I had been planning on writing a lot more during Interbike (got to justify my “media” credentials after all), but I didn’t plan on it being more exhausting than any stage race I’ve ever done. Over the four short days, I didn’t eat much, didn’t drink enough and my feet logged more walking miles than they have all year. I’m paying for it now though; sitting here watching the Worlds, sick as a dog after a chocolate binge.

(Ritte rode Cross Vegas representing our partner site Bicycle.net: l-r: Me, Brian Hodes, JT)

As I wrote in my last post, the Outdoor Demo was a perplexing affair: beautiful road bikes getting caked with dirt lot in the middle of the desert, and lots of free beer and expensive water. I met Ed from Sram, who saw from 100 feet that my shifter paddle was improperly adjusted. (I’d love to get a deal with Sram… Ed, if you’re reading this, hook Ritte up with the Grassroots program, dog.) I rode some really great bikes and officially kicked off the Interbike Dehydration Fest 09. I drank a gallon of water that evening, and then consequently memorized the wall tile in every men’s restroom at the Sands Expo
Center the next day.

(see that? That’s Di2 on there!)

It’s hard to describe how large Interbike is. You can just wander around all day and not notice the passage of time. Every square foot is packed either with shit you’ve always wanted to see or shit you’ve never seen. You just can’t take it all in… in fact, it’s almost impossible to even keep your bearings. There’s got to be some kind of Einstein space-time thing going on, which is why it was so easy to go all day and not eat, which is why I left Vegas weighing six pounds less.(I walked around in circles for days. Literally.)

(Kervin from Rotor let me test out the rings. I’m convinced everybody’s gonna be on these soon.)

(Interbike’s so big they have room for other random awesomeness, like this 1960′s Ford GT40)

As exciting as all the bike stuff was, Wednesday evening’s Cross Vegas was definitely the focus of my week. Around 3pm I started drinking caffeinated Clif sports drink (I was unfortunately out of Prolong). We headed to the Cross Vegas course at 4pm to pick up our bikes from the guys at Van Dessel.

By 5pm I was shaky and light-headed from lack of food and I kept bumming Cliff Bars from JT. He suggested I fight the jitters with more caffeinated Clif. So by 6:30, with 30 minutes to go to the start, I just wanted to take a nap and/or puke. My Cross Vegas chances were looking bleak.

The ray of hope came from the course itself. Entirely grass, with long straights and only two short run ups. It was the perfect course for a roadie like me. The breeze cooled as the sun went down. The 3km course was lined with lights and thousands of spectators. The 120 racers staged according to our numbers, and I was about 60 riders back. I was worried about my positioning and forgot about my hunger. The gun went off and we went flat out. I passed people by the dozens. The race itself was hard but so fun that I forgot I was racing a few times. In the end, I guess I went hard enough and won my division.

(The view from backstage. Elvis worked up the crowd before I went on to get my gold cowbell.)

(I put on my Ritte kit for the podium.)

(It was a great photo-op for Ritte, and true Vegas style, the podium girl looked like a stripper.)

The caffeine did it’s trick I guess, but it also kept me up half the night. I wandered around the casino floor till 2am, still looking for food, which I found in the form of a cold slice of pizza.

Thursday was my last day at Interbike. My goal was to find a high-quality frame manufacturer for the team and I think we found one. After reviewing all the options, and offers for sponsorship from several amazing bike companies, it just makes the most sense to import our own bikes. I’m testing one from the manufacturer now and am psyched about it. By the end of the year, Ritte won’t just be a team, it’ll be a bike brand.It was a really successful week for Ritte and Bicycle.net. It’s amazing how many people and companies are excited about a team like ours. 2010 is looking good.

Party,
Lanolin.