March 1-3, 2002
The 16th Toronto International Bicycle Show 2002
Location 
: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Thawing Out
It's this event we all wait a whole year for that kick starts the mountain biking season for most of us (winter riders, you're a special category all your own). Usually, before the event, I always manage to mooch a discount coupon for the admission fee but this year, I couldn't get any and haven't seen any. I guess the organizers figured out that the MTB community would show up anyway...and they're right. Like I said, it's been a year of waiting for this event.
IceMan Eric
Like bears coming out of hibernation, we all showed up to the event, a little sluggish, a little fatter but wired for the promise of good things up ahead.
Trials
FlyGurlz
I finally met the members of the FlyGurlz whom I've communicated by email the past year. More of late due to the Brian Lopes thing. Anyway, I got treated to a BLAST Energy Bar. It tasted so good I had to read the label to make sure it wasn't just a regular chocolate bar disguised as an energy bar....yeah, it's legit. I didn't want to ask for more and look like I was making a meal out of the bars so I did the next best thing. I wrote the owner, Fern Katzman and proposed an exchange deal - banner ad on my site in exchange for the bars. Well, as if the BLAST logo is not conspicuous enough all over my site so you know the deal went through. As for me, I'm one happy camper with a mouthful of BLAST bars...YEAH, BABY!
Flygurlz
Federica
As if things couldn't get any better, I strayed on to the Bianchi booth and met the hard working but ever-so-lovely Federica - Italy-based and Bianchi's ambassador to the free world at large. I went through the motions of asking techie questions about their new carbon bikes but the question I really wanted to ask was if she won't mind spending the rest of her life with me...but I digress. Hopefully there's more to come, but she had to leave for Italy that same day...oh well, life happens....off to the other booths.
Federica
MountainCross Race
I got tired wandering around and thought I'd go inside this "theater" where they were showing MTB videos with the sickest drops you can ever imagine. Ever seen a vine ripened tomato dropped from the 2nd floor balcony? Well, imagine that but replace the tomato with human bodies on a wipeout...ouch!!! First time I've seen a bike frame split in two over a failed bunny hop that went surreal. Don't get me wrong. It's not all about trail rash. There were jumps and precision maneuvers that went like magic that I didn't even know were humanly possible. I was left thinking...if stunts keep getting better, just how the heck do you top that one? I'm sure there's a sicker drop waiting in line to happen out there.
MountainCross Race
TriLife
Ending Thoughts
I left the show a much energized man. Like Cherry Blossoms announcing the arrival of spring, the Bike Show comes nothing less of officially starting the racing season. Images of single tracks littered with logs (okay, for me an oversized twig that fell off a tree is a log...but it makes good copy to tell the guys, "clearing that log made me see the abyss") and rocks (more like stones to the average hammerhead) flooded into my thoughts...YEAH, BABY!!!!
--- Gigit (TheLoneRider)
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