Sunday morning I paid a visit to a thrift store and stumbled upon a slim pleather portfolio in pristine condition. It caught my eye only because it said INTERBIKE 1993 on the cover. Inside was an untouched pad of lined paper and this neatly typed symposium agenda taking place in boring Ballroom A of the Las Vegas Hilton on the Tuesday before the real action started Wednesday or the Tuesday after everyone left town hungover. I have no use for a pleather portfolio but I snapped a photo of the agenda to take a closer look later.
Today I learned that Interbike moved to Vegas in 1993 from its usual spot in Anaheim. I believe if anyone we know was there in Vegas in 93, it’s Mr. Ric Hjertberg. Perhaps he even attended this symposium. I plan to ask him.
Looking back through my mental W-2 archives to 9/21/93... ...I was living in Bellingham and commuting to work at Casa Que Pasa on a GT Continuum, with absolutely no knowledge of or interest in the bike industry. Oblivious. Unaware that my bike was rolling 700D tires. Unaware of the difference between 700C and 700D. Unaware of the strategy behind the decision to mass produce a bike with 700D wheels in 1991. 700D with a 583 bsd never caught on. While 650B with a 584 bsd gained some popularity as well as some 27.5" marketing horseshit.
Looking at this agenda. The only thing I’d be interested in is Thomas Albers of TREK bicycles talking “A view of the bicycle market in the year 2000” It makes me smile to imagine looking forward 7 years in the bike industry while looking back at 30 years in the bike industry. After a 90 minute lunch break I’d have a very short attention span for stale talk of China… NAFTA… and Canada. I’d probably be in the Hilton Bar instead of Ballroom A until the reception started at 5.
Add Comment