March 9, 2008

Bike Expo

I went to the annual bike expo this weekend. The bike expo has many vendors selling bikes, components, nutrition and clothing. Many other booths are there to advertise their bicycle rides and events. Still others are for charitable organizations which have become a big part of cycling and running.

The expo is sponsored by the Cascade Bicycle club. They are also big presence at the show discussing their advocacy efforts and signing up riders for their own events.

I made it out without buying any new gadgets. There were some really good deals on things I would like, but don't really need. I was looking more for information and equipment for triathlons this time around. They had a separate area for triathlon booths this year, but it was still pretty limited.

What really drew me in this year was a good schedule of lectures. Saturday had a lecture about fitting all your training into your busy life. It was paneled by four local successful athletes. The gist was if you are limited on time, make sure all your workouts are structured and focused. Quality over quantity. Also to make sure that the people in your life know how important the training is. It can limit your family time, but you're likely to be more engaged when you return. Quality vs. quantity again.

The next one was an entertaining presentation by Joe Kurmaskie, the "Metal Cowboy". He has written a few books on his biking adventures. He biked across the U.S. with his two boys in tow a few years ago. Then last year he biked across Canada with his wife and now three sons aged 9, 7 and 1 years old. He was an entertaining speaker, and I'm looking forward to reading his books. He has been called Bill Bryson on a bike, which is good enough for me.


The classes Sunday were focused on triathlons. There was a separate lecture on swimming, biking and running. For someone who is too cheap to hire a coach, there is a lot of information out there about how to improve. There are so many different ways to say basically the same thing. You keep coming back to hear it in the way it finally clicks with you. Lucky for Runner's World, Bicycling and the like.

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