commented on one, and we soon took off to find some food.
Mike was in the mood for Mexican but we ended up leaning toward a Brazilian style steak house by the time we were in the cab. We changed our minds 3 times before settling on a Gordon Biersch. I told Mike that i had eaten at one in Seattle a few times and the one in D.C. before. When we arrived i realized that i also had been in this one.
Sidebar: a few years ago Cena had a trade show to attend and i walked to a Kinkos or MailBoxesEtc. or something to mail something out that needed to be sent via FedEx. We can’t mail FedEx from Petersburg. I walked in the 100 degree weather until finding it, mailed the package, walked back into the scorching weather. I glanced up and saw this Gordon Biersch across the street – slogged over and went right to the bar. The place was almost empty. The bartender slid a menu in front of me and said she saw me walking across the parking lot and could tell i needed a cold drink. Anyway – back to the original story…
We sat down at a table near the bar, ordered samplers and food. After an hour or so i thought i saw someone from some of Arleigh’s pictures from the outdoor demo walk by. I brushed it off. Then moments later someone that looked like Arleigh walked by. She stood and talked to someone at a table 25 feet away for a while. I sent her a text: “We settled on gordon biersch.” And i watched to see if she’d pull her phone out. Nothing. Oh well. She sat down with some people and after five minutes i got a reply “We’re there!” Now things were kind of strange. Out of the 23,000 attendees at a show like Interbike what are the chances that she’d post a comment on my blog? Certainly a good number of bloggers are cyclists. Technorati finds over 2,500 posts that mention Interbike. There must be thousands of places to eat in Vegas. What are the chances that we’d end up at the same place?
I didn’t know what to say. I sure didn’t want to come across as a stalker. Mike and i laughed about it and i kind of decided to just ignore it. A few minutes later she called. I told her to turn around and then waved at her. She came over, intoduced herself and we were able to clear up that she was the one stalking me. Just kidding.
Unfortunately, my big luck was used up by ending up at the same restaurant as someone that i only knew from a few pictures on Flickr and a couple of text messages. Despite best intentions, we didn’t end up socializing with Arleigh any further – partially because i lost her phone number in the Great Cell Phone Switch of ‘08.
On Wednesday morning before work I was dropping off some boxes at Zoom and saw this sticker on the rear fender of a bike that was in for service.
I stopped by the bike shop during lunch the other day and there were 8 skateboards on the ground outside. At least 4 of the kids bought stuff.
Mike and i made plans to attend Interbike next month. We’ll fly to Las Vegas on the 21st of September and return to Petersburg on the 28th. I used Hotelsescape to find a room at the Sahara for an average of $52 a night (plus taxes) and we’re using a companion fare ticket to fly down and back.
Interbike is the world’s largest bike expo. On the 22nd and 23rd we’ll participate in their outdoor expo where we’ll get to test out the latest products from hundreds of manufacturers on road and mountain trails. From the 24th to 26th we’ll wander the 1,000 plus brands represented with over 20,000 other bike retailers. Yes, i’m excited. Oh, and there will be Pai Gow squeezed in there on the 27th I’m sure. Kevin will probably drive up from LA to hang with us for the weekend too.
Mike had Ace make a sign for the bike shop a few weeks ago. Sunday I put it up.
C, i put the coin and dental in coincidental.
Anyway…
I bought Quickbooks to use for the bike shop (and for my other business too) and was just setting it up and was asked this question. Check out the sample after the third bullet.
Yesterday after work we whipped up a few attachments to the trailer that make it a mobile bike rental unit. It can carry 10 bikes. We attached a bin on the back for helmets. Total money spent: $0. I did spend some money on 24 feet of cable to lock the bikes with though.
We’re guaranteed to rent the 8 bikes we bought to one of the cruise ships each time they’re in Petersburg. We just need to park the trailer at the harbor each Wednesday morning and then pick it back up that afternoon. We even paid for the permit to park the trailer in the city lot.
Now I need a trailer hitch on my car (ordered one tonight) and the hitch of the trailer needs to be welded. Oh, and we’re going to build a roof over the bikes too.
A pile of repairs, six rental bikes, our retail inventory, and 8 bikes to rent to one of the cruise ships each time they’re in port. We’re full.
On my way to work this morning I saw two police cars near the bike shop. I thought “maybe someone broke into Wild Celery” (the gallery around the corner from the bike shop) because there have been some recent burglaries.
Cena broke the bad news to me — that the back window of Zoom had been broken and someone took the cash and checks from the register.
Papa Bear’s Pizza was also broken into. Last week Joan Mei was. We’re a real business now! People want to steal from us!
