Thank You, Thank You Very Much

I had a great time traveling to the second home of the King of Rock and Roll for the Interbike Trade Show this past week. Not only did I get a chance to see and ride the latest products in the bike industry, but I also had the chance to meet a lot of really cool people and watch the awesome CrossVegas Cyclocross Race. Of course, since I was on vacation, I was also able to get in some good rides during the week, too.

First off, I need to mention just how impressed I was with the new Salsa Bikes I saw and rode at the show. I was able to test ride the Fargo, the Chili Con Crosso, the Mukluk and Salsa’s new 29er suspension frame, the Spearfish. All of the new frames are different because they serve different purposes for riding, but one similarity they all have is that they are all super fun to ride. I wanted to take them all home with me and had specific ideas of how I wanted to use each one of them for different types pedaling fun. I would highly recommend checking out Salsa Cycles for more information about their new offerings. Unfortunately, I did not get a chance to ride the new Ti Selma by Salsa, but if it rides even half as nice as it looks, it is sure to be a winner, too.

Probably the thing I enjoyed most about my Interbike experience was meeting the people at Salsa. It was very interesting to speak in person to the engineers who do the design work for the bikes I enjoy riding so much. It was also very nice to finally meet all the people responsible for helping me so much with my racing. In addition to all of the Salsa Guys being really nice, down-to-earth people, I thought it was cool that they are all bike riders and seemed to be as passionate about riding as me. I am very lucky to be riding for such a great group of people and for a company truly dedicated to making quality bikes.

CrossVegas, the first major US cyclocross race of the year, was amazing to watch in person. It was kind of hard not being out there suffering with the rest of the racers, but watching the speed and tactics of the race was just as enjoyable for me at this race. The large number of cycling fanatic spectators at the race and the singing Elvis impersonator at the venue made this event as interesting as the City of Las Vegas itself. I haven’t had a chance to do a cross race yet this season, so seeing this race made my craving to do a cross race even stronger.

After witnessing CrossVegas, I actually thought about driving 4 hours from home to do my first cross race of the season on Sunday when I returned from Vegas, but decided it would be better to stay local and do the Brady’s Park Month of Mud Race, near Beaver, PA instead. After doing the race and a nice long ride afterwards, I definitely knew that I made the right choice with staying local. The trails at Brady’s were in great shape and super fast because of the lack of rain here. I ended up taking the overall win for the day, but only after having won a hard battle against Evan Perrone. The racers of western PA and I are very lucky to have this long-standing and tremendous local racing series in our area.

Next weekend I will finally be able to do some much anticipated cross racing on my Salsa La Cruz Ti. I will be racing at the first ABRA Cross Race in Waynesburg, PA on Saturday and at the M.O.M. GC Cross Race on Sunday. Hopefully all the racers in the Pittsburgh Area will be doing the same thing.

Happy Trails, Gerry