We got into town and checked into our hotel for the weekend and immediately headed out to dinner with a whole mess of people (including indoor mountain bike park legend Ray. I had one of the best steaks I've ever had in the sleepy little town of Ocala, but I didn't photograph it. Hell, I didn't take any photos of the restaurant either. Around the corner though, I found another restaurant that made me smile.
Lunchbox has his own restaurant down there I guess. He is from the Sunshine State, you know.
Speaking of Lunchbox, I was down there in Florida this time for a reason. I was working for DeFeet at the festival, selling the best socks in the world. More important than just selling socks though, I was spreading the good word about them to anyone that would listen (it's called marketing, folks.) That's right, I went down there to work. It didn't feel like work though since I love doing it and I am pretty damn passionate about my favorite cycling company from the hills of North Carolina.
Anyway, Friday morning we headed out to the Santos Trail to setup, and I must say that I had my booth looking pretty damn good.
And since we were in Florida (and I already had an alligator with me) I did some "special" marketing specific to my location.
The festival didn't start until noon on Friday, but I was busting my ass selling socks and talking about DeFeet. My favorite part was seeing the socks I'd sold getting put to good use.
That first day was crazy. Since I was keeping track, I noticed that my sales on day one far surpassed my totals from day one of last year. I guess they kind of sell themselves, but I'd like to think that I had something to do with it. I worked really hard too, even though my friends were making ride plans:
I didn't mind. I was having fun too.
The first day until ran from twelve until five, but I was worn out. It's usually the slowest of the three day festival so if that was any indication then I had a long weekend ahead of me. Once I packed away the merchandise a bunch of us headed out to the middle of nowhere to get some beer and fine Florida cuisine.
We ended up playing with alligators though.
Photo credit: Punky
Well, somehow I also ended up with a new sippy cup.
I worked hard and um, played hard too. I was worn out from day one, but I still had more to go.
So do you. See y'all tomorrow.
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