Quintana Roo is a state in Mexico. What is Pearl Izumi?
I know Izumi is a city in Osaka (and is the sister city of Bloomington, Minnesota, which has a median household income of $54,628). But what about the pearl?
What is Pearl Izumi?
Company that makes shittly mtb/cross shoes.
But decent arm warmers. I dropped some change last night at Bicycle Sports Shop for some PI arm warmers (the ones with fleece on the inside) and my ride to work today was much better than it has been in the mornings this week. Nicest thing is that arm/leg warmers, shoe covers (no numb toes today!), balaclava and what not can go back home with me in my jersey pockets.
I really hate balling up a big windbreaker that I have and carrying it home in my jersey pockets. That’s the problem in Austin right now: just cold enough so that you need some layers in the morning, warm enough that you can’t wear those layers in the afternoon.
Everybody knows PI has made shitty mtb/cross shoes. I mean everyone. It’s even cliche now. You didn’t buy them, did you?
LOL you are right they make some great apparel.
Luckily I didn’t buy the shoes.
Back during the Vietnam War, a young sailor from Idaho had shore leave in the city of Izumi, Japan. His buddies took him to a back alley bar where totally naked, nubile young Asian women performed all manner of sexual acts with several different species, some of which weren’t even known to Western science. The most beautiful of all the dancers was a young Thai girl called “Pearl’” after the single black pearl she wore in her navel. Unbeknownst to the sailor, his drinks were being laced with a potent extract, later thought to be blowfish venom. As he tried to stagger to the men’s room, he went through the wrong door and ended up in the alley where he was severely beaten with clubs by several Ninjas, robbed, and left for dead. He woke up on a straw mattress in a seedy flophouse on the wrong side of town. Someone was swabbing his forehead with a cool, damp cloth. He opened his eyes and realized it was the lovely, young dancer from the club, Pearl. Over the next few days, Pearl nursed him slowly back to health. Soon, they were able to rent a tandem bicycle and go for rides in the park. The sailor marveled at how well Pearl’s shorts fit her buttocks and thighs as he stoked from behind. Soon, it was time to go back to his ship. They had a mission to deliver ice cream to the Marines in DaNang. He knew he might not make it back. He gave Pearl his address and asked her to write. He only got one postcard. In it, Pearl told him that the club owners were opening a new franchise in Hanoi. She was still in bad graces for having missed work while tending to the sailor, so she was being transferred to North Vietnam. She signed off with–“Do not try to get in touch with me again. They will kill you. Love, Pearl, Izumi.”
Well, the sailor survived the dangerous ice cream mission, got out of the Navy, and went home to Idaho and opened a bicycle clothing apparel company. Thousands of women bought his bicycle shorts he designed from memory, his memory of Pearl, Izumi.
yeah that’s what i heard, too. i just wanted to double check.
that sounds like the biggest, uh, tall tale, I’ve ever heard.
Just to finish the story:
While dancing in Hanoi, Pearl met a Russian “businessman,” who was in the “export/import” business (latex, I think). They married, had several children, and now live in a large dacha on the outskirts of Moscow. To this day, she carries a blood-stained handkerchief where ever she goes.
The sailor sold his bicycle clothing company to a large conglomerate for several million dollars. He dabbled in the survivalist movement, but kept getting run in for questioning in the Unabomber case. He later whiled away his time making rambling posts on Slowtwitch. Unfortunately, he had contracted the infamous “Black Rose” syphillis during his liaison with Pearl, so his genitals fell off, and then he later became quite mad, his brain having turned into a sponge. In a twist of irony, he died in an insane asylum on the outskirts of Moscow (Idaho).
I heard the same story. Another part of the story that you failed to mention:
When he was almost well enough to return home, he went to a town called Seato. While there, he became one of the nicest people around. In fact, to this day, he continues to say Seato Hi.
But a kick ass running shoe.
One version of their bike shorts (maybe early 90’s) used monofilament as in fishing line to attach the padding in the crotch. the company has been sold several times. Davis Finney owned it at one point. I like their running shoes.
you’re wrong about part of that story. Trust me on that one.
From Pearl Izumi website: “The name Pearl Izumi USA, Inc. is derived from the gem “pearl” and an area of Japan known for its clear water “Izumi.” Literally translated, our name means, “fountain of pearls.””
No wonder I like their shorts and gloves, I too have a black pearl in my navel (however I do not perform any acts of any kind in any bars)…kj
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My PI arm and leg warmers will now keep me warmer through the winter just knowing about your black navel pearl. Mahalo.
Pics???
Inquiring minds are now piqued.
- kd
No way am I posting a picture of that. My boyfriend brought it back from Tahiti for me. Its probably my favorite piece of jewelry although it is the least seen. Some guy in a bar told me its bad luck to wear anything from the ocean on your body, so I said “that must be why you’re talking to me”…kj