Meeting Friends of Fatty
I had three main purposes in attending Interbike this year:
- Talk at the Web 2.0 panel
- Goof off
- Write about goofing off
I also had a sub-agenda to start a rumor that I am also Bike Snob NYC, but I couldn’t seem to get any traction with that.
Along the way, I saw a bunch of very cool stuff, and met a lot of very cool people.
And — call it vanity if you must, since that’s what it is — I really, really enjoyed it whenever someone came up to me and said they like my blog and conveyed that their thoughts and prayers are with Susan. In many cases, it gave me a chance to — finally — put a face to a name (or, as happened several times, I would have no idea who the person was until they told me the handle by which they post).
Whenever it occurred to me, I asked Kenny to get a photo of me with folks. So here we are:
And I’m pretty sure a few of you got pictures with your own cameras. If you don’t mind, email them to me, so I can add them to this post.
I’ve got a few more Interbike-related things I want to write about in the next few days, but for right now it seems like a good way to kick off the weekend is to say thanks for reading my blog, and — more importantly — for supporting my wife and me. I’m an extremely lucky guy to have so many friends.
PS: And an extra-huge thanks goes to Kenny, who did a great job with the photos, had more than his fair share of ideas of what we ought to go look at next, and was generally fun to hang out with for five days.
PPS: And an even huger thanks goes to my ma-in-law, who did a great job of taking care of Susan and my family while I was gone.
Comment by tim | 09.26.2008 | 11:45 am
well cool week……
WIN SUSAN
Comment by peter | 09.26.2008 | 11:54 am
Glad to see your having a great time. Tell us more about Lemond. I still love my Fillmore but you could make me a “Hater”
Comment by Tiger | 09.26.2008 | 11:57 am
Verry very cool. It’s neat to put a face with a name! I get to do that this weekend!!:)
Glad you had fun!;)
Win Susan
Comment by Paul H | 09.26.2008 | 12:16 pm
Hey, GREAT coverage on interbike.
I looked forward to “attending” through your eyes and enjoyed the coverage. I think the ultimate score was the picture with The Cannibal.
Also, some may not want their real names posted with their pictures, but it would be nice to see the pictures with their “handles”
Comment by Jodi | 09.26.2008 | 12:16 pm
You’ve got a good looking readership fatty. Well played.
Comment by Jon | 09.26.2008 | 12:17 pm
I’m glad to hear you had a good time, Fatty.
How many recumbents did you come home with?
Win Susan!
Comment by Don | 09.26.2008 | 12:18 pm
Awesome, man! Hopefully I’ll find a way to finagle my way into the shindig next year, and maybe get a chance to meet you. Can’t wait to read, everyday!
Don
Comment by Shiny Flu | 09.26.2008 | 12:21 pm
Just to add to your vanity, been loving ‘fatty’ interbike coverage!
PS: Buy ma-in-law flowers (or something)- works great.
GO SUSAN!
Comment by dave | 09.26.2008 | 12:27 pm
By far the best interbike coverage ever. Seriously. I hope they invite you back every year. And maybe get a spot on velonews to boot. Then there Eurobike…this could be the beginning of something big. Oh, and good job keeping Kenny reigned in and making a spectacle of himself.
Win Susan!
Comment by LidsB2 | 09.26.2008 | 12:37 pm
Fatty,
Great week of posts – I thoroughly enjoyed seeing Interbike through Fatty’s eyes. I must find a way to go next year…Should Kenny be unable to serve as official photographer, consider me a volunteer replacement.
WIN Susan!
Comment by Susie | 09.26.2008 | 12:37 pm
So, I hear that Lance will be riding in the Tour of California next year as a warm up for the big race. Maybe you’d like to cover that event? Then you could meet all of your California friends…:)
Comment by rexinsea | 09.26.2008 | 12:38 pm
Fantastic posts this week! Loved the Interbike “insider info” Keep up the great work and WIN
Comment by Nick | 09.26.2008 | 12:48 pm
Looks like you had a great time.
Make sure you all join the “Win Susan! Friends of Fatty” group on Facebook.
Comment by Jeff | 09.26.2008 | 12:51 pm
Fatty,
I never realized how short you are…
Comment by VT Mavryk | 09.26.2008 | 12:57 pm
This relates to your post earlier this week, but I gotta ask: You said the ‘09 jerseys would ship soon . . . does that mean sooner than the originally announced november date? Those jerseys look so awesome, I can’t wait to receive mine!
WIN Susan!
Comment by fatty | 09.26.2008 | 12:59 pm
jeff: yep. 5′7″. my 14-yr-old is taller than i am and my 12-yr-old will be taller than i am within a year. susan’s father and grandfather were both 6′4″-ish. i could easily wind up being much, much shorter than all of my kids.
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Comment by Mike Roadie | 09.26.2008 | 1:13 pm
Well done, my friend.
This week has been fun for us; interesting and insightful!
I, as are all of us, am glad you and Kenny got to have such a great time!!!
I did join the Facebook group, too.
Have a great weekend!
Eddam Urrix!!!!
WIN
Unite
LiveSTRONG
Comment by Flatman | 09.26.2008 | 1:16 pm
Epic trip, man…well done!
Comment by peter | 09.26.2008 | 1:31 pm
Fred and Barnie – Abbott and Costello – Laurel and Hardie – Ricky and Fred – Ralph and Norman –
The next great Sitcom should feature
– Fatty and Kenny -
Comment by Kathleen | 09.26.2008 | 1:37 pm
Super idea to share photos of your loyal fanship…wish I was there to bask in the joy that is Fatty’s world.
You gotta come to the Bay Area!
Comment by Ethan | 09.26.2008 | 1:54 pm
I couldn’t help but notice that you posed with a guy wearing an Assos jersey. Did you manage to pry it off his back and try out the fabulous life (or whatever) they promise? I hope so.
Comment by leroy | 09.26.2008 | 2:55 pm
You mean you’re not Bike Snob?
Oh well, you’d still be welcome in Brooklyn.
Comment by Clydesteve | 09.26.2008 | 3:07 pm
Fatty – I see you ditched the Geo. Hincapie white frame shades. Glad to see you still have frames with The Far side cat eye lady shape, though.
How about the FC handles for your adoring fan fotos?
Comment by Lizzylou | 09.26.2008 | 3:50 pm
I’ve been very jealous reading your Interbike coverage. Glad you got a chance to go and enjoy yourself.
Comment by judi | 09.26.2008 | 3:55 pm
Looks SOOOO fun! Thanks for blogging about your experience at Interbike. Very very cool.
Comment by dug | 09.26.2008 | 4:27 pm
hey, is that guy hugging you? i’m a little weirded out.
Comment by Bostonbikerchic | 09.26.2008 | 4:30 pm
Hey Fatty, I looked for you (a celebrity) at Interbike but I didn’t arrive until Thur. and you were no where to be found. If I had found you I would have conveyed my thoughts for Susan and your family and told you in person how much you rock. Can’t wait to read your impressions of Interbike. Did you remember to get schwag ?
Comment by KanyonKris | 09.26.2008 | 4:45 pm
dug – Elden seems a bit uncomfortable with the hug too. Blogging safely in the office/home you don’t have these issues.
Comment by Ashbygirls | 09.26.2008 | 7:04 pm
Is it wrong that I can’t look at a picture of Kenny without imagining him with ridiculous tan lines? It feels wrong.
Comment by Rokrider | 09.26.2008 | 8:35 pm
Fatty – Ref pic 4: if you’re going to have your picture taken hanging on to handlebars, you might want to consider using a different finger on the brake lever. Unless, of course, you actually were trying to send a message to someone.
Comment by JimmyNick | 09.26.2008 | 9:42 pm
In them pictures, which one is you?
Comment by USARMYCPT | 09.27.2008 | 9:25 am
I am jealous! your being In the presence of cycling greats Lance Armstrong, Eddy Merckx, and seeing and playing with all that cool stuff. I am sure you guys had fun!
Comment by MikeonHisBike | 09.27.2008 | 9:27 am
Great coverage of Interbike. It was nice to get an inside view of the show.
Mike
http://mikeonhisbike.blogspot.com
Comment by bikemike | 09.27.2008 | 11:22 am
just got in from vegas at 2:00 in the morning, florida time. will be a zombie for about three days.
really great to finally meet you Elden and Kenny (i called you Dug at first, sorry man). got a couple of pictures, i’ll send them to you when i find my camera and my ability to connect it to the computer.
wish i could’ve stayed for your conference but i had a prior meeting. thought there was a great turnout to meet you there. super group of fans you’ve got. hope you saw the Blue Man Group to learn how to be a rockstar. next you’ll be doing global conferences with Bono and Bill Clinton.
caffene is wearing off, hope Susan is doing well.
God bless mom-in-law.
Comment by cyclingeurope | 09.28.2008 | 3:34 pm
Fatty,
so nice to meet you and I feel honored to be included in your photo gallery! It makes me feel famous to be pictured with you! However, I’m emailing you a better photo of you and me (that Kenny took with my camera), on your photo your eyes look like you enjoyed the Las Vegas nightlife a little too much the previous night… I posted mine on one of my blogs: http://funhogspins.blogspot.com/2008/09/who-i-met-at-interbike.html
Loved your contribution to the Web 2.0 panel. Great stuff!
Win Susan!
Jennifer Sage
Comment by Triflefat | 09.28.2008 | 5:33 pm
Fatty, was there some great big end-of-interbike party at which everybody got into the swing of things and swapped tee shirts? (as often happens after the last game in a football season)
every time we see him, Kenny appears in his brown corona tee. then in the second last shot he’s wearing a black fat cyclist tee which looks remarkably similar to that worn in the final shot by another friend of Fatty.
what gives?
Comment by cheapie | 09.28.2008 | 7:31 pm
i heard LA was ticked he never got fatty’s autograph
Comment by Jon | 09.28.2008 | 8:18 pm
Wow, do I get some kind of prize for being in the first picture posted? I’m the one in the Assos jersey and I truly know what it means to have a luxury body. (Though, as it turns out, that means neither fit or handsome–who knew?!)
By the way, we actually had an appt with Assos. I guess they’re changing their US distributor. Anyway, they said they were just going to pay you an additional $200K to write another open letter to them for publicity. I about died of laughter when they brought you up. He was pretty good-natured, but I could tell he wasn’t too happy about it–or about the image of Assos in general here in this part of the world.
He said they were going to introduce a more affordable line to be sold only through Bike Nashbar with the top model capping out at $70 for bibs…
Or maybe not.
Comment by Di | 09.28.2008 | 8:56 pm
Wow! Thanks for bringing Interbike to all of us. :-)
Comment by Anonymous | 09.29.2008 | 6:14 am
Yeah – I have to admit. The hug in pic 2 made me take a second look. LOL.
Comment by Kt | 09.29.2008 | 9:24 am
I’m sure there were a lot of Friends of Fatty at Interbike, that didn’t find you; I hear it’s quite a large show. :)
+1 on labeling the photos!
WIN! Susan!!!
Comment by Fritz | 09.29.2008 | 4:24 pm
My goal at Interbike was to investigate the identity of Bike Snob NYC. Several of us hypothesized that Sky Yaeger is BSNYC. But I was talking with Sky Wednesday morning while Bike Snob blogged about the Lance Armstrong press conference, so I’m pretty sure she’s not him.
Candidate #2: Bill Strickland. He uses big words and goofy metaphors just like BSNYC and he’s in NYC enough to fake living there.