Meet Bob Roll Sunday

Each of the last few years at Interbike we've held a drawing for dealers that attend the show. There are a few prizes, but the grand prize is a visit to their shop by Bob Roll. Each of the last three years it's been "An Evening with Bob Roll" where he'll come in and share stories about his riding days, his fellow competitors and team mates, the Tour Day France and the state of cycling today. He always arrives to packed shops wherever he goes.

This year we changed it up a little bit as part of our whole Feel Free to Stop campaign. This year the grand prize is that Bob will go to the winning shop and ride with the owner and a few of his/her close friends and then go back to the shop and hang out for a little bit. As we mentioned, a very good customer of ours won the event at the show in September. Well it's this weekend!

Yes, Bob will be visiting Velo Pasadena this Sunday morning! It seems as though owners Nevrik and Hrach have taken their prize to the next level and created quite an event for their customers, too. They really care about their customers because not only will Bob be there but there will be food, music, demos, test rides, raffle prizes (hint..think locks, Bob Roll shirts...) and, did I mention...Bob Roll!

The festivities will start around 11am so if you are close to Pasadena, c'mon over and meet Bob - he'll be with our regional manager, Don Shipman, so it's a Kryptonite twofer. Bob and Don will be there until around 1-ish so get on over there and say "hi". And, while you are at it, thank Nevrik and Hrach for making us feel so welcome. Have a great time!

Bob Roll visits Velo Pasadena

by Don Shipman, Western Regional Manager



At the Interbike trade show in September, Bob Roll worked in the Kryptonite booth with us each morning. In the booth, Kryptonite retailers could enter to win a personal store visit by Bob himself, and on the last day of the show we drew from the fishbowl to see who the lucky winner was.

This year's winner was Hrach Gevrikyan at Velo Pasadena in Pasadena, California. Hrach and his wife Nevrik have run their high end Pro Shop since 1988 and were thrilled at winning. Hrach selected Sunday, November 4th and organized a "ride with Bob" VIP ride for his best customers, invited some vendors like Time & Specialized to demo their bikes, hired a DJ and a guy to BBQ and the party was on!

The sun rose Sunday on a perfect day. I was to pick Bob up at the hotel and arrived early - but Bob was ready to go! As we drove to the shop he asked how many people were expected and I said well.............we though there would be about 30 on the ride but that there were already about 80 when I left a half hour ago. Bob seemed worried, "80?" he asked. "80, but that was a half our ago".

We snuck in the back of the store where Hrach had full use of a large parking lot - the lot was jammed full of bikes and people - it was a sea of color. We wasted no time and made our way though the crowd to get fitted on a couple of spankin new Time bikes.

Back outside, a ride leader announced the route - were going to do about a 20 mile loop out around the Rose Bowl. Bob "clicks in" and were off through the quiet streets of Pasadena. I dropped back to count and was astonished - there were about 150 people on this ride! The peloton was about the same size as what you see in the "Tour Day France" - and the amazing part was that wile the pace was brisk the pack stayed together, mostly because as we snaked our way through the tree canopied streets of Pasadena Hrach was working the peloton to keep it together - he dropped back and pulled some back to the peloton, was calling out to others and checking on people, going to the front, dropping to the back and just working hard at 20MPH! Some wanted to go faster, some slower but Hrach just wanted everyone to ride together and have fun.

As we rounded the Rose Bowl and started the mild descent back to the shop the pace relaxed some. People were going to the front to ride with Bob and chat with him a bit. The fun and relaxed pace slowed as we rounded the final turn onto Colorado Blvd. (yep, the same one as the Tournament of Roses Parade) and arrived back at the shop. The BBQ was smokin, the DJ was spinning and the demo bikes were ready to go.

Bob changed and worked the crowd some before settling under the tent to sign Kryptonite posters, shake hands and take pictures.

As the crowd of roughly 300 finally subsided Hrach, brought out an old program from the 1982 Coors Classic and Bob and Hrach shared war stories about racing together back in the day. When Bob left I heard him invite Hrach to come hang out with him at the "Tour of Cali" in February.

A special thanks to Hrach and his wife Nevrik for their warm, welcoming hospitality. We only get Bob to the store - the rest is up to the retailer and Velo Pasadena know how to throw a party!

Bob Roll, Velo Pasadena - A Pictorial

Remember our Interbike contest....Velo Pasadena won a ride with Team Kryptonite member Bob Roll. Well, Don Shipman, our regional manager in the west, gave us all a great post about the day he and Bob had at Velo Pasadena at the beginning of this month.


Angela, the owner's daughter, took a lot of photos during the day. Below are a few to get the feel of the day to compliment Don's words, but you can view all of the photos here. Enjoy!

Thanks to everyone who came out to meet Bob; we hope you all had a great time.

Bob didn't travel with his bike so Velo Pasadena kindly provided him with one.

Here he's doing a few last minute adjustments before he's off with the group.

Don looks like he's all set to get out and enjoy a ride on a gorgeous Sunday morning!

There were about 150 people who joined Bob and Don on the ride.

Bob's all set to go!

Here's the front of the ride as they got going just a little ways from the shop.

I just love this shot. Looks like a pro peloton coming down the road.

Check it out. Everyone following the rules of the road

and stopping at the red light! Safety first!

Everyone seems to be having a good time.

According to Don, Hrach (store owner) moved around the group

often making sure everyone was riding comfortably and having a good time.

The ladies were out in full force for the ride, too. But...where's Bob?

There he is - with a bunch of new riding buddies.

And there he is again in a different part of the group.

And...with even more people. Looks like Hrach wasn't the only

one doing some meeting and greeting during the ride.

Bob, Tori and Hrach look like they are ready for some BBQ after the 20-miler!

Bob signed autographs and chatted with folks that were on the ride and some that just stopped by. In all, about 300 people were hanging out at Velo Pasadena throughout the day.

Hrach and Bob reminisced over "the old days"

Bob with our hosts for the day

(l-r) Nevrik, Hrach, Matthew and Angela Gevrikyan

Vegas/Interbike Here We Come!

Well, part of the crew is already out there at a meeting...seriously...that's their party line and they're sticking to it anyway.

The rest of us arrive tonight and tomorrow. We're all there for the Interbike trade show. Bob Roll's given his pre-event take on it and I have to say it isn't too far off my opinions. But, I'm very excited to see all the great people that I only get to see once a year. There are too many to name here, I'd miss someone and feel terrible about it. Just suffice to say, I'm glad to see all these folks!

I'll try to blog from the show, but I won't be as good about it as Fritz will, or any number of the other bloggers going. Tim Grahl, he'll be all over the show. And so many more. Me? I'll be hanging in my booth for the most part, except for The Spokesmen live podcast on Wednesday. Yikes - live! But, that may give me a unique perspective to the show - most bloggers get to walk the show and see all kinds of cool things. I will let you know what I see from the inside of a booth out. Could be booorrrring to y'all....but could be interesting. We'll just have to wait and see.

If you are a dealer and headed to the show come by and see us! We're in the same place as always (I don't know if I could find my way somewhere else at this point!) - booth 3319. All of our new regional managers will be there to abuse...I mean meet and talk with. :)

One thing that I know won't be boring to write about.......Bob Roll will be with us on Wednesday and Thursday mornings from 10-11am with FREE COFFEE. You know you need it to give you a little boost after one of those looong Vegas nights.

We are also giving away a chance to ride with Bob Roll to a lucky dealer. We'll bring Bob to you. Yes, we will. It's a great promo for your store. Bob will come ride with you and some of your friends and then hang out at the store and have a little coffee and chat with your customers.

So...Feel Free to Stop at the Kryptonite booth, say 'hey', chat with Bob, get some coffee and enter the drawing.

See you there!

Bob Roll Event in Boston - Friday!

So, it's May...and the weather is starting to get better here in New England. Driving to work this morning I even got a whiff of fresh cut grass for the first time this year. That is when I know Spring really has arrived!

Another way to tell it's spring? More cyclists out and about. More people commuting, more people riding for enjoyment. It's great to see.

We are all about getting Spring going here at Kryptonite! And, we're helping one of our great dealers, Landry's, kick off the spring cycling season by stopping by with Bob Roll on Friday night! That's right, Bobke is going to be at Landry's Boston store this Friday night for "An Evening with Bob Roll." How cool is that?

The event kicks off at 7pm and all the details can be found on Landry's event page.

Here's the address:
Landry's Bicycles
890 Commonwealth Avenue
BOSTON, Massachusetts 02215
617.232.0446
RSVP to: boston(at)landrys(dot)com

I'll be there....Eric will be there....Roby will be there....and probably a few other Kryptonite folks. C'mon out and join us - it will be lots of fun hanging with Bob!

Interbike Day 1

Day 1 of the Interbike show opened with a flourish. I don't think I took a deep breath until about noon - or maybe later.

Highlights:
- seeing good friends! Some I only see once a year, some I haven't seen in a few years and others that I have never met in person until yesterday. I know trade shows are a lot of work, but this truly is the best part. And, if you have more than 2 minutes to catch up with some of these folks, it's truly a great day. Thanks to those friends who found more than a few minutes to catch up.

- having Bob Roll in the booth, of course. Bob is always fun and brings in a great crowd.

- judging the YouTube contest at the Shimano booth. I was in some pretty cool company. Wow!

- actually doing a Spokesmen podcast in the same room with the rest of the crew! I may have sounded like a complete dork, but it was great to be in the same room with David, Carlton, Tim and Tim.

- seeing dragons - yes, dragons...

- attending the 7-Eleven team reunion. What a historic occasion. As John Eustice said, this is really the team that started it all...7-Eleven to Motorola to US Postal to Discovery....and what stories they have of the 'old days'. The pre-event announcement mentioned "Celebrating the Fast Times & Raucous Racing of American Cycling's Original Supergroup". After hearing some of the stories, I have to think it was quite a wild ride (no pun intended).

***The 7-Eleven reunion was a fundraiser for the Davis Phinney Foundation. All donations to the foundation to October will be matched by Bicycling Magazine. You can donate here, just leave the box for the "Victory Lap" checked and Bicycling will match. Bravo, Bicycling!

Ok, got to run to the second day....here are a few photos...




Kryptonite booth (side view)



Oh, look at the front view of our booth...it's the new Masi Soulville ...yes, it's as cool as you think it is....and it looks good on our flamed out parking meter (yes, it's a Dave Perewitz original).



Bob Roll telling stories to some cycling fans at the Kryptonite booth.




I'm a lucky gal....this was the group judging the YouTube contest. (l-r) Dave (Shimano), David (Fredcast/The Spokesmen), Tim Grahl (Crooked Cog), little ole me (!), Bob Roll (y'all know him...), Master of Ceremonies Carlton (BikeBiz), Mr. Kozo Shimano (our gracious host) and Phil Liggett (y'all know him, too).


I wasn't kidding about the dragons....

Interbike Wrap-Up - Inside Our Booth in Photos

Ok, so here's the last batch of photos from Interbike. As I mentioned, I'd try to do a little different spin on Interbike at times - life from inside a booth. Here are some more things I saw from inside our booth....

Karen and Craig take a short break to smile for the camera before getting back to talking with customers. Our booth was jammed pretty much from the get-go right up until Friday afternoon when it was very sloooowww...so slow all around that I heard booths coming down by 4ish (the show is open until 6pm).

Simon and Lisa from Colin Lewis Cycles in the UK were greeted by our in-transition European/South American Sales Manager, Gustavo. They won a trip to Interbike through a Kryptonite contest held this past winter. It was great having them with us. Last I heard they were headed for some sight seeing and shopping....hope they had fun on the rest of their trip.

Bob Roll chats with and signs a poster for one of our customers. Bob joined us in the morning both Wednesday and Thursday and was, as usual, a crowd favorite!

Craig and Eric serve up some coffee to the folks that stopped by to see Bob. They did a great job! Sandy, too, but I learned during this show that Sandy is about as comfortable in front of the camera as I am.

Chris and Cyndie from Cool Breeze Cyclery stopped by to say 'hello' to Bob. It was so much fun meeting them in person!

Eric Hawkins, owner of Park Tool, also stopped by to greet Bobke. The Park Tool booth is right near ours at Interbike, which is great because we've known those guys forever and they are always fun to hang out with.


Through the power of the internet and the telephone, I've "known" Mark Alker from Singletrack Magazine for years. We are even Facebook friends and connect on MySpace. However, since I think he is never allowed out of the office for some reason, I've never met him in person....until Interbike! It was great meeting him in person. From what I can gather, Mark's first trip to Vegas was a full experience....he needed the coffee we were serving, big time!

Century Cycles in Ohio won "An Evening with Bob Roll" during our Interbike contest a few years ago. Scott, the owner, came by to say a quick hello and drop his card in to win a ride with Bob this year.

Craig checks out a funky bike that made its way to the booth.

One of our favorite visitors to the booth every year is Marilyn Price from Trips for Kids. She was telling Karen here about all the new chapters she's opening. Bravo!!

Tim Grahl stopped by for a bit at the show and showed us that he's all in tune with our new Justice League padlocks. By the way, he was telling me some amazing things about the growth of his Commute By Bike site. Check it out!

Our friend Eric from Pedro's stopped by on Friday at just the right time. We asked him to pick the winners for our 'Win a Ride with Bob' contest and he did a great job. And the winners are....

Nevrik and Hrach from Velo Pasadena are the grand prize winners! Bob's going to be visiting their shop the first week of November. We are very happy they won since they are such great customers.

Christian (MN), Kevin/Squid (NY) and Billy (CA) are way loyal Kryptonite customers. Each has been a bike messenger for more years than they'd probably want me to tell you about and have become friends over the years. Ok, I just met Billy, but he was hanging with Kevin so it's all good. I know they don't go anywhere with their bikes without a Kryptonite lock. Congrats to Kevin on opening is own messenger company recently.

Lucky gal, version 2. The best part of any job, for me, has always been the people I meet along the way. I've been truly lucky in this job to meet some wonderful folks. Some I am fortunate enough to see more than once a year, some I only see at Interbike and some only come to the show every other year or so. This was a special year...the gang's just about all here (John seemed to be missing during this photo, but he was there, too).

And that's Interbike for another year. I think that Bob may have his own wrap-up later this week, but his will be very different from any of ours and I'm sure it will include a mention of the 7-Eleven team reunion. Stay tuned for that.

Now, on to the fall...

Bob Roll & Kryptonite Visit West Broward Bicycle Center

At the bicycle industry trade show, Interbike, Kryptonite holds a dealer contest each year. Some years it's been a treasure hunt type of event, sometimes an event of olympic proportions, but the last few years it's simply been a business card drop and a lucky dealer has won "An Evening with Bob Roll".

Our last lucky winner was Kryptonite dealer Jose Pardo, owner of West Broward Bicycle Center. Bob recently visited his store and spent the evening chatting with customers about Le Tour, cycling in general and the future of the sport.

Our Eastern Regional Manager, Eric Anastasia, was with Bob and said it was a blast. Come to think of it Jose said it was great, too. And, Bob loved all the good questions. Sounds like I missed a fun time.....hmmm...I need to see about getting in on one of these nights soon...

Here are some more photos of the event. There is a strange effect to the photos that makes it look smoky or something in the room...it wasn't...just the photo itself...

Enjoy.

A full house!

Vintage Bob

I don't know....driving somewhere? Classic!

Landry's Hosts Bob Roll

Friday night we were at Landry's Boston store for "An Evening with Bob Roll." Rob, Roby, Eric and I had a blast at the shop - everyone was so nice and they had everything planned perfectly. I think Bob's going to blog about it, but I thought I'd post some photos before then.

I just loved this display of the jersey and the old fashioned sign.

I might like this display just a teeny bit more, though. How could I not? It's what you see as you walk through the front door! I'm not kidding - it's right there. Have I mentioned that we love the guys and gals at Landry's?

Rob, Eric, Bob and Roby hanging out before the event

Packed house! I think there were a couple of hundred people there. Everyone had a great time.

Bob joins manager Mark Vautour and the rest of the Landry's Crew. I dig their shirts, don't you?!

After the event, Mark brought us to the Washington Square Tavern, which isn't too far from the shop. Gerry's the owner and made us feel extremely welcome all evening. He's a cyclist (if you can't tell by his shirt!)and hosts evening rides with the Landry's crew on Tuesday nights. But, better than that...yes, there is a "better than that"...the food is amazing! I've been raving about it all weekend to everyone I know in the area; both Roby and I have been telling everyone in the office today, too. It was the perfect end to a great event.

Thank you to Mark and everyone at Landry's for making us feel so welcome - and, of course, for being such a great Kryptonite partner!

Bob Roll & Facebook

Bob checked in last night from France - he said on the Mediterranean and I think he said Marseille, which is where the stage ends today. He was going to have a blog post for us, but the drive from the end of yesterday's stage to where he is now was gruelling, I guess. Long and much concentration needed. But, he checked in to tell me that he's having a great time and hopes everyone is enjoying the coverage. He'll check in again tonight or tomorrow with a post so stay tuned!

So...while we were chatting, I told him that I'd just joined Facebook and, while trying to get the hang of it, I found a group called "Bob Roll is the Greatest Sports Announcer Ever." Fun! So, I joined, of course. And if you are part of Facebook, go join today! Bob thinks it's great. One of the topics there is, "What is your favorite Rollism." There aren't many answers there, yet, but I told him I'd keep him posted because he wants to know. So, I'll ask you guys and gals - what's your favorite Rollism? C'mon, there are so many to choose from!

And, while I'm asking...what do you all think of Facebook? It seems like very college student on the planet is part of it, not to mention some of the folks that read this blog. What is it about Facebook? I'm still new so I want to hear from all of you. Personally, I think it is another great way to keep in touch with friends - I've got a friend traveling in Russia right now and can keep up with the progress there a little, a family member is in Costa Rica and signs on sporatically, another friend in the military who travels frequently - all of these folks I can keep up with easily. Then there are the friends that you don't talk to as often as you'd like (go Vols!), but can keep up with on the fly there - faster than email.

So....two questions for you on this dreary New England morning. What do you think about Facebook - love it or not? And...what's your favorite Rollism?

Bob Roll, Dave Perewitz, Nicole Hoffman, & Jody Perewitz Join Unbreakable Bonds Blog

My friends who work in offices remind me often that I work in a couple of pretty cool industries. Because of that, I get to meet some very interesting people and have a lot of fun. Today is one of the days that I know I’m pretty darn lucky to be where I am and get to tell you all this good news.

Although we only started this blog less than two months ago, we are already kicking it up a notch. Remember, I promised that it wouldn’t be just me writing here? I wasn’t kidding. I know you don’t want to hear from me all the time – that’s no fun. I’m happy to tell you that not only will the internal Kryptonite gang be writing here more often (yes, you will everyone!), but we are adding 4 other folks to our blogging crew. They will each be doing a post about their unbreakable bond to the industry they are in so you get to know them a bit and then they will write about a variety of topics. They are free to wax poetic about anything cycling and motorcycling related – and maybe a few other things, too. We’ll just have to see what they come up with.

I’m not playing favorites so we’ll go alphabetically by first name….

Bob Roll’s in the Kryptonite House. Yes, he is. Bob’s going to be writing before, during and after The Tour DAY France. Ok, during the Tour DAY France he’ll be calling in to me while he’s crazily driving between stages and I’ll type them out for him (all his words, just my typing). Some could call it ‘cheating’, but I call it getting the red hot scoop! Don’t worry, it won’t be all racing related, though, because you can hear his thoughts on that during the coverage on Versus. He’s probably going to talk about some of the observations behind the scenes, too. Oh, I can’t wait!

Dave Perewitz is on board, too. The King of Flames has been in the motorcycle industry for so long and knows so many people I can only imagine what he’ll write about here. I love going to his shop to visit and seeing celebrity bikes before anyone else – hearing what the paint will be or what custom parts will be added and why. By the way, if you are in Chicago this weekend, join Ruben Brown’s Charity Ride. Yes, Ruben Brown of The Chicago Bears (Da Bears). Dave’s built him motorcycles and he’ll be there with Ruben for the ride, too.

Nicole Hoffman is the newest member of Team Kryptonite (look for her soon on the main website). Although we haven’t officially announced our partnership with Nicole, she’s going to be our next Unbreakable Bonds profile (stay tuned next week). We are pumped to have not only a road racer on our team but a woman road racer…how’s that for cool?! She also works for NASCAR – talk about bonding with me right away! Yes, I’m a NASCAR fan. Get over it.

Jody Perewitz is going to be writing with us, too. Jody was born into the motorcycle industry, but she has very different observations and thoughts than Dave. We wanted to get the woman’s perspective on the rallys and motorcycling, in general, too. Jody hits almost as many events as her famous dad and knows all the same folks he knows. She’s also helped to build custom bikes and is in the process of another one now. And, shhh….don’t tell anyone…but she’s learning painting techniques now, too….

That’s our new writing team. Are you as excited about this as I am? Ok, I’m partly excited because I won’t be writing as much (I know, I know, you are happy about that, too). But, I’m also excited to read what these guys and gals write about myself. Between their writing and the non-stop Unbreakable Bonds profiles, I think this is going to be the place to be this summer for some really interesting reading.