priorities

i spent the day at the bike world bike expo at seven flags. i was in the bikeiowa.com space, doing duty for the fledgling des moines bike kollective, which is set to open sometime in april. we sold thirty of our very kool t-shirts, sold some swell spoke cards, and added nearly twenty folks to our mailing list--people who want to help, to donate bikes or bike parts, to help teach stuff, and even a couple people who moved here from philadelphia and, as a parting gift, the city of brotherly love saw to it that their bikes were stolen. this couple wants/needs bikes to ride, and to learn enough about cycling to do a beginner triathlon.

pretty cool, in that all of these fit perfectly with our kollective goals.

also today, kcci tv8, our local cbs affiliate, ran a spot in their morning newscast about the kollective which was filmed on our most recent work day. [it will soon be on youtube, and when it is, you can believe i'll post both the video and the link.] before two minutes had passed, i had received three calls from folks wanting to get involved. later in the day, i received more calls, including a couple from people wanting bikes for health reasons. they don't want to race, they want to improve their lives by riding bikes--again.

so after grabbing some grub at taco john's [where i was sketching an outline for the first episode of my new radio show], i stopped across the street at zanzibar's to drink some coffee and to analyze the data from our efforts on behalf of the kollective at the expo. i was able to read the answers given by the folks who took the time to fill out our little questionaire. this is going to be good, man. exactly what des moines needs. i'm very gratified at the progress thus far.

so i get home and sit down at the computer, check my email, and a reader and friend sent me the following link.

ironic, eh?

the expo was good, there were lots of people there, looking and getting and buying. there were interesting demonstrations, hell, i even modeled mountain biking attire. oh yeah.

but the most gratifying aspect for me was the number of folks of all stripes who stopped and asked about the kollective, and what they could do to help, to participate, to spread the love of bikes.

but read this, please.

and tell me what you think about your priorities.