My Area 106

One Man's Personal Conquest at Mohican

For a select few, Mohican is a race for a spot on the podium. It may be part of a larger multi race series (1 out of 6 or more races during a particular season) and a chance for the overall title . For others, it is a personal quest. An attempt to do something you personally have never tried, nor even dared to try. Mohican is this for a large majority of the riders. The "grassroots" rider as I like to call them.

Enter Mark Shellhamer. I first met Mark a few years ago at a race when he came up to me and introduced himself. He was riding a Trek Remedy FS bike and had asked what it take to be a sponsored rider. The following year (2007) Mark was a member of the Trek - Ohio Valley Mountain Bike Team and represented Trek in top manner with several wins along the way and a "Back to Back" OMBC Sport Clydesdale Class Championships as well.

"Let's talk Practice"

First off, play this attached video and listen how a professional basketball player Allen Iverson thinks of practice.

I am privileged to have many awesome off road cyclists in "My Area 106". With this said, I am proud of the fact that I have "3" riders in "My Area" that are part of a large national team with Gary Fisher called the "29er Crew". Travis Saeler, TJ Platt and Amanda Sproat are all members of this select national 29er team.

I recently heard that the prior two (Travis is on the left, and TJ right) have been slacking on the "practice side", so I decided to do a spot inspection and show up at one of their scheduled "bike practice" sessions this past Wednesday at North Park (North Pittsburgh).

Going to see the Blue Man Group

Many have seen their show and I've heard a lot about it. Tonight, I will finally get my chance to see the Blue Man Group at the Quicken Loans Arena in downtown Cleveland. My daughters both got to see a live performance last year while on a school trip in Chicago. Matter of fact, my older daughter Rachel was seated up close which they give a large sheet of plastic to help shield you from some of their stunts (it didn't matter, she got slimed anyway). This is going to be a family plus 3 event tonight as were taking several of the girls friends along with us. Stay tuned, I'll give a full report following the concert.

Bob

It was a great ride Dick... thank you.

A bicycle industry icon, legend and dear friend to many passed away this past Monday, March 10th at the age of 73.

Dick Burke was the founder of Trek Bicycle and a visionary that shared his dream with many in building a bicycle that would become a cherished, passionate and staple piece for oh so many people.

You will be missed Dick, and your spirit lives on with each and every Trek Bike sold.

Bob

Travelin with Lee Jones in the 106

I've been traveling the past 3 days with Lee Jones (our Trek Apparrel Representative) showcasing our "Trek Fall Clothing 2008 Lineup" to our retailers along with a grand tour of Area 106. It all began early Monday morning as I picked up Lee at the Columbus, Ohio airport as the city was still busy digging out from the 20 plus inches of snow they had received over the weekend. Our gameplan was to visit as many of our big clothing retailers we could over a 3 day period. Columbus, Canton, Akron, Cleveland and finally Pittsburgh were all stops as we weaved our way through the territory. I picked Lee up Wednesday morning (bright and early at 5:30am) from his Canton area hotel room for a 2 hour trip to Pittsburgh to begin our day and then finally dropped Lee off at this Pittsburgh Airport Hotel at 7:30pm (following a ice cold beer to recap our trip). I'm sure Lee slept well last night for a change (he awoke around 3:30am Monday morning to catch his flight out of Madison, Wisconsin and we'll been up early and out late each night since his arrival).  Thanks for all your help Lee!

Got Milk?

Awe, those famous milk mustache's. I was checking out Jesse's blog recently and he was mentioning some new team bikes he had just put together which got my attention. I followed the link and began to read about "Team Dairyland" (or as they refer to themselves "Cowgirls") along with their list of sponsors and rider BIOS. As I was reading over the names of team riders I came across that of "Betsy Shogren", as many in our neck of the woods might know Betsy for her aggressive and fast off road racing skills.

This is Trek's 1st season in sponsoring the team, which began about 3 years ago in cooperation with the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board. The teams director is Rebecca Anderson who also just happens to the director of the Trek 1 World 2 Wheel initiative at Trek (she's obviously a very busy woman). This has got to be exciting times for Betsy and this team since originally assembled as a regional team that has launched into a national one. The ladies will be riding our 2008 Trek WSD Madone road bikes equipped with Sram components. I'm sure we'll be hearing about this teams success all year long. Best of luck on the season "cowgirls".

Bob

Jerry Garcia spending time at Dale's Bike Shop?

Rumor has it that if you stop in at Dale's Bike Shop (Oberlin, Ohio) you might just get to speak with a legend. I don't know, but this legend goes by the name of Dale Winfree, owner of Dale's Bike Shop but I think somewhere along the line he probably doubled for Jerry Garcia at local gigs whenever he was in town and needed a break.

Here's a picture today of Dale (or is it Jerry?)along with Joe (from Dale's) posing with their team rider Lindsey and her new Gary Fisher HiFi SuperCaliber. So, those of you that replied to me on the earlier post of "Win Bob's Swag #3 are indeed correct. I will let you know who the winners are this weekend. I'm not quite sure if Dale has a fine guitar collection like Jerry's, but I know he does with the VW Vanagans. If your near Oberlin, Ohio (West Cleveland) make sure to stop in and say hello to Dale and Joe.

Bob

Introducing the "Rocket Boyz"

Trek Ohio Valley "Junior" MTB Racing Team

Or as I refer to them as the "Rocket Boyz" was formed 3 years ago by Trek Ohio Valley Team Director/Manager Chris Skinner as an extension of his high schools recreational program. Chris is the Outdoor Recreation Instructor for the Maysville School District and began offering mountain biking to some of their students. The purpose of this class is for students to learn and participate in the sport of mountain biking. archery, fishing and other traditional outdoor recreational activities.

Not long after this introduction Chris realized that several of the students had not only the desire and interest in mountain biking, but also the commitment and passion to begin racing. Today, the team consists of 4 young riders and a very large support crew including Chris, his wife Colleen and a proud group of families who travel to all the race series events.

Their primary training ground is a 5 mile trail on Chris & Colleen's 100 acre farm in southeastern Ohio's Perry County in which the team hosts the yearly OMBC Series event named S and S Trails. The property is also home to a "Certified American Tree Farm" which produces and bottles "Skinner's Heaven on Earth" pure maple syrup.

Introducing the "112" to Ray's

Jake Gretz (Trek/Fisher Rep from Indiana, Kentucky, Southern Ohio - aka "Area 112") swung up to Cleveland last night to check out Ray's MTB and to hang with Pete Digacamo and I. Jake of course has heard a lot about Ray's and wanted to get a first hand look at the indoor riding park. Of all the weekday nights available to ride at Ray's, I would say Tuesday's is the night with the least amount of riders. It didn't take long for Jake to get the flow as he moved across the pump track and all the various runs Ray's had to offer on his Top Fuel 69er.

Sharing a "Pint" with Creative Minds in Area 106

Wow, I just finished up quite a busy week in my area 106. I tallied 925 business miles over the past five days visiting with my retailers, and even had the opportunity this past Wednesday night to share a "pint" (well, maybe actually two) at the Winking Lizard in Worthington, Ohio (north suburb of Columbus) with some of the gang from the Trek Store of Columbus and many key marketing members of Trek that were out on the road taking care of some biz while in Columbus. Talking about meeting of the minds, this group represents some of the most creative marketing minds at Trek and within our industry (heck, I was just relieved that they actually asked me to join them).