I don't go to Interbike as a vacation; it's strictly business. For a vacation I'd go someplace like France or spend time in the Sierra Nevada mountains here in Northern California. I wouldn't go somewhere that doesn't give a rat's tail about bicycles, somewhere young kids are handing out porno tracts on the streets, nor somewhere where one of the big attractions is free-flowing drinks (in a big year, I'm up to maybe 12 alcoholic drinks or so; this year it will be 3 or 4, if that).

We've held our trade show (Interbike) in Las Vegas for quite a number of years, and it's a huge money maker for the organization that puts it on, but that's of little benefit to an industry that bleeds tons of red ink. That's one of the most-interesting things about this (the bicycle) industry. We have a huge trade show that's seriously out of proportion to the size of our industry. And that size is what limits the choices for where it can be. We have to have a very large convention center (we fill the entire Sands Convention Center), something like 16,000 hotel rooms nearby, and obviously it must be located in a city United flies to (had to mention that to keep it on topic!). So our choices are pretty much limited to Las Vegas, Anaheim and possibly Salt Lake City.

One of the biggest disadvantages to Las Vegas is that, since moving the show there, we've seen almost no actual business being conducted (in terms of writing orders). I think that's at least partly due to the distractions, and the exhibit halls are pretty empty the first couple hours as people recover from the night before. I have a feeling that might not be the case in Salt Lake City.