Friday, June 5, 2009

Kicking it with Bob Roll!!




Last evening I was invited to the grand opening of Just Ride Bicycles, 13431 Boyette Road, Riverview, Florida in the River Springs Town Center. The owners, David & Jody Luppino, have owned several stores in the Tampa Bay area over the last 14 years. David and his father, Joe, were very supportive of our saddle designs from the very beginning and allowed us to use their store for some our local news stories in the early days.

Bob Roll was on hand to talk and sign autographs and Bob led a group ride earlier in the day. 75 people turned out for the ride which was supposed to be a nice easy 38 mile ride averaging 18 mph. Several of the young studs turned out for the ride with the former pro rider and the 18 mph average speed was out the window. Roll was the first to finish and apparently had given a short lesson in the art of professional bike riding barely breaking a sweat and never short of breath. Others followed exhausted and beaten.

It seemed like 300-400 people attended the grand opening with Bob graciously signing autographs, posing for pictures and answering any and all questions. I was fortunate enough to have Bob sign one of our USA Adamo Racing saddles.

When the event was over, Roll needed a ride the Tampa Airport Marriott so I volunteered. It was on way and no problem at all and I'm sure he was thrilled to be ridding in the ISM Expo Van! During the ride we talked about his biking and television career and his pick for the upcoming Tour Day France. He's fairly certain that Lance Armstrong will come out on top once again. He also gave me some insight into the European Cycling sponsorship world which was very valuable.

It was a great evening, good exposure for David and Jody’s new shop and great for ISM saddles. We are looking forward on seeing Bob during the Tour coverage on Versus. You can visit http://alansnel.blogspot.com/ for more on the days events.

Respectfully,

Steve Toll
ISM Saddles
Tampa Bay Recreation, LLC

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