Hiking, Climbing and Camping My Way to Interbike

by Eric Anastasia, Eastern Regional Manager

This was the fourth year that I boarded a plane in route to Las Vegas for Interbike (international bike tradeshow). The conventional way of traveling to Interbike for me is to board the plane at Boston’s Logan Airport and disembark in “Sin City” Las Vegas, Nevada.

This year was different. I did leave from Boston but I landed in Denver, Colorado, then traveled out to Vail to link up with a good friend of mine. He had planned a little journey for us; well over a thousand driving miles, 2 State Parks, 5 National Parks and countless miles of hiking all in 4 days. One of the days we hiked over 11 miles in under 6 hours, a little less then half of those miles where done in a river. The remainder was a 1400’ vertical hike with steep zig-zags though the mountain. (Zion N.P.)

The River

The Summit

I could go on and on about the incredible sights we saw but I will give it to you simple.

Arched National Park

Capitol Reef National Park

Goblin Valley State Park

Bryce Canyon National Park

Zion National Park

And finally, Red Rocks

This was by far the best Interbike I ever experienced. We already started talking about next year's trip and the route we are going to take.

Former World Rally Champion killed in helicopter accident

by Neil McDaid, Director of Product Development and Design

Colin McRae - Spring, 2007

Photo: Neil McDaid

This past weekend motor sport lost one of its true superstars, way before his time. Colin McRae, 39, along with his 5 year old son Johnny and two friends lost their lives in a helicopter accident near his home in Lanark, Scotland.

Colin was without question one of the most exciting drivers to ever drive a rally car. Fans would flock in the thousands to see McRae as he was a fierce competitor, often pushing himself and his machinery to the limit and sometimes beyond.

In 1995 Colin clinched the World Rally Championship in a Subaru. In his career on the WRC circuit he racked up an amazing 25 World Rally victories. Colin most recently competed in the 2007 X-Game rally along side Travis Pastrana.

Colin has left behind a void that will be hard to fill.

Fearless Bike Riding 101

This morning I got an email with the title, "Danger, proud Dad moment." I knew it would be a photo of a writer friend's kids, but didn't have any idea what I would find. I had the biggest grin on my face when I saw this photo --

This is Freya and she is not even three years old! She's got the training wheels off and away she goes, with the just-in-case adult support right behind her (notice the pink shoe).

She doesn't seem to be slowing down at all, which isn't surprising since her dad is an accomplished rider himself. I think this may just be the start of a serious unbreakable bond between Freya, her bike and her cycling dad.

Bravo, Freya, Bravo!

My first experience with mountain biking

by John Joy, Kryptonite Engineer

Back in India I used my bike for transportation only. Getting from point A to point B. But this was something totally different.

Neil and I went to the Blue Hills on Friday after work. I thought it would be soft trails, maybe some mud. Something easy to do. Not rocks. The first bit, there was a clean road – I thought it would be easy and it was. That was the beginning. After that we went up a trail, that was easy, too.

Neil then asked if I was comfortable and I said, ‘yes’ and he took me to a steep, steep trail! I got launched twice! Gravity took over. One time, when I got launched, Neil was at the bottom waiting to see the fun. But, I didn’t really get banged up.

We cycled for more than an hour and it was fun! I loved it! Now I need to get my full gear. I didn’t have all the right gear so my feet were slipping a little bit, but it was a good experience. A good start.

*photo by Neil McDaid

Giant Chairman Cycles Taiwan for "Adventure"

I read a piece on the Bicycle Retailer website this morning about the founder of Giant Bicycle company touring Taiwan on a bicycle. This might not be so fascinating to you as you'd be thinking, "well he is in the bike industry so he's probably a cyclist". Sure, but he's 73 years old!

King Liu, chairman of Giant Bicycle, took just 15 days to cycle 576 miles in Taiwan. 15 days? That would take me 15 months and, although I'm not a spring chicken, I'm not nearly in my 70s, thank you very much. What a great accomplishment, but he didn't do it for the 'accomplishment', he did it for the thrill of the journey.

“Driving is too careless, walking is too slow, and only through cycling can you truly experience the beauty of this island and have this once-in-a-lifetime adventure,” said Liu on Bicycle Retailer.

This is just a great story to me. Not only because of Mr. Liu's age, but because he is truly evangelizing his brand by living the lifestyle - not because he has to, but because he believes in it. I cruised over to the Giant site today to see if I could read more about Mr. Liu's trip. I didn't find anything, but what I did find was their current campaign slogan, "Ride Life. Ride Giant". I'd say Mr. Liu "ride's life" to the fullest.

Good for you, Mr. Liu! You are an inspiration.

Riding in the New England Rain

Pounding rain from the remnants of Tropical Storm Barry didn't stop these hearty New England riders. They were seen fearlessly cruising down the Mass Pike at quite a good speed.

Photos: Neil McDaid