Paul and I rushed into Interbike, trying to make it on time for our appointment with Louis Garneau, and were thankfully able to get some things hammered out for the upcoming season. As we were finishing up, who walked behind us? Non-other than our buddy, Mr. Mike Reilly, The Voice of Ironman®, himself! What a perfect way to start our Interbike experience.
For those of you who may not be in-the-know about this event... INTERBIKE...Bring 1,000+ brands and 10,000+ buyers from around the world to Las Vegas and you have Interbike - the ultimate blend of industry leaders and innovative products in the bicycle business. Nearly 22,000 attendees from over 60 countries, Interbike is the largest bicycle trade event in North America and one of the most important stops on the global trade show calendar.
Above and below -- some of the outstanding displays at Interbike.
Me, impersonating Normann Stadler (IRONMAN world champ '04 & '06) so I could get into the italia lunch room (obviously, they didn't check the badges too hard)... If only we could have stayed another day... to meet Normann the next day!
Paul with Levi Leipheimer and his teammate (sorry I can't recall his name right now). We met these fellows before they did autograph signings at the POWERBAR booth. Paul and I were pretty excited to meet this master cyclist!
But, Paul may have been just slightly more excited to be flanked by these interbike beauties! These gals were pretty popular at the booth they occupied.
We were able to visit for a second with Bob Roll as well, who remembered us from his time in LA speaking to the club. He invited us for eats with he and his 7-UP crew, but our flight got in the way of being able to make that happen (maybe next time!)... As we left him, we met one of his Tour announcing partners, yet another cycling legend: Phil Leggett. As a PowerBar sponsored entity, we were able to cut the autograph lines and take snaps with the pros... nothing quite like being treated like VIPs!
Paul and I, enjoying our beers, stand beside the PowerBar "I Support Drug Free Sport" poster where we signed our names and LATriClub.com under Phil's signature.
Who did we run into as we were winding down our Interbike visit? None-other-than LATCers Lawrence & Beth! So, we all visited at the Polar booth with Robin, who hooked us up for '08. Yes, you read right... POLAR and LA Tri Club in '08!
At the PowerBar booth with Joel, one of our venerable PowerBar reps. Thank you so much to him and Nicole and the whole PowerBar TEAM for taking such amazing care of LATC!!
Before we left the conference call, we had to find Mr. Paul Thomas at the KUOTA booth. Doing deals, shaking hands & making friends, as always. We're pictured here, next to the KUOTA NORMINATOR which Normann will be riding come Oct. 13th at Worlds. She's a beauty! 
Just before heading to the airport, to cap off our very-full day... Paul and I hit the WYNN hotel for a meal... here is Paul, showing his enthusiasm in the lobby, for a day-well-spent.
