Ask most St. Louisans if they'd like to go to California during the winter months and I doubt you'd get many of them to say no. Eli and I said yes to GRA (Giant Retail Academy) last week, located in sunny Newbury Park. The focus for this training was service (repair-type things), some specific and some general.
The hotel we stayed at was old with a recent refresh. And although it wasn't the focus of our visit, it was nice. The pool was warmer than you'd think for February, but not warm enough to go for a swim. They had a great buffet each morning, which is never a bad thing.
As you'd imagine, I was hungry when we got to the hotel. Eli had to check in on his computer for school, so I went walking. About 100 yards from the lobby, I found this. Del Taco. A favorite from my youth. Actually, in our neighborhood (Hi-Point area), it was Naugles. Then it became Del Taco. I spent many late nights waiting in the drive through for a huge, greasy Macho-Combo burrito. Which is what I ordered and it was awesome. (On a side note: $19 per hour!)
We arrived at Giant bright-eyed the next morning and got a nice tour of the facility. So much cool stuff. It was very cool to see the latest and greatest on display.
A highlight of the showroom for me was the ancient Ford Ranger used as a prop for the mountain bikes. I never asked if the old sled would run or not.
My heart would be so happy if the view out of the back door at South Side was similar to this. The California hills are everywhere and add so much to the experience.
After a few hours of class time, we were given some goods. The Cuore stuff is top notch. Eli chose a mtb jersey and I chose the road version. That's because were goin' ridin'!
On this first day, Eli and I both chose "analog" bikes...non-E bikes. We rode a couple top of the line Anthem full-suspension bikes. Lots of ups and downs, high-speed off-camber, and loose on top of hardpack surfaces. The trails are not groomed like the stuff in St. Louis, and you can tell they get a ton of use. Even so, the riding in these low hills is super fun. There are trails EVERYWHERE!
Naturally Eli and I pushed the uphills and stopped to wait for the others. Perfect photo-op with the Pacific Ocean in the background.
The next day was hands-on. Even though I have rebuilt suspension forks and dropper posts, Eli has not. It was great to have all of the tools and parts on-hand, right at our fingertips, with the chief engineers giving tips and best-practices. And I have to admit it's never a bad thing to keep learning about things you think you know.
What we hadn't seen before is the CADEX wheel line. They're very sophisticated and built very precisely. We had the chief engineer and Giant's CADEX service specialist giving us the complete rundown.
On this last day, we opted to ride e-mountain bikes. There are a lot of opinions out there about these things, and all I can say is you have got to try one before you pass judgement. Eli and I had so much fun riding with the Giant crew. We were HAMMERING on the bikes. So fast at times, and climbing some WICKED steep hills like nothing. On purpose, I used the lowest power setting so I could get a feel for it and I was wasted when I was done. The motor is the great equalizer: it allows people of all different fitness levels to ride together and get exactly the kind of ride or workout they want. Had I upped the boost one or two levels, I would have had just as much fun but with lower effort. It's just that simple.
These types of trips are great for so many reasons. We learned a lot of great info, met a lot of cool people, and got a fantastic winter break.
No comments:
Post a Comment