Actual 'Travel'!

(click on any photo to enlarge) I have been getting some shit from friends and family for slacking on the travel blog. Up to this time I haven't really had all that much fun stuff to post. Well I actually traveled to Italy for the Campagnolo sales meeting during the last week in June. Last Fall after selling the bike shop, I lucked into a job with Fischer and Swix that occupies my Winter. I really didn't want to work all that hard in the Summer as we live simply and I didn't have to work until September, when my winter gig starts again. Well I should have known better. Campagnolo came calling and I accepted a position with them selling their clothing, shoes and helmets. The Italians have had no representation in the US up until now so I'm basically pioneering the line. What that really means is a lot of work for no immediate reward. With that said the Italians flew the 7 US reps to their factory in Vincenza (30km inland from Venice) for our annual sales meeting. It sounds great but flying that far to sit in a conference room for four days is not all that glamorous. Luckily I had an extra day and a half after the meeting to explore a little. So on June 27th I boarded a red eye to Venice. I arrived with 'plane head' (similar to 'bed head' but only on one side) and went right to the hotel to check in. Prior to flying over I had asked if I could borrow one of the Campy Service Bikes for a ride and it was waiting at the hotel for me. Sweet. I screwed my pedals in and adjusted everything to my measurements and went for a ride to clear my head. Ahh - There is nothing like riding in Italy! I managed to run into a couple of the other US reps and we went to have dinner that evening. The Hotel had townie bikes so we all grabbed one and rode to dinner at the typical Euro dinner hour of 9pm. After a few bottles of wine and dinner the ride home was fun! The next morning is when work started, unfortunately. I managed to sneak out most mornings with the Colorado Rep at 6:30am before anyone else was awake. I find I am a much better listener when I've gotten a ride or run in prior. On the last day, after our meetings ended, our sales manager treated us to a tour of Trieste which was about 2 1/2 hours north of the factory. Wow! It was very beautiful. Right on the Adriatic, you can look across and see Croatia. Campy arranged a hotel for us to stay in Trieste for the night. Very Nice. There is no way in hell I would ever get to stay in a place like this on my own dime. So I enjoyed it! Late that afternoon we took a tour of a castle that was occupied by Austrian royalty in the 1400's. The history in Italy (and Western Europe) in unlike any other place I've visited. It makes you realize how young our country really is. We had a fantastic seafood dinner with local wines and forgot that we were actually in Italy for work. The next morning was just gorgeous. (Bellisima Giornata!) We had breakfast overlooking the sea. I felt very privileged. I walked down to the beach with Jeff and his wife Arianna (Colorado Reps). The story is the Austrians brought all the dirt and rock down from the mountains to actually build the beaches and the castle we visited the day before.Well beach is a bit of an embellishment - more like cement boardwalk. We laughed at the older Euro men walking around in their banana hammocks. After breakfast we all piled into the van and headed toward Venice. Our Sales Manager dropped everyone off at the airport hotel and said ciao. Some of the Reps were flying out the next morning, but five of us weren't flying out until Sunday so we had an extra day to explore Venice. All the things you hear about Venice are true - It doesn't smell that great, it is crazy expensive, and you really have to mind your shit as pickpockets and scammers are prevalent. With that said Venice is still very beautiful and must be visited. The old city is a little detached from mainland Italy so you must take a water taxi to get there. Jeff and Arianna were staying in the Old Town so we dropped their stuff off at their hotel and went into tourist mode for the rest of the day. We went to all the spots that are on the must see list. St Michaels Square, the Rialto Bridge, etc. To give you an example of just how expensive Venice is - a small bottle of water is $10 and a small beer is $15! Needless to say we weren't drinking much. After a full day of sightseeing we left Jeff and Arianna and James (NE Rep), Tom (Mid Atlantic Rep) and I jumped on the water taxi and headed back to our airport hotel on the mainland. I got back to my room at about 1am and had to be up at 4am to catch my shuttle to the airport. I then endured a 23 hour travel day from Venice to Amsterdam then Seattle and finally home. To say I was wasted was an understatement. As I write this 3 days later I still have a jet lag hangover and I haven't been drinking! It was great to get home and see my wife and dog. Its great to leave but its always better to come home. The security blanket of wife, dog, friends, and simple life is unmatched. I promise to update the blog more frequently as we have lots of great plans for the rest of the Summer and Fall. Until then - Ciao.

A quick shout out to some of our friends that we don't get to see much anymore.
K & D in NC
J & A in Chicago
B & K in Ventura
And of course our families that actually read this drivel!
We miss you guys!