Went to NAHBS over the weekend. Saw some very nice stuff. Met Richard Sachs and got a signed copy of "Imperfection is Perfection". Later I realized that I just paid $30 for a DVD that is only 28 minutes long. We spied Dario Pegoretti as soon as he walked into the show. He had his coat on the whole time he was there. We stalked him for about 20 minutes, watching him down shots of some kind of alcohol provided from a secret location. Finally, Dru went over to ask a question and get his autograph, but one of his entourage interrupted him and told him "Dario only wants to talk about women today". He signed Drus' show program, which featured a photo of Carl Strong on the cover: "Carl is a great builder" and his name. I wouldn't have expected any less strange of an interaction with this eccentric frame builder.
Talked to Molly Cameron in the Vanilla booth, and that was very cool; he's an extremely nice guy. I have followed his blog for a while now, and seen him race several times, so it was great to actually speak with him. Later, he was hanging out with Ben Popper, and so I got to meet him too. The coolest part of the show was how accessible everyone was. Over the course of two days, we talked to many frame builders, racers and industry people, and they were all willing to spend time talking about seemingly anything (except Dario- women only).
Although we had absolutely no plans to purchase anything at the show, Dru and I (supposedly) ordered the last two DeSalvo 10th anniversary road frames for ourselves. After filling out the info sheet, we shook hands with Mike DeSalvo and headed over to the Anvil booth, where we finally found out where the liquor was coming from: Out from under the counter appeared a bottle of 13 year old Kentucky bourbon. We downed shots to celebrate the fact that our finances were probably going to kill us when we got home, and they went down so smooth. Oh well, at least we got a deal on the frames. We will probably be getting them in June, but we'll need to figure out geometry now and component choices in the next few months. I've never owned a custom bike before, but I think that it was about time.... right?
Now I have to go ride the trainer and watch my overpriced DVD about four times in a row.
3 comments:
Great post... and so true! Met Molly a few years back at USA Cycling Mechanics' Clinic. Nice dude/chick/whatever. Glad you guys had a great time. Let's see pics of those new bikes when they show up!
You two have me worried! First, it's the post about the wheels where I, if you remember, lost my lunch. Now you two are screaming like a couple of school girls at a Jonas Brothers concert while you chase down italian men!
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