Back from Interbike and working hard...

so, linda and i got back from interbike on saturday morning- or,
rather, i got back on saturday morning. after 3 days in vegas and a
LOT of meetings. anyway, now that we are back- it is a matter of
contacting everyone and following up. we really had a pretty wildly
successful time there- it was exciting to be there and to be getting
such great feedback for the team.

people really were responsive and eager to meet with us. and they
were also very supportive of what we are doing. i am very excited
about this team and what we will be able to do next season.

after this year- i know that i could have joined another team. i had
a few people fishing a bit from other teams and i have connections on
teams that i know that i could have pursued. but, instead, i wanted
to stay and work with linda. i resigned right away. i figure that
there are really not many opportunities to build a team... even if
you HAVE the money (hard to get)... it is hard to get the experience
you need. for our team- linda has raised the money AND has the
experience.

if ANY of the pro teams had contacted me last year about riding for
them- i would have (pardon my french) shit myself in excitement. i
would have done just about anything that i could to get on webcor,
lipton, colavita, victory... but now, i realize that i have such a
great opportunity with linda and PABW (now to be called Team TIBCO)
that i did not want to leave. so- in addition to being loyal to
linda for what she has done for me... i also feel very vested in this
team and in making it as great as i know that we can. so... going to
interbike was a lot of fun because i could take part in helping to
build up this team.

our team is changing names next year- instead of PABW powered by
TIBCO (palo alto bicycles women's team)- we will now be Team TIBCO.
TIBCO is a software company in silicon valley that is one of the
biggest in the valley. they are "software glue"- in that they make
software that makes all the other software run together. and they
are our title sponsor. our team is going full pro next year, doing a
full NRC schedule and focusing on stage racing. we are no longer a
shop supported local team, but we still have a great relationship
with PAB. it is just that we have moved on to the bigger races and
the are focusing on building a local team for local shop exposure.

anyway---- because we are moving on and becoming an independent team,
we are also building up new sponsor contacts and new sponsor
relationships. anyway, so that is why we were there and it was great.

for now- i should stop working on bike stuff and get to writing my
thesis.... but the bike stuff is SO much more fun! sigh.