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Bill Walton to speak at Interbike's Industry Breakfast

Published August 20, 2014
Retired basketball star is a longtime avid cyclist.

SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO, Calif. (BRAIN) — Retired basketball star Bill Walton will headline the Interbike Industry Breakfast, held Sept. 10 prior to the opening of the Interbike Expo in Las Vegas.

Walton, an avid cyclist for many years, will deliver an inspirational message.

"Bill Walton is relentlessly positive, multi-talented and successful in so many ways," said Tim Blumenthal, president of PeopleForBikes, one of the sponsors of the breakfast. "He has been an avid bike rider for nearly all of his 61 years. Bill's Industry Breakfast keynote messages will resonate with the audience and inspire attendees to feel a new sense of pride in the wonderful bike business."

Walton pedaled as a kid growing up in La Mesa, California, rode to class and basketball practice at UCLA, and has been knocking out centuries for 20 years. He also has ridden on the velodromes at Encino and San Diego on a 72 cm frame.

Bicycling has never been more central in his life than now, five years after the latest in a long line of major bone fusion surgeries to both ankles and his spine that were products of his basketball career. Today, he said the bike "acts as my wheelchair, my gym and my church — all in one."

The breakfast is sponsored by PeopleForBikes, the National Bicycle Dealers Association and the Bicycle Product Suppliers Association. It will be held in the Mandalay Bay Ballroom at 7:30 a.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 1o. It is a first-come, first-served event with 700 seats available to Interbike attendees. Attendees interested in being at this event should plan to arrive as early as possible.

Topics associated with this article: Interbike

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