Going to spend the week at home in San Diego.  The weather here is unseasonable cold and the weatherman did mention the r word for the weekend.  It just means long sleeves on bike rides.

Gas prices in California are sure to go over $4 per gallon sometime soon.

A self portrait on a long weekend ride.  Check out the good looking legs............

This is the always entertaining John & Tony show.  While I was here we preformed a drag race featuring the Ultra Motor A2b and the new IZIP Metro.  To find out the results view the video below.

American Cycling & Fitness

This six store chain is going strong in spite of the tough couple of years that has gripped the Detroit metro economy.   

Are you ready for some Football

The closest I got to seeing football was driving past Ford Field in Pontiac.

Eco Wheelz

The Izip road trip provided me an opportunity to visit with one of our top dealers.  Jeremy and Craig at Eco Wheelz have their store looking real good anticipating a strong selling season.

Chicago Drive in Grand Rapids

This western Michigan three store chain had a little setback in November of 2010.  The main store on Chicago Drive had a fire that destroyed the building and it's contents.  They moved the business into a temporary building just a couple of blocks away until the construction of the new building is complete. Hopefully when they reopen the new store in May there will be some new IZIP's on the floor.

The Chicago Drive temporary location

The new Chicago building plans

Rough Neighborhood

Ridge Cycle is a very well established store in the the Northwest corner of Indiana just east of Gary.   The owner (Jeff) has been here over 30 years and know the neighborhood  and clientele very well.  The real boss here is Cruiser - pictured below.

The owner informed me he was packing.  If the deals weren't good enough the consequences could be quite steep - great to be back in Chicagoland.  Here is an image of the Sig P238 with full clip hollow points on the Izip price list.  What a great negotiating tool!

This store dates back to the early 1960's and they have a ton of old stuff still for sale in brand new condition.  Jeff still has not discovered ebay but I think I put him on to it.

Notre Dame Land

South Bend Indiana is not only the home Notre Dame University but of some great IBD's.  Outpost Sports is one of the best and perhaps one of the stores on my journey with the highest fun factor.  Not only do they sell major lines of bikes, outdoor gear including skies and snowboards but they have beach volleyball courts adjacent to the store.  The courts were snow covered but I could just feel the fun.

The enthusiasm from the staff was infectious.  They all braved the cold temps and came out to ride my samples.

Look for our bikes on their floor in March.

Back on the Road

The truck sat in Chicago for a week in some very cold temps.  My concerns about the batteries surviving the Chicago winter for over a week were unfounded.  After a full night of charging in my toasty hotel room they were ready for action.

Izip Road Trip will resume 2/14

Until then I am stuck here in San Diego -

Williamson Bicycle Works West

Back in 1982 Del Henning started a small store in Madison.  The original store was less than 2000 square feet.  Today Del has two stores in Madison.  The west side store is located in the old train station that was constructed in 1902 near the Capitol.  

The east side store is the original location for one the largest Schwinn dealers back in the 70's & 80's.

The original store.

The new west side location.

Williamson Bicycle Works East

The East side location....