Testing, one, two.
Hello, everyone in Japan, how are you?
Today's blog is being sent to you by JUS from San Francisco and Sacramento, USA.
SHIGE, TAKA, and JUS have been in the United States for a week as of yesterday.
The purpose, of course, is to go undercover at NAHBS 2016, but
we also plan to visit Portland to check out various bike shops and, without limiting ourselves to just bicycles,
take a good look at and experience interesting "things" and "happenings" firsthand.
We'll be posting updates on our blog and social media, so please look forward to them.
Check out #CIRCLESUSTOUR on Instagram!
First, after arriving in San Francisco around 8:00 AM, we rented a car and traveled to Sacramento.
Joining us on this tour for a lively start are Earlybirds boss Katie, Mattsun from Hedgehog Diner,
and Miu-Miu from Pine Fields Market.
Since they'll be moving with us most of the time, the food is one of the things I'm really looking forward to!
Please check out #アリバアメリカ旅行記 on Instagram for that as well!
To start, we filled our stomachs by enjoying burgers at "In-N-Out," a California staple.
While we were eating our burgers on the patio, we suddenly encountered a local cyclist riding a Bike Friday. He told us passionately about how he folds it up compactly into a trunk case and traveled to Thailand last year.
"You guys from Japan? This is a bike city. Enjoy it to the fullest," he said
as he rode off.
Our U.S. tour started with such a wonderful encounter.
What kind of bikes, cyclists, and lifestyles will we meet from here on out?
I'm already completely fired up.
Now, as for NAHBS, the main event of this tour, guess what!
Our very own SimWorks will be exhibiting for the first time!!
Look forward to Shige-chan's blog tomorrow for all the details on the show!
After resting a bit at the hotel, we helped set up the SimWorks booth and headed to the "eve-of-the-show" party, which was the main event for the day. This party was hosted by PAUL, White Industries, and Paragon Machine Works, so they were handing out these special edition pint glasses!
Later, we moved to another location, and thanks to the thoughtful arrangements of Retrotec builder Curtis, we had the opportunity to have a meal with frame builders carried by SimWorks, their families, and the Chris King crew.
Looking at the photo, it's an incredible group of people...
Wow!! Chris King himself was there too. It was our first reunion since he visited Japan last year.
It was a day that left me totally overwhelmed from the very start, but I'll keep giving it my all starting tomorrow.
Please look forward to our next update!