September 30, 2009
Image Courtesy of Khabar Bike Cycling News (http://my.opera.com/badmadcyclist/blog)
Interbike 2009. The Venetian, Las Vegas, NV. It was my first Interbike. I walked in for day one of the expo and there he stood. I wasn’t in the building for more than three minutes. I didn’t even make it onto the trade show floor. And my first impression of the Interbike Expo was an immediate sighting of the Godfather of mountain biking, Mr. Gary Fisher.
Gary was giving a press interview. He was talking with the Interbike press about the new Fisher Superfly 100 carbon full suspension. I was standing there with my friends patiently waiting for him to finish so I could humbly ask him for a photo. While I was standing there, I decided to take a picture of him from a distance. That photo came out like like you’d expect; Gary in a sick custom suit looking snappy and fly. I took this one with my iPhone, so pardon the quality (continue reading below)…
I was super excited to see Gary Fisher in person like this. I’ve read about him for years in all the rags – both print and online. I follow him on Twitter. Gary INVENTED mountain biking. Huge. I owe this guy my sanity. Those trails and that bike are all I have at times. Gary did that for me. He did it for us. I was sorta trippin’ man.
The interview seemed to never end. I bided my time by taking more photos with my point-and-shoot digital camera. Unlike my iPhone, this camera used an auto flash. I was stunned by what I saw my camera record. When you take a digital shot, you can see it on the monitor for a second or two, but then it disappears so you can shoot another pic. Well what I saw on the screen in those few seconds after the picture took was not what I saw standing in front of me.
I didn’t know what to think, so I took more shots. Still the same. I was so freaked out I didn’t want to look at the recorded shots. My mind was trying to process the sheer fact that the Godfather was standing in front of me and that he was somehow able to appear one way to the naked eye, yet quite another to my camera. It confused me like a mo-fo. I wasn’t even sure if it was all really happening at this point. So I checked the recorded images. Sure enough, this is what I saw (continue reading below).
What the the hell?! How can this happen?! I’ve never seen this before in my life!
I started to think that Gary Fisher lived in a third dimension only the camera could see. That makes sense, doesn’t it? The crazy suits…the balls to take that first bike down the mountain…yeah, it makes sense. Gary Fisher lives in a third dimension that only my camera can see. That’s how I justified it to myself. At least until I figured out that Gary’s suit must have had reflective fabric embedded in it that caused it to appear radically different under a flash exposure. And by radically different I mean like a jail bird outfit. Wow. Genius. Fisher is even cooler than I thought.
So now that I put it together, I was looking around to see who else was in on it. Who else had a flash on their camera?… no one. Not a soul. The press had cameras that were so good they didn’t need flashes. It was just me and Gary. So my eyes move to the interviewer…if only I could be him for a second. Man…the questions I would ask. So I listened in on his questions…they all revolved around that damn bike. “WHO CARES!” I thought to myself. It has good brakes, it’s strong as shit, it’s the new Fisher carbon…blah, blah. This interviewer was missing the real story!! Who the hell is Gary Fisher?! Where did he get that suit??! What makes him tick? And what ideas and thoughts lie within the creative genius that decided to take that bike down the hill so many years ago? THAT’S the real story. And that goofball interviewer was missing it all with his stupefied grins and pre-programmed questions. Damn!
So the dust settles, the interviewer leaves and I approach Gary…”Gary,” I said. “Did you concept that suit man? It’s genius!” He said he didn’t, and gave credit to the creator. We chatted for a bit, snapped a couple photos and I thanked him for his time and his contributions to the sport we all call “ours.”
Gary Fisher made mountain biking ours. Yours, mine, everyone’s. Gary Fisher rules. And he blew my mind at Interbike. Thanks Gary. Thanks for all of it.
Getting to Shake the Hand of the Man
Gary Fisher is like magic, man!
Seriously. That suit is a VERY expensive piece of commuter attire.
No joke! The trousers are £380 alone!
This is awesome. I really think this technology will revolutionize the cycling safety apparel industry. Leave it to Gary Fisher to be on top of it.