International Bike Show

I went to the International Bike Show in Cleveland over the weekend with Daniel and his father since none of my work friends could come. Everything about it was awesome:  the bikes, the people, and the shows.

The Convention center was huge:  the part containing the bike show, and the parts that were blocked off I bet would have doubled the size. They had this farris wheel in the center of the room all lit up and working. The top went out the ceiling; lucky for the riders and really the rest of us that they built a glass wall around the top to accommodate the breach. Otherwise the freezing wind and sleet would have been raining down on all below.

I'm guessing but at one point I bet they had a carousel. Before walking into the roped off bit separating food from entertainment was this wicked cool armored horse. So of course the horse lover that I am I had to photograph it!

They had this game; a plexi glass box with arm holes like you'd find in a science project only without the gloves, two tubes inside, and a fan that forced these little red and white ping pong balls into the air. The balls were mostly red. The purpose of the game was to reach your arm in through the holes with their little sleeves and grab 5 white balls from the air and put them into a little clear tube before the other person could do the same. It looked challenging and was but I still managed to win a hat very quickly. I vaguely heard the lady's commentary about quick reflexes and strategy or maybe it was study! Before I had worked up the nerve to play I watched some people go at it a few rounds then signed up. The prize was a Yamaha baseball cap and a chance to win an Ipad. Daniel won his round as well and once we walked on he said "I'm glad I didn't play against you!".

Due to the nature of conventions there was a lot of free stuff! I'm a little mad at myself for being nervous to jump right in and challenge myself with their games. I could have gotten myself a green Kawi beanie had I braved the challenge of designing a custom paint scheme for a bike. But no I chickened out and waited till just before we left. So all that was left was a white Kawi baseball cap. I've come to realize that I don't look the best in a baseball cap! I guess it's just another project I'll have to add to the things I wish to knit for myself! I will also add that the lady for this booth also complemented my skill and creativity for the paint job. She's "never seen anyone do the line like that" nor "this that type of precision before". You'd think with all the complements I'd be more confident. *shrug* I must be defective.

There was this brother team of dirt bikers who were stunting. Photographing them was a challenge as well since I had to hold my camera in the air over my head and attempt to aim at them and shoot. Thankfully uncle Ken taught me a few tricks for candid photography that he learned in the air force, they came in handy pointing my lens in the right direction without looking through the view finder. I might just get good at photography! So back to the stunt team. They climbed the blue contraption in the center, doing wheelies and stoppies at the top ( I guess they are actually called back and front wheelies according to these boys.) They had one or another boy laying on the ground and jumped their bikes over said person. The one even used a 1 wheeled bike to jump the guy laying down. I definitely like the parts where they hopped around on their back tires. Though most of my photos for this advent came out blurred I did manage to get a few good ones.

That's about it for the shows and games; that we watched anyways. Mostly we walked around, chatted with some people and ogled the bikes. Some of those customs were HOT! I can't choose a favorite and I can't describe all the different bikes that were there or this would turn into a novel (and considering my following would be pointless to write so much) so I'll attempt to detail the best!

Starting our running was this little green chopper hidden off in a crowd. Fully custom with a dragon head, scales down the back fender and front forks! She was a beauty! All chromed out:  an evil little dragon to be sure. I don't have any specs or detail really about this one since it was hidden away. Just a cool photo!

Another was dedicated to Jack Daniels.  Complete with air brushed portrait and wooden suicide shift topped by a Jack Daniels shot glass. A bar stool seat and a mini wooden barrel (I'm none to sure what that was for besides looks). Slick little bike though probably not street legal!

Then we had one that was definitely not street legal! Slapped to the ground, all steel and hard welding! Shinny to be sure with some questionable components ... like a wrench welded to the frame and a pair of vice grips looking to be holding the tire on. These two were on the other side of the bike then what you see here but trust me they were there! I'm guessing it runs since there was some fluid in the tubes but with such a low center of gravity:  as this poor artsy looking gent found out, hard to balance. I hate pointing out peoples embarrassing moments but the poor thing turned a becoming shade of red! I'll admit I blushed for him! Mainly because I was thinking about sitting on the bike. The sign did ask you to but the seat looked a little ruff.

This one I'm taking home! I can wish right! It's not a custom bike just a newer ninja zx-14r. I tried to get Daniel to text in to win this bike but he wouldn't do it. Probably because he doesn't want me on something so big. It'd really leave his CBR in the dust. ... and probably kill be while it's at it! The think apparently has balls and tries to buck off anyone foolish enough to try to take her out! That's not quite how it was phrased to me but I'm sure you get the picture! A whole lot of power for something so light. Not that it was all that light. I would hate to have to pick this one off the ground when some dumb ass tips it over like seems to happen to Saeorsie. I WANT to kill them when they do that to her ... I WOULD kill them if they did that to this one! Oh and don't be fooled by size. This bike was A LOT bigger than me!

I found a booth with some pretty cool patches. It was a very popular booth. Lots of trouble with personal boundaries! There were a few that I would have liked to have had, however, I ended up purchasing this purple phoenix with bat wings that said lady rider on it's center. The stitching though mainly purple does have some pink but I'll live ... even if some of the pink are rhinestones. >.>; I also purchased a few for Daniel, I let him pick them out with only a few suggestions from myself. Of course the one I thought was perfect for him wasn't part of this deal of 3 for $10 so he ended up not getting it. Perhaps I should find a way to make it for him instead. Oh, it was an eagle with it's wings spread wide and perched on a rectangle with "Ireland" spelled out. One of the eagles wings was colored like the American flag and the other the Irish flag. Very well done I thought! Perfect for my redheaded, Irish boy!

Wow! Okay so what else happened?! I met some models and photographers and may have gotten myself some jobs. The one model lives by me (small world) and is looking to build her portfolio so I passed along my info and can't wait to hear from her. I've been looking for people to model for me besides my sister for some time. If this girl contacts me I no longer have an excuse not to do it. (mostly it's my friends excuses!) Then this other booth was for calendars and the gent their asked "are you a photographer" and I said yes and he's like "we're planning a guys calendar ... [and] I'm not shooting it!" We all got a chuckle out of that. I got his card so I'll have to look into it. I'm not sure how Daniel will feel about me photographing half necked men though! We'll see! It does appear as though he's more than just photography so I could potentially work with him on a number of fields.

And on a final note:  apparently I'm hippy-ish! So says a model! I can dig it!