Wow, Waterloo!

You might recall, in my last blog entry (Dear Mr. Burke) I described reaching out to John Burke, president of Trek Bikes, with the idea of having "lifestyle ambassadors" to further the cause of getting — and keeping — people on bicycles.

As you are well aware, I love the sport of cycling and I believe Pedal2Page more than conveys that message. Basically, I wanted to make Trek mindful of my passion for riding a bike and thought my blog writings could be used as a vehicle to encourage others.

Is a visit to Trek in my near future?

I sent the email to Mr. Burke, more or less thinking that it would be kind of neat to hear back from him at some time in the future. But if it didn't happen, that's OK. Well, lo and behold, I did get a reply from Trek headquarters in Wisconsin ... on the very same day.

Here's what they had to say:

Hello Patrick,

My name is Jason Schumacher; I am a Customer Care Manager here at Trek. John Burke shared your email with me.

Thank you for taking the time to send us a note and your suggestion to assist Leo (Leo Rodgers is the dude I mentioned from the Bicycling magazine article). I have reached out to our Advocacy and Marketing Teams with your note for them to review. While I have seen the cover (of Bicycling magazine), I have not yet read the article and will need to download it to read this weekend.

Now, let's talk about you. Those are some great rides you have done and sounds like you have more to come. If things are a little different by next summer, you could extend your trip and come to Waterloo (Wisconsin, Trek's headquarters) for a tour and a ride.

I just picked up a 920 (Trek adventure bike) and I regret to say that I have only had a few family rides with it so far. I have it at my in-laws and plan on doing some fire roads and longer rides soon. Sounds like I have another assignment this weekend, too.

Thank you for sending us such a nice note. What I love most about what I do is being part of this cycling community. Especially when we hear stories like yours. Please stay in touch.

Have a great weekend,

Jason

I must admit, it was so awesome to get a response, and to have it happen so quickly. I was on cloud nine. In fact, I went for a bike ride straight after receiving the email; I felt like I could have pedaled for 100 miles ... despite the heat and humidity here in Maine.

I don't know if anything more will result from my initial correspondence, or indeed from the Advocacy and Marketing Teams at Trek. But if I do hear from them again, I will surely let you know. Be safe!