The Trek factor tour we took today was a lot of fun! Doug’s sister, Lynn, her husband, Kevin and their boys are in town, so today we took a little road trip down to Whitewater, WI, where Trek is located.

I’ve been living in Wisconsin for nearly 5 years and I can’t believe this is the first time we’ve gone. It’s only about a 40 minute drive from our house and I had heard it was a really cool place to visit, yet wasn’t sure what to expect… after all, this is where Lance Armstrong’s bikes are made, as well as all of the Team US Postal and Team Discovery Channel for the Tour de France.

We got there about 10 a.m. even with having to take an annoying road-work detour. There were 9 of us in our group and 3 in another group, two who were visiting from the Netherlands.

Our tour guide was super nice and you can tell he loves what he does. He was very knowledgeable about all aspects of the production that goes into making a Trek.

This factory is where they make the high-end and custom bikes only. The ones that go for anywhere from $5,000 and up… more than my first brand new car!

We started with hearing a brief history of the company and then progressed as we moved along through the factory and viewing the assembly.

This is no ordinary assembly line, though. Every single bike is hand-made, by real people. No robotic machines here. It was very cool to watch how each person hand-assembled his/her part of the bike and moved it along to complete the finished product.

Everything from the rims to the labeling to the packaging is all done by hand. You know the name of the brand that goes on the rims of the bike? Every single one put on by hand. There were about 4 or 5 people doing just that.

We got to touch some of the carbon frames and rims and I was amazed at how light they are. We also got see an example of a Livestrong rim, which was really cool, too.

I don’t know what impressed me more, the fact that there were no robots or that the employees obviously are very proud of the work they do.

The quality control systems they use are amazing. The place was spotless and they are also a very ‘green’ company.

I obviously don’t race (haha!). My Trek is a not a high-end bike, it’s a hybrid path bike, although it’s easy to see and appreciate the quality that goes into this company and the bikes they build after seeing the factory today.

Something else really cool happened, today, too. We all had lunch out, and after Doug, Emily and I got home, I checked email to catch up as we had been out from early this morning.

I logged into see that someone new had visited our Send Out Cards website and created a new gift account to send a card. I’ll give her a call in the morning to follow up.

We also had a couple of new people visit ArmyCrossroads.com requesting more information about our courses and affiliate program.

In my last post, I reflected on time and how for us, it’s not about the money. Rather, it’s about having the time to do the things that matter most with the people that matter most.

Today was a perfect example of that. While we were out at the Trek factory with family, having fun, our business was doing was it’s supposed to, giving us the time freedom to do just that.

Our business works for us 24/7, whether we are at the computer or not.

Unlike a traditional business, we never have to put a “Closed for Vacation” sign on the front door. We can go on vacation and our business will still be working for us.

The groundwork and foundations that we put in place are doing exactly what we expect and will continue to do so and will continue to grow.

I don’t have to tell you that the Internet has changed the way we do everything… the way we communicate, get information, the way we shop. Most important, it has created opportunities that were never before possible.

However, unless you reach out to grab hold of those opportunities, they will pass you by… as will time.

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