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Goedemorgen!  

Or as we would say in English… Good Morning! 

The Makers are finally back in Amsterdam and reacclimated to the time zone here. As well, I have pressed the reset button on the newsletter. Things started to slide a little bit while on vacation, so I am officially back to the Tuesday deadlines.

As always, if you’re new to the newsletter and want to catch up on all the news, you can find all of the archives here.

Crunch time has arrived for Ray, and all of the bike world in fact. It’s prep week for the infamous Eurobike. If you don’t know what Eurobike is, you might be subscribed to the wrong newsletter? It’s one of the biggest industry events for all things bike. There are always mega announcements on everything from bike lights to power based crank sets, wheel hubs, pedals...everything. Everyone bike savvy is chomping at the bit to get their hands on the latest and greatest. Ray included. Though, by the number of times Mister DHL and Mister UPS have rang my door bell this past week, I’m starting to wonder if there are any surprises left for Ray? He is like a kid at Christmas right now, so many new toys! If you want a taste of what the next 7-10 days of posting will look like, you can click here and see all the previous Eurobike posts by Ray. 

So, with that in mind, we will take a look at what Ray was up to last week. Knowing that a lot of work he did won’t be realized until the embargos are lifted next week.

Last week we learned that Kinetic’s InRide V2 and Smart trainers are now supporting both ANT+ and Bluetooth Smart.

As well, in Ray’s Week in Review we discovered all the things Ray uncovered on the internet. I thought this week’s articles were particularly juicy! From industry “leaks” and industry people getting charges brought on them, I thought I was reading at the grocery store tabloids section!  

Finally, he couldn’t pass up a chance to post about our weekend. There was so much good stuff happening between Friday and Sunday he had to draw the line at just 5 things. But some insider info for you, things that didn't make the cut. In the section about the swim tests, it was in fact a swim/run accountability lunch date. Basically we are making the effort to get back to logging at least a workout a week-ish together, like the good old days. Unfortunately, it didn’t go well for either of us. The open water watch test/comparison swim was a “fail boat” for both watches, and then Ray talked me into jumping into the lake after my run, ending in two shredded bloody toes from glass on the bottom. That took the romance out of things, but all the same, we did have a great "Can-Merica" weekend!

In-Depth Thoughts from The Girl

With all the talk about Eurobike on the horizon, some of you might be remembering that that means Ray will be out of town for a while. Maybe you will remember that this is the time of year that I get the most stressed out. Not because Ray is out of town, and “poor me”. But because Ray is out of town and out of contact for most of that time. 

You see, when Ray gets into bike (or any new gadget) mode, he sort of goes off grid. That means, he’s left unchecked for hours or days even, living like a bachelor who just robbed a mega bike store and has fled to the mountains to check out all his new finds... in an RV. Thus where my stress comes in. 

To help paint a clearer picture, you might remember that time at the ANT+ symposium? The time when he thought it was hilarious to post about how he just crashed his bike on a quick mountain bike test-ride. Insert me, who was furious to find out via a Facebook post that he was alone, in bear country, no helmet, nearing sunset, and went over the handle bars… I publicly made him aware of my (and his new baby’s) dissatisfaction. Even if he did catch it all on his GoPro.

So... this year it will be different. This year, Ray will have with him for the duration of his bike and RVing adventure, my new best friend, Shane Miller, a.k.a. GPLama. Shane flew in from Australia on Monday afternoon and has since been partaking in the Maker household fun. Shane has been informed that I am immeasurably more comfortable with the week+ ahead knowing Ray has a check-in buddy. To which Shane responded… “Okay great. So you’ll just know sooner if Ray is missing or where to find the body”. 

I am discovering that these two knuckle heads are probably going to have an epic week and only get into a little bit of trouble (follow Shane's Instagram feed for constant trouble updates)…

Wish me luck, see you next week.

~The Girl.

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