Interbike 2016: Fostering Relationships, Old & New
by Clint Sandusky, ex-PCI #849/EMSCI #159
Riverside (CA) Community College District Police Department (retired)
It is hard to believe it’s been 12 years since I last attended the Interbike show in Las Vegas, Nevada. In that time, I’ve gotten older, hopefully wiser, and recently retired.
As stated on its website, “The annual Interbike International Bicycle Exposition is where the bicycle industry gathers to celebrate, educate and conduct the business of cycling. Bicycle retailers, media, importers and distributers can discover the latest in bicycle technology.”
But I’m not going to talk, for the most part, about all the cool things I saw at the show. Instead, I’m going to focus on “Fostering of Relationships, Old & New”.
When I arrived at the show and began to walk around, excitement and a sense of technological overload hit me. “What the heck am I going to write about?!”
After meeting for the first time Gary Strang (IPMBA Membership Director, PCI #1457, and COOL older guy, like me) at the CYGOLITE booth, he and I decided to write independent reviews of the show. It was then I decided to focus on relationships, not products and new technology. Hopefully Gary did the latter.
Most of the booths and the sales reps I visited, having some type of public safety cycling application, were very friendly, professional, informative, and open to suggestions.
I had several wonderful and productive conversations with Gary Cziko and Jenn Bowers, who are both Cycling Savvy (CS) Instructors and Directors of ABEA (American Bicycling Education Association). ABEA oversees the CS bicycle-related education. As part of a Caltrans grant for an Active Transportation Program (ATP), my former college district is utilizing CS to provide Adult Cycling training to “disadvantaged communities.”
At the Serfas booth, I continued my relationship with Mike Janssen (Regional Sales Rep), who had worked for my best buddy’s bike shop in Yucaipa, CA. Mike loves working at Serfas! I also met Joe Berman (Regional Sales Rep). He was VERY responsive to my suggestions for their TSL-Police lighting system. He also laughed at my jokes! He found my suggestion to revise their single remote switch for their lighting system to a dual switch interesting. Joe also told me they were considering producing a police siren. Contained in this newsletter is a product review on their TSL-Police lighting system.
[Note: since the show, Camille Lopez has been appointed the public safety contact for Serfas.]
I met Dennis J. Leedom (Founder + CEO) and Brandon Dodd (Vice President of Global Sales) of Bern Unlimited. Both were gracious and made me feel very welcome! Dennis allowed me to take one of their “Watts” model helmets to wear test. Speaking of the helmet and while at the booth, I met officers from Colorado, who know Denver Police Officer John Adsit. They told me John had returned to work and was planning to compete in some type of bike race. GREAT TO HEAR!
Other wonderful encounters at the show including meeting and talking with Michael Espejo (President) of C3SPORTS/Police Bike Store, reps from CYGOLITE, Finish Line, Honey Stinger, and Polar Bottle, to name a few.
Amongst all my networking opportunities, I did take time out to enjoy some laps around the Shimano indoor track, riding a 29er eBike.
In looking back while writing this article, I had a great time at the show fostering old and new relationships, while learning of cool new products and technology. I HIGHLY recommend any public safety cyclists, especially instructors, attend this or other similar shows in their areas!
Clint retired on April 3, 2016, after a 24-year career in law enforcement both with Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and Riverside Community College District Police Department (RCCD PD). While with RCCD, he served as the department’s Bike Team Coordinator. Clint helped form his college department’s bike patrol team in 1993 and rode on it until his retirement. Since 1994, he’s been a CA POST certified Bike Instructor. He attended numerous police bicycle patrol and bicycle safety courses, including the IPMBA Police Cyclist, Advanced Police Cyclist, and Instructor Course. He taught at the 2006 and 2007 IPMBA Conferences. He actively competes in USA Cycling amateur cross-country mountain bike races and since 1999, he has competed and medaled in the cross-country mountain bike events at the now-known-as United States Police & Fire Games. He can be reached at clint.sandusky@gmail.com.
Photos courtesy Clint Sandusky.
(c) 2017 IPMBA. This article appeared in the Winter 2017 issue of IPMBA News.