Palo Alto Bicycles

(Jamie Watson * Jon Mara - Palo Alto Bicycles Campagnolo Evening 2009---photo courtesy of Jay Watson)

Now this is an interesting title (a.k.a. A blast from my past!) for an email. This bike shop has such a profound meaning for me. Obviously, it's a very nice place to buy some very nice "bike-stuff". I loved being a customer there, then becoming part of the team/staff that works there and meeting some very special customers and friends. But it goes deeper than that. I fell in love there! So of course---Palo Alto Bicycles will always be "that" place for me. And it is always one of the top 10 "lists of important things" I have when I am working on the "other side of the industry"---I always hope to be able to work with this shop and the people that make this shop what it is.

Last Thursday night, Palo Alto Bicycles hosted a Campagnolo evening and so many people who are near and dear to my heart showed and made the evening so much fun you can hardly call it work! And to make things even better, the weather was as good as it gets.

Thursday morning, Mike and I woke up to one of the "perfect" days in San Francisco. You could see Mt. Diablo clear as a bell to the East, Mt. Tamapais beyond Alcatraz and Angel Island to the North, and the Farallones out in the Pacific to the West. We went out for a dozen fresh baked bagels and fruit and yogurt and headed to the top of Twin peaks to enjoy the magnificent morning sun in my favorite city. What a place. There wasn't even a breathe of wind, and the infamous fog was nowhere to be found! Splendid! The Golden Gate Bridge was so clear it looked like a postcard!

So--now we are getting ready to head to Belgium early Thursday morning for 11 days of Belgian Bike racing classics, and some vacation! Lots to get done before we go, but I am really getting excited to actually be traveling somewhere for fun for a change!

Here's a photo of my friend (and model) Jamie from the event at Palo Alto. She used to work upstairs from the shop---My lovely surfer girl! Happy Sunday!