Monday, February 19, 2007

Frost Bike Weekend Report

Wow! Whatta weekend! There is so much to tell, that I might just take a couple of posts to do it. We'll see how far I can get this post...........

The day started off Saturday with me loading up the Dirty Blue Box at dark-thirty in the morning. I split town to find out that the recent Alberta Clipper had made a nuisance of itself, leaving one lane of the two I had a choice of driving in covered with icy, slick snow. I bobbled a few times, slipping the drive wheels in the snow, and quickly decided that a reduced pace was required for safe travel. The wind was wicked out of the Northwest and I was going North- great!

After about an hour I came upon the gas station at Floyd, Iowa. Time to top off the tank and release some of the mornings coffee consumption. Whoa! Turning into the road off the expressway, I found that my car wasn't gripping the snow covered road at all. Driving skills earned while being a teenager in a snowy parking lot were quickly summoned back to the forefront. Saved! Who said all that screwing around would amount to nothing?

Anyway, I saw several cars in the ditches reminding me to be careful. The blowing snow made nice black ice patches under overpasses and on bridges. If you weren't paying attention, those and the wind would take you out. You could almost count on seeing cars off the road at these spots. Then in Minnesota, it all cleared up, and no problems all the way to the QBP headquarters. All in all, it took 3.5 hours to do the deed.

Once safely ensconced within the warm confines of World Distribution Domination Headquarters.......uh,......I mean QBP! I found my good friends Jason and Bobby from the Salsa crew hanging out with all their cool products. I was yakking and yakking for what seemed like maybe a half an hour when I look at my cell phone and see it's 1:30pm! Wow! Four hours and I hadn't gotten any further than the Salsa booth! So many people to talk to, QBP folks, and even Trans Iowa entrants. Old aquaintences from previous shows, and of course, Ben Witt of Milltown Cyclery with his "toy" showed up as well. You can read more about that here.

After spending the majority of the afternoon outdoors freezing to death, riding a large wheeled bicycle, watching others do the same, but grinning from ear to ear, I came back in to find out what Jason wanted to do for the evening. I was supposed to show up later to join in with the QBP folks for some kind of fun, but I went out to make contact with my overnight stay host, Brent Gale of Twin Six. When I got to his place, he was ready to eat supper and wanted to head out, so I agreed and off we went to a great local hangout called the Chatterbox, which we instantly took to mean that we should talk to each other alot, so we did. For four plus hours! Ha! We did manage to squeeze in dinner and beers, (thanks Brent!) and then I headed off to his casa for much needed zzzzzz's.

Morning dawned and after a shower and excellent breakfast with the Gale family I was off back to the show. Once again, I found myself chattering to all sorts of folks, which was immensely gratifying and fun, but I had to leave to run an errand for Mrs. G-Ted. Yes.......she had me running errands 200 miles away from home! She realized that I could pick up this special make-up she uses at the store that she gets it from instead of having it shipped to us and paying shipping costs. So, off to that devil's hell hole called Mall of America. Uggh! How people find this something good and fun to do, I'll never understand. I should have taken a picture of all the terminally bored fellas in the waiting lounge at Nordstrom's. Sad!

Once freed from the clutches of the soul sucking machine, I was off home. No drama as the road was at peace with me. I got home to my wife and kids who I missed alot, and they were missing me as well. All in all, a great trip.

Tomorrow, my thoughts on the products, and the rumors of Frost Bike. Stay Tuned!

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