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!

January Jammin'

Every year, time goes by faster and faster. Rather than trying to figure out why that is, I am trying to cram 30 hours worth of living in every 24 hours I get. This week I need to finish up planning for the East coast launch of the Fall Winter clothing. Stressful, but fun. It's especially fun to visit places I haven't been before in Tennessee, Ohio and Connecticut. Been to those states, but not to the cities I will be in this trip. And New York, while intimidating, expensive and on a different realm of my comfort zone, much of the time, is also one of my favorite cities to be in. It's exciting, overwhelming, metro-everything, and feels so American in a high-energy kind of way.

Here in Reno, where life is slower, people are fewer, life is simpler and the air is cleaner, we have been enjoying the mild winter to it's fullest. The last time I rode my bike outside in January so much I lived in California. And amazing as this sounds, that was 5 years ago. You can take the girl out of California, but you can't take California out of the girl. So I am pretty pleased about riding my bike outside this January. Not sure what that will mean for our water supply this summer---but the reality is that you can't do much about the weather. (I could get on my soap-box about global warming and all the things that we all should be doing about this, but I won't. I can only lead by example and know that I do my share, know that I can always do more, and hope that this is high on President Obama's "to-do" list. He's got a very long list.)

Mike and I are heading to the Bay Area the day after I get back from NYC---Tour of California, mixed with work. Then to LA at the end of month. Oregon and Washington shortly after (more soap-box carbon footprint mess...sigh...) But way more fun with Mike going too!

So---not much to report from the lovely mountains here in Northern Nevada. I hope your weekend was relaxing and fun! Here's a little flyer for the Nashville Fashion show!

Happy Sunday!