Deserted

By the time this posts, I’ll be back in the desert. I used to think being in Vegas for Interbike every year was like a bad roller coaster ride. Now I realize it’s like being the guy who mops up the cars. Both are gut-wrenching, but the guy who cleans up the ride has to deal with some genuinely disgusting sights, sounds and smells.

I can’t complain, really. It’s just that normally my various jobs have nothing at all to do with vomit, and this one week a year tries to make up for 360 vomit-less days. The stuff they use on the casino carpet, the cars that pass you on the street, the lights: pretty much every individual component of Las Vegas seems carefully engineered to make me sick. I like the people in the bike industry (if I didn’t, there’s no way in hell I’d go to these things), but every other part of Vegas makes me spiritually queasy.

I don’t mean to suggest being in Vegas is like vomiting. There’s a kind of relief that comes from vomiting that Vegas never offers–at least not until the plane’s in the air again and you’re watching that blinking, barren landscape fall away below you. Have to be there to talk to people, though, and that part of my week is going to be pretty great. Lots to accomplish this year.

So Canootervalve will basically be off this week, though I’ll be posting things occasionally to whatever place seems the best fit. I’ll probably post some photos to Facebook/CyclocrossCom, some to Facebook/NoTubesFan, and a few right here. Whether or not they include any pithy remarks will depend in big part on how much sleep I can get tonight.

I have to be at the airport for 5:00am, so not looking good. At least I can score a barf bag on the plane.