The weekend started out with all the buzz and excitement of the Garda Bike Festival, situated on the lakefront (lungolago) at Riva. After a little spin out on the bike first thing in the morning, and then giving the bike a good clean and lube, I caught the bus into Riva to soak up the atmosphere. I decided not to take the Ninja. I figured it would be too crowded to be trying to wheel my bike through the festival (I was right)... There were so many people who were there with their bikes, though, and it was bloody hard work making your way through a crowd of bikes mingled with people mingled with beer and shopping bags.
The festival was amazing. Hundreds of bike companies there showing off their new season bling. Of course, there was the usual high end race bikes to drool over.
Shiny, anodised bling pieces for the bike (I had to be good and remember that there was no way I could carry that stuff back within my weight limit on the plane home).
Tubular MTB tyres! Will be interesting to see if these take off...
Bike brands I had never heard of before...
Two of my fav brands, Camelbak and Adidas Eyewear were there...
Electric bikes (in fact, it looks like these are getting big here in Europe!)...
Sexy shoes (I want these in a size 38 if any of you want to buy me a present!)...
Silicon seat post rings???... Um, what for???
I called this the "Disco Bag"...
My buddies from Garda on Bike were there, too... I'll miss you guys!
Free massage...
Sexy carbon MTB wheels... Hot!
I want an XTR mural for my living room wall just like this...
Delicious chocolate...
These bags are bloody cool...So tempted to buy one of these... Maybe when I get home...
Strange-looking foldable bikes...
This thing looks bloody weird... And weighs only 9kg!
Books that I would have liked to have read if they were in English!
Gloves in MEGA orange and Yeti turquoise (they didn't have them in my size!)
I have no idea what this is meant to be...
After checking out the expo, I headed down to the jump park and watched the qualifying runs for the Night Sprint. I had originally planned to do this, but it clashed with my (non-English) race briefing, so I had to settle for just going and watching the start of it. It looked like a blast... This super long pump track, photographers, spectators, loud music. It was a really cool vibe!
Then it was off race briefing for tomorrows big race!... But that is part of another story that I will share with you in my next blog about the race... just waiting on photos!!!
The festival was amazing. Hundreds of bike companies there showing off their new season bling. Of course, there was the usual high end race bikes to drool over.
Shiny, anodised bling pieces for the bike (I had to be good and remember that there was no way I could carry that stuff back within my weight limit on the plane home).
Tubular MTB tyres! Will be interesting to see if these take off...
Bike brands I had never heard of before...
Two of my fav brands, Camelbak and Adidas Eyewear were there...
Electric bikes (in fact, it looks like these are getting big here in Europe!)...
Sexy shoes (I want these in a size 38 if any of you want to buy me a present!)...
Silicon seat post rings???... Um, what for???
I called this the "Disco Bag"...
My buddies from Garda on Bike were there, too... I'll miss you guys!
Free massage...
Sexy carbon MTB wheels... Hot!
I want an XTR mural for my living room wall just like this...
Delicious chocolate...
These bags are bloody cool...So tempted to buy one of these... Maybe when I get home...
Strange-looking foldable bikes...
This thing looks bloody weird... And weighs only 9kg!
Books that I would have liked to have read if they were in English!
Gloves in MEGA orange and Yeti turquoise (they didn't have them in my size!)
I have no idea what this is meant to be...
After checking out the expo, I headed down to the jump park and watched the qualifying runs for the Night Sprint. I had originally planned to do this, but it clashed with my (non-English) race briefing, so I had to settle for just going and watching the start of it. It looked like a blast... This super long pump track, photographers, spectators, loud music. It was a really cool vibe!
Then it was off race briefing for tomorrows big race!... But that is part of another story that I will share with you in my next blog about the race... just waiting on photos!!!
Tubulars have been used at the top end of pro MTBing for several years already and are becoming more and more common. The Fizik silicon rings are to stop moisture getting into frames via the seat-tube. Thanks for the bling report!
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