A Bitter Sweet Goodbye

Friday was the last day of Fitzgerald’s 6.0. It has been six years since the doors opened and except for the first year, we have been in the same location ever since. Every year we knocked down a wall, added some more product, and hired more employees. This past summer more than one customer commented, “wow, the shop has a real finished look to it now”. Well, that finished look was unraveled this weekend as we packed up and began our move into Fitzgerald’s 7.0. Luckily the new shop is only two doors down so we’ll have the same back alley / behind the Brew Pub feel! Of course I’m excited for the new space, but as I look into the old shop now I can’t help but feel a little sad about what we built up only to tear down. I guess that’s how it goes huh?

Please take the time to post a comment about your favorite memory from the old shop. Mine? Hard to say. My fondest memories are hiring each employee along the way, and being amazed that 99% of them are still around!

New Website and Forum

With amazing speed our man Scott Wood created this awesome new website for us. Of course I’m a slacker and haven’t written all the text for some of the pages, but that will come I assure you. What is up and running though is our new Forum. We hope to create the online social hub for cycling in the greater JH area. But it’s up to you all to make it happen. Take a second and register yourself so you can join the banter. I’ve started a few threads already to get things going in the right direction. We can’t all make it to the Brew Pub every night (like Chad) to catch up on the latest trail conditions and epic tales, so we’re bringing the Pub to you electronically! Hope you dig it!

Star Sightings at Interbike ‘07

One of the coolest things about Interbike is all the cycling stars wandering about. Ok, they usually aren’t wandering about. Usually they are sitting at a table signing autographs for the fans who were willing to wait in line for a half hour. This year the celebrity roster was pretty impressive: Alberto Contador, Levi Leipheimer, Phil Liggit, Magnus Backsted, Ryan Leech, Brian Boyko, and Julien Absalon were on hand every day graciously signing autographs. The likes of Bob Roll, John Tomac, Ernesto Colnago, Marla Streb and more could be bumped into at any given momet. For the first time last year Cycling.tv set up a massive all glass media room in the center of the convention hall. This year the use of this room grew and the live interviews conducted within became a highlight of the event. Luckily you didn’t have to sit by the glass house to catch some celebrity words of wisdom. There were flat screen monitors set up all around the venue that would broadcast the live interviews. My favorite one? Well Jay Petervary of course! The Fitzgerald’s team rider was grabbed to reminisce about his historic 2007 Great Divide record breaking ride. Not only did Jay have the best cycling story of 2007 (remember: more vert and distance than the Tour in a shorter time period, self supported) but many witness claim he had the best interview skills. I hope the sponsorship managers take notice!

Where are the cool bikes we can test, huh?

The main thing we are reminded about every year at Interbike is that it’s hard to find a bad bike these days. Road bikes, mountain bikes, as long as you buy from a specialty independent bike shop you’ll be fine. Of course the more you ride the more you will develop preferences. Me for example, I like 4 bar link bikes. Tried and true, fun to ride, good old Horst Link bikes are what I’m used to and gravitate towards. Don’t ask me why and don’t try to suck me into a discussion about “independent wheel path”, or “brake jack”. Because if you do I’ll talk your ear off about the engineering superiority of the 4 bar link when all I really want to say is, “they just rip”! So, back from the show I once again can honestly say I like the way the Norcos ride the best. The Fluid, Fluid LT, Six, Shore, and Team DH were all given their chance to show me a good time. And a good time was had! So go out and absorb the hype about the latest DW, VPP, Maestro, Free Floater, Instant Center, yada, yada. And if you decide to buy one of those bikes you will have a blast! Me? 2008 Fluid please.

Interbike 2007

Interbike ’07 is in the books!! The Fitzgerald’s crew went in like a lion and out like a lamb! We saw so much and attended so many cool events that I decided to spend the week reporting on the events. So check in everyday for another great Interbike tale! Here’s a teaser of an idea we got from the Rock Racing Team for a new Fitzy team car.