Fall in New England

This past week, Masi was participating in Interbike's Outdoor Demo East. The weather on Monday for set up and Tuesday's first day was simply incredible! Fall in New England is very spectacular- especially compared to nearly seasonless Southern California.

Scenes from Roger Williams Park- site of the demo.

Wednesday brought light rains and much, much colder temperatures. Being from SoCal, all of us from Masi/ Haro bundled ourselves as well as we could against the cold. At least we could take comfort in seeing many of the New Englanders doing the same! Retailers were riding the Masi demo bikes and coming back with big grins- which always makes a Brand Manager's day! Look for more Masi bikes to show up in New England area bike shops.

Hangin' with the bikes... you know... getting ready for the big day of test rides.

Local retailers heading out for test rides; this group from one shop took out 4 bikes!

A nearly empty rack of demo bikes... AWESOME!

We stayed in Providence, in the area of de Pasquale Square- the "little Italy" of Providence. I am sure I will be burning off the calories from Providence for the next few months! The food we ate there was outrageously good. I have been called "a stomach with legs" many times in my life and this was one of those times. To top it all off, the service we received during our stay was also incredible. The people of Providence were amazing and we were all a little "bummed" to be leaving.

The small cafe next to the hotel served Masi wines! No relation to us, but a great wine just the same.

The beautiful de Pasquale Square where our little hotel was located.

The "little Italy" area of Providence RI.

The square at night... truly beautiful!

After the demo was done on Wednesday, we drove north to New Hampshire to our base for the next two days of visiting with retailers... and some more incredible food! We stayed in Portsmouth NH and once again ate our way through the city. If ever in Portsmouth, you have to eat at The Friendly Toast, Pesce Blue and Jumpin' Jay's Fish Cafe... trust me on this one.

On Thursday, we drove into Boston to visit with a few of our fantastic retailers. The two main ones we saw in the city were Belmont Wheelworks and Ski Market. Wheelworks is an incredible shop! Such an amazing place. Belmont also is home to Peter Mooney and his wonderful custom creations. Peter makes some incredible frames himself, so we're pleased to be in the saame shop as him and his bikes. Wheelworks is a pro shop, for sure, so we're just honored to be in the same shop as many of the other brands there. Ski Market, as the name implies, sells lots of skis. BUT... they sell a lot of Masi Bicycles as well! With all the locations of Ski Market and the two Wheelworks locations, you're in pretty good hands in the Boston area!

Heading into Belmont Wheelworks.

Hanging high with pride inside the main showroom area- with a Seven on the other side... not too shabby company to share.

A gorgeous custom Peter Mooney... really nice to know they are crafted right there at the shop. NICE!

Right inside the downtown Boston location of Ski Market- a nicely decked out SoulVille.

A nice little display of Masi bikes inside the store.

Our Eastern Regional Sales Manager- James Ayres- being a kid in a candy store in the bottom of Ski Market, in their skate ramp/ bike ramp. He was nearly crying...

On Friday, since we were flying out of Maine mid-day, we only got to visit one shop... but it is one of the biggest supporters of Masi (and Haro) in New England- Back Bay Bicycles in Portland ME. Cheryl and her staff are big proponents of Masi bicycles and through their small shop sell and support Masi in a big way. We are very proud to work with such a shop and I sincerely hope that you'll pay them a visit if you are in the Portland ME area.

A masi banner proudly displayed inside Back Bay Bicycles!

Look at all that Masi sweetness!

Beautiful Eddy Merckx painting on display in the shop... it was really a great painting.

A customer's fully decked out CXR- ready for winter life in Maine.

Lunch was eaten right on the warf area- the Porthole was incredibly good!

Overall, it was a great trip to New England. Demo went very well, even with the rain on day two, and the retailer visits were all fantastic. We're very proud of how well the bikes were received by the retailers during demo and are looking forward to seeing more bikes available to the public there. So never fear- if you can't find the Masi you are looking for in New England right now, you likely will be able to find it in the very near future!

Tim