In case you haven’t already seen it, Litespeed has a new blog that provides information, from a local point of view, about the 2006 Tour de Georgia. For three days during the race, they will be offering tours of their factory in Ooltewah, TN to show the public how the bikes are made. I was hoping that I would be able to attend the Thursday morning factory tour and then catch the Stage 3 time trial, which ends in downtown Chattanooga (the first ever stage outside of Georgia). Unfortunately, my schedule won’t allow it. I will be in Chicago on a business trip toward the end of that week and I will barely make it home in time to see the mountain stage that finishes on top of Brasstown Bald on Saturday.

If any of you are going to be at the TdG and want to attend the factory tour, check out Litespeed’s blog and make sure that you reserve a spot in advance. I think it is pretty cool that Litespeed is offering customers (and potential customers) this peek inside the company. I wish I could make it to one of these tours. Maybe next year.

Photo: The downtube of my 10+ year old Catalyst commuting bike. It’s still a nice bike if you can look past the hideous orangish yellow tires that it is currently sporting. Oh well, they were cheap. At least they will wear out soon.