The Resounding Thud?

Or: "What Happens When You Are 64 Stories High In Vegas".

The Empire Suite at Trump Tower

 I wasn't sure about this deal. I mean, it was in one of the fancier hotels in Vegas, and a lot of these events and shindigs have dress codes, which, you know......I don't really go in for. I still have trouble with zip codes, much less a dress code.

But I was not to worry, Grannygear said. No dress code. Okay, cool! I threw on some Twin Six gear and we went on over to Trump Tower. The place was high zoot for sure, and we scooted by the security peoples eyes and were directed to the decidedly wooden elevators to go up to the 64th floor!

I'm kind of wondering how long this might take, because, you know......I've ridden in vators before, and they are kinda slow. However; I hadn't accounted for the "high performance" elevator I had just stepped into. Yeah, I about had my legs buckle underneath me when the thing took off. Next thing ya know, my ears are feeling a distinct air pressure change. The altitude was rapidly increasing here, and then the vator slowed, which hit my legs again with some G force. Ding! A soft, female voice announced "Sixty.....fourth floor."

We stepped out and followed the signage to the "Empire Suite". My, my, my......definitely a room with a view!

Bright lights-Big City

 The large window, which took up most of the western wall in the room, overlooked the twinkling lights of Vegas. It appeared as though I was looking from an airplane's viewpoint. Weird.

The shindig was about BMC Bikes vision for becoming a major player in the U.S./North American market. The CEO spoke, and he was actually quite good to hear. He spoke of humble farm beginnings in Switzerland to becoming a bike maniac, to becoming an executive in charge of a growing bicycle group. Yeah....a Swiss dream come true.  We used to have those in America too....

Anyway, there was Swiss cheeses, fine  hors d'oeuvres, wine, and plenty of chit-chat. One of the topics put to a Swiss engineer for BMC was whether the 27.5"er wheel size was going to be considered in BMC's future mountain bike line up. He responded with something along the lines of "..we've already tested it, and it makes so little difference from 26 inch that we decided it wasn't worth pursuing." (Note- not an exact quote, but the meaning was the same.)

Huh......wouldn't have guessed by what some are saying out there. But what if? A resounding thud? Might be, or maybe it's the "new shiny object" that some companies need to perk up sales? We'll see.

The Fall Of Rome Is Nigh...

 Then we had the indoor portion of Interbike kick off today. Usually, there is the excitement of new releases, or some new product innovation to get excited about. A lot of "Did you see....?", but not so much this time.

In fact, I would submit everybody was a bit taken aback by the lack of excitement in the air at the show. at least of those I polled. Oh sure- there was some traffic, and folks getting re-connected, or  introduced for the first time, but as for products?

It was more like a "(yawn), Seen that already..." Makes one wonder if folks like myself are even needed anymore at this "show". Maybe I am not, or maybe I am. Don't really know, but it was a very odd experience this year.

Perhaps I have a more "romantic" vision of Interbike, as it was once, when you were waiting with baited breath for the news of what was going to be new for the coming year. But with all these dealer shows, Eurobike, and press camps before Interbike, there really isn't much to "show and tell" these days that ya'all haven't had crammed down yer eyeballs up to this point anyway.

Hmm......so another resounding thud? Maybe. I gotta say that for people connecting, it's been much better though, and maybe on the business side, it has helped as well. I'll have to see about that later. For now, there's one more day in this town, then I'm outta here!