People who know people

Here's a nice little feel-good story about my otherwise stressful bike shopping.

I am a little nervous and uncomfortable looking at bikes. I don't know the lingo or the stats on all the brands and components and when a salesguy starts rattling off a bunch of information it just goes right over me. I went to "Velo Pasadena" yesterday and the conversation started off very awkward. For starters, I thought they were a Scott dealership so I was asking for bikes they didn't carry. The guy asked me what components I wanted on the bike. I didn't know. He asked what was on my current bike. I didn't know (I checked afterwards, it's the 105 set and I know now I want to step up.) It was just one question after another and I was feeling like a moron.

I told him I did triathlons, and he asked if I was in the Pasadena Tri Club. I told him no, I was with Disney. He said he knew "Stephanie" from the Disney Tri Team. STEPHANIE? Of course I know her. She's doing Arizona in November. And I did Coeur d'Alene with her husband Rich last year. And it turns out the salesguy used to go on training rides with Rich and was their neighbor for a while.

Once we made that connection, suddenly the ice was broken and our bike discussions were much more relaxed. We stopped talking about bike specs and just chatted about different rides and races (and a little about what a quiet animal Rich is on the bike.) I felt much more comfortable and actually enjoyed taking the bikes out for some spins.

So Stephanie and Rich, thanks for letting me get to know you!