Trade show time at Interbike; the Chris Davidson diary

The badge with the yellow bottom (Image credit: Chris Davidson)

"Greetings cyclingnews.com readers,

It is that time of year again when the manufacturers of all that is bicycle converge on Las Vegas to entice the retail world to buy plenty of the latest toys, so that you will have those vital pieces of bike lust under glass in your local shop. It seems that a majority of the attendees of the show are either in the buying or selling category, but for me and a handful of others, the show represents the best opportunity all year to get some face time with the people that keep the racing world afloat. Here is how it went for me:

Living only an hour plane ride from Las Vegas I opted to fly in Wednesday morning attend the indoor show for two days and fly home on Thursday night. I can't say that I missed the outdoor show, as in 2003 and 2004 I worked the outdoor show prepping bikes for demo rides. Two days in a row of eight hours each, plenty of dust and non-stop work. By the time I got to the indoor part of the show I was wasted. This year I hit the floor fresh on Wednesday morning with what looked to be the largest crowd of show goers yet at Interbike to see the new toys.

First up for me was thanking those sponsors who I worked with at Ford Cycling this year. It was much nicer to speak to people to just say 'thanks' rather than asking for more stuff. I have been fortunate this year to have a great set of people to work with at various companies that have made my life easier, answered my last minute requests, shipped stuff overnight to hotels, etc.. It was particularly nice to spend some time with Dan Weatherford at Squadra (our 2006 clothing supplier), Matt McClendon of Kenda (our tire sponsor) and Duncan Benning (our inflation sponsor) of Genuine Innovations just talking about the highs and lows of the season from my end. "

Read the entire Chris Davidson diary here.

Sue George is an editor at Cyclingnews. She coordinates all of the site's mountain bike race coverage and assists with the road, 'cross and track coverage.