Last weekend we packed up a big truck and ran for the border, our destination: The Seattle Bicycle Expo. Seattle is a great city and this year’s expo was an exceptionally excellent place to be last weekend. Hosted at the new cruise ship terminal, it was a little nicer than last year’s venue –though admittedly, it didn’t hold the same, shall we say, weather hazards. This year featured more exhibitors than you could count on ten hands and entertainment from Ryan Leech and Artistic cyclists from Germany, now that was something new. All in all it was an amazing show.

Personally, I had never heard of or seen Artistic cycling, but large crowds gathered for each show and provided loud excited cheers, whistles and hoots for the performers at the end. I would never have imagined standing on the handlebars of a moving bicycle and spinning 180 degrees repeatedly, but that is just what these riders did. Our booth was right across from the performances and gave us a front row seat for the artistic cyclists and Ryan Leech.

For those who have not had the pleasure of watching Ryan ride he always puts on an amazing show, where else can you watch someone bounce in circles on just their front wheel,  on a platform six feet in the air while talking to the crowd –it’s crazy, and very cool. Besides being an amazing rider you should also know that Ryan may be the nicest person in cycling, possibly even the world, making him a great ambassador for our sport. As the crowds gathered for his show you couldn’t help but notice the diversity of the people attending; the place was filled with people who love cycling in all of its fine iterations.

There were everything from hard core commuters, to recumbent, to freeride, touring and more if you could think of a style of bicycle someone was there to represent it. I love going to shows like this it is great to see strong growth in the popularity of our sport, and as infrastructure and support grows it can only get better. Seattle is a great kick off to the new season.

Next March, if you are in the Seattle area and can find the time I definitely recommend you come and check out the Seattle bicycle expo. It will provide excellent stoke, good conversations and interesting performances. It’s definitely worth the trip.