Throngs of people filed into Ballroom G at the Sand’s Convention Center to partake of a breakfast of eggs, sausage, bacon, fruit, juices, potatoes, coffee, tea, and an outrageous number of great lookong pastries! Free food always attracts cyclists! But, this was about getting people to listen.
The presentations by Fred Clements of the NBDA , Tim Blumenthal of Bikes Belong, and John Burke CEO of Trek Bicycles, were filled with stats, ideas, and encouragement to grow the industry,grow the sport, and get involved with bicycling on the local level.
I think there was some cyniccism (really?) on a lot of levels:
1. Trek just wants to sell more bikes – which of course would be true, but is that bad?
2. The industry is on the wrong track about how to go about getting more people on bikes – and of course there are always several sides of that questin.
3. Why cna’t we all get along? – wow, solving that problem would be earth shaking!
I will say that I found all the statistics very interesting; changing them for the better? Daunting!
The presentation ended right on time and the show opened. It’s BIG! And, confusing; the numbering system seems so strange this year. The media center has been moved to a good place though.
I’m about to write a short “”story” about the radio show – there’s a chance to win a prize! Wish me luck and I’ll update you soon.
Stay tuned!