Jetsetting

See! I got behind again. This time, I was in Phoenix enjoying the sun and all 70 degrees. The cold, wet white stuff was just a distant memory by the end of the week.

Bicycle Retailer does a tour called the “BRAIN” Tour to 4 different locations over the course of the year. Ergon is one of the sponsors, so off I went. It was actually pretty fun. Giant provided us road bikes and we rode to 12 different shops (very very mellow pace, not the crazy group rides I try to avoid) Here is the post on Ergon’s blog by yours truly.

Here are some pics NOT on the Ergon blog from the tour that I thought were super cool. If you want more on the bike shops we went to and those photos, make sure you go to Ergon’s blog. I unfortunately have lost some of my favorite photos, so these will have to suffice.

There was a fire in the lobby the first day.

Rage Cycles was super cool. They had a bunch of different bike part artwork everywhere. There is a younger guy (teenager) who actually makes all this stuff. Creative!

Checking who had what Ergon product in the shops.

Fun!

I think this is the smallest little bike/trike I’ve ever seen.

Sweet paint job. I have never owned a cruiser. Is it time?

One morning before work, FRS‘s Jim Murph-dog and I headed out on the road bikes. I was pleasantly surprised to discover a huge network of bike paths with scenic views.

I didn’t know there was water in Phoenix!

brahhhp

The coolest concept I saw was at Tribe Multi-Sport. They are a triathlon store, but they had a workout room with one of those pools that are like a pool treadmill, weights, trainers, massage therapists, physiology tests, and coaching. Pretty impressive!!! They also had wine where most bike shops give out beer. I’ll take both 🙂

Gotta get in shape!

The tour was Tues-Thurs. On Friday, Murph-dog and I met up with some of the folks at Pivot Bikes to go ride South Mountain. I got to ride a Pivot Mach 5, which is the first time I rode a “big bike.” 5 inches of travel?? YES!

It was soooo nice to finally ride some dirt after being on the road bike all week. (can you tell I’m not a big road person… I will ride dirt roads before I ride paved roads!) The owner of Pivot, Chris Cocalis rode with us too!

The crew! L to R Jim Murphy, Chris Cocalis, Rob Aguero, myself, badass DH’er Cindy Cocalis, and Cybil. Thanks for the ride guys!

After the ride, I hopped on a plane to Albuquerque to spend some quality time with my friends and family. I moved to CO over 4.5 years ago, but I still love the life I have in ABQ!

I got to bleed my eyes out on the trails all weekend. This travel and the snow have made it hard to actually train the last couple weeks. Oh well, it’s only February.

I’m lucky to have such an awesome family. That is 3 generations of Looneys right there. WHOOOAAA CRAZIES.

TOMORROW:

Tomorrow night, Jeff Kerkove and I will be doing a mountain bike Q&A clinic at the Fort Collins REI. If you are in the area, come on by!

Time for some down time this week, training time, yoga, a ski day, and some much needed catch-up for work and school. I think down time and catch-up in one sentence are oxymorons!! I have about a week, then I’m off to Seattle for the Seattle Bike Show (with a list of awesome coffee and bike shops in hand!).