by the way, bike swap sucked. maybe it was the weather that made them do the sale inside the store? maybe it was for security purposes, as i heard one brainwashed douche say as he climbed into his mccain ’08 bestickered volvo. whatever it was, it made the experience less than…well, it just sucked.
i rolled up with matt around 815 to find that it wasn’t going down in the parking lot this year…bummer. we were about 15 people deep in line. as i waited out the morning i learned some things; some girls don’t know how to put up scaffolding; when dipping, having to carry a cup to spit into is equal to having to carry a small toilet with you…especially when it backs up all over the sidewalk; friends let friends skip in line; etcetera. we’re told in advance that they have a bag check at the front door which completely ruins any purpose for showing up early since you can’t check them until you enter…bummer.
so finally 10 o’clock rolls around, in the door we go and instantly there is mass confusion. they have parts downstairs, and upstairs. the bikes are in a decent enough spot but there just wasn’t enough room for all the people there (where’s the fire marshall when you need him?). i heard ‘cluster fuck’ once or twice…one friend said he was getting claustrophobic…people were taking bikes that had the tags pulled off (you were supposed to pull the tag and take it to the registers) and getting in fights with the true tagholders. good times!
i like to think it was the lady in the red jacket that told me i couldn’t park my bike out front’s fault, but i’m probably wrong. big thanks to bikeabq and sport systems for giving it the old team try…but next year, try outside again.
It was the weather. The reason they moved it inside was due to the threat (and reality) of rain. The more you know!
and knowing is half the battle….