Germany Aug 2012, pt. I - Eurobike

Some pix taken during my late August trip to southern Germany. Part I, the Eurobike trade show:

Sweet Ford Modeo Estate diesel rental car. Solid, roomy, torquey and great brakes and tires...

 ...I had it maxed out at 221 km/h (≈137MPH) on an open, downhill, unrestricted stretch of the Autobahn.

Since the Eurobike trade show is in the relatively small city of Friedrichshafen, lodging accommodations can tend to be "creative" at times. This year a group of us stayed at a Catholic academy:

 Dorm style:

 My thoughts exactly:

Weingarten in the morning:

 Weingarten street art:

 ???:

 Covered roadway between Weingarten and Friedrichshafen:

 Snack #1

 Part of Electra's 80 meter long Eurobike stand:

Anodized 3D violet makes a nostalgic appearance. I bought one of these headsets for my friend who owns the wonderful Velo Hangar shop in Solana Beach:

BOO!

Show-going pooch:

Don P and Thor "The God Of Thunder" Hushovd:

Snack #2:

 Interesting wine-carrying rack on a Schwinn:

 German-style marketing, paint-on jerseys:

Sweet lighting:

Snack three, salty-sweet licorice fish from northern Germany (Hamburg): 

 One of many, repeated texts that kept coming through over multiple nights as I tried to sleep:

Sorry, no Don Jose here. Now beat it.

Eurobike Download

So sorry about the lack of posts (I know, I know, this has been a common theme as of late). I've been far too busy, fried and unable to come up with anything that I feel is even remotely interesting over the past few months. It's just been a bummer summer. A confluence of being very busy at work, the stress of finding a new place to live and moving (again), no time for a vacation, bicycles (and sometimes bodies) breaking and an overactive brain that simply won't shut down when I need it to.

With that out of the way, here's a minor picture/brain dump from my recent trip to Germany and the fantastic Eurobike trade show...

Interesting name for a salon:
Mustache time - industry legend Gary Fisher hams it up in the Electra booth:

Beautiful Cube bicycles...
...chuck full o' cool details:
The seatstay bridge on this Van Nicholas titanium mountain bike:
Vintage Merckx cyclocross bike:
Yellow (leader) and green (sprinter) two-tone bike (split down the middle), as ridden by Sylvain Chavanel in this year's Tour:
Basil's impressive bicycle bag line:
Just about everything that the ever-cool Fixie Inc. kids bring:
Interesting plate carbon fiber canti brake cable hanger on a Focus:
Cool graphic treatments Specialized bikes:

Mondriaan bike? Err, interesting to say the least...
Cool rail-mount rack, as used on a few Scott bikes:
Interesting VW T5 van variants:

Hey VWoA - I live in a California beach town, why can't I buy this??
SpaceCamper

Evergreen on a Bionicon:
Carbon-based fiber (if I remember correctly, a €9900 frame):
Kona's wide-range of softgoods:
A beautiful Cielo cyclocross bike:
Euro trash:
Modern...
...and retro Diamante bikes:
Great attention to detail from the Trek boys (this looks more like a dropout from a handbuilt bike than a mass-produced one from the largest US bike company - good job KVH!):
The Zeppelin NT airship (don't call it a blimp) flying overhead all day:
Pizzamobil for the Electra party (attempting to jockey it into position with a banged-up shoulder):
Old (literally AND figuratively!) friends:
This Japanese guy's cool casual cycling apparel line:
Adult-sized scoot bike:
Viva bikes:
Interesting (and bloody expensive) rack/bar combo:
Knog - for always blowing my mind with innovative packaging, marketing materials and booth...
...filled with dioramas that utilize there products:
And, of course, some of the new Electra models:

Mulholland 3i

tank detail

Zarape 3i saddle detail (which has been a torn in my side, but I'm happy with the final product):
And, not pictured, being able to hit a small stretch of unrestricted Autobahn on the way back to the airport and taking the Škoda Octavia Estate rental car up to 206 km/h.

That's it for now. Here's hoping that I get even a small spark of creativity back in me one of these days. Auf Wiedersehen.