Knocked off a short 4 1/2 hours of driving today, the first warm up drive of my cross Canada tour. I’m in Penticton, BC right now, I have two school shows tomorrow, plus a yoga class in Kelowna in the evening—busy first day! (Yoga is at OranjDance starting at 6:45pm and is a fundraiser that benefits Pediatric Cancer Research-check out my fundraising page-more to come on that)

So I pulled up to what looked like a clean cozy hotel, it was pretty late so I didn’t want to be too picky. First odd sign was that the attendant at the front desk didn’t know how to swipe my credit card. Hmmm. Anyway, got my key, grabbed my things from the truck, walked in the smelly room and looked at the caved in bed, hmmm, pulled the sheets up and spotted a bed bug, eeeee. Caryn and I had done our research from previous encounters, there was no doubt. Not good. I booked it out of there and put myself up somewhere decent. Might do some camping this tour!

I’m just downloading a couple new songs right now to add to my yoga playlist for tomorrow nights class. It’ll be a 75 minute long session, I think it might be a hard class, I have to go over my routine after writing this blog. I always like to mix my yoga classes up a bit, different each time, some spontaneity.

Well, I’ll sign off for now. More soon….and hey, don’t let the bed bugs bite…

Ryan

Recently we rounded up all of our athletes and put together a little video of their awesomeness, and added some of our new gear as well. Being that they help us develop and test all of our products it only seemed fitting. Enjoy.

Have you ever seen two men ride one bicycle, one standing on the other’s shoulders as they go around in circles doing a wheelie?  How about a women standing on her handlebars, which just happen to be upside down drop (road) bars, and then proceeding to execute consecutive 180 degree spins while riding in a circle? To borrow from Will Ferrel, it was “mind bottling.”

Until two weekends ago I had never seen such things, nor entertained the notion that people might actually try and succeed at these odd gymnastic feats on a bicycle. It was like a circus clown car accident, I couldn’t help but watch, and with at least eight shows over two days, I caught a lot of Artistic cycling. It is incredible what these riders can do on a bicycle.

This was just one show that was featured at the Seattle Bicycle Expo.  Ryan Leech was there spreading his good natured Trials stoke. There was also a grade five unicyclist club that performed their routine. And there was the show itself, which had over two hundred exhibitors, a photo contest, food and more.

I love it when I get the chance to attend a show like the Seattle Bicycle Expo, there are so many things to see and do and an eclectic mix of people to talk to that all have one thing in common – a love of cycling. Sure, we all come from different backgrounds and harbor different ideas of what makes the perfect ride or bicycle but we all love to ride. It was an awesome show.

This weekend, March 13-14, Mace Gear will be at the Seattle Bicycle Expo. Showing off some of the new 2010 gear we are kickin off the season at the “largest consumer bicycle show in the United States.” Put on by the Cascade Bicycle Club and in a brand new venue, the bicycle expo promises to be a great time for everyone. Food, photos and tons of new and exciting gear, there is no lack of things to do and see in Seattle this weekend. If you are in the area then stop by and come and see the Mace booth located in the Norco booth #301, just across from Mace rider Ryan Leech who will be performing at the show.  Hope to see you there!

Mace rider, Ryan Leech was recently featured in an Interview at NSMB.com. Not only is he exceptionally good on a bicycle he is also amazing at Yoga.  Here is a quick excerpt from his recent interview:

“Ryan Leech began dropping hints in videos and blogs.  Knowing his personality it was no surprise to learn he was into yoga. The moves he performs take large helpings of concentration, balance, strength and flexibility.  If yoga helps him get there I was keen to know more.” Go a head go to NSMB.com to read more.