*CYCLE OREGON 2007* The Bike Friday Homecoming

FOR THE SECOND TIME in 4 years, Bike Friday partnered with 'the best bike ride in America', Cycle Oregon, to celebrate its biennial Homecoming.

The class of 2003 will remember it as a bit of an ad-hoc gathering, requiring the Bike Friday company van to zip ahead and prowl around for a spot big enough for 100 Friday tents - and exercise a fair bit of territorial diplomacy. This year, Cycle Oregon gave Bike Friday the esquire treatment, granting us our own exclusive, sign-posted campsite at each town.

Pictured left: Our very own campsite.

It makes sense for the BF Homecoming to take place in Oregon. Oregon is the homeland of Bike Friday, and BF staff can more easily partake and meet the folks they build bikes for. But here's the challenge: Cycle Oregon is one of the two or three bicycle tour operators in the area who can handle large groups, and it's by no means a spin around the block. With long, hilly distances, cold snaps and at least one or two nights of chilly, damp camping guaranteed, we wondered if our customers, aged 55 on average and able to call the shots, would go for it.

Well, talk about the cult of the fold! After Bike Friday owner Jerry Norquist, the executive director of Cycle Oregon, offered to take special care of us, almost 100 registrants signed up, so Homecoming at Cycle Oregon's 20th Anniversary planning began in earnest.

To tent or not to tent? We tried to muscle our folks in on Cycle Oregon's new, wildly popular Tent and Porter option, but most of the 2000+ riders beat us to it. An invisible baggage fairy magically puts up a nice, roomy corporate tent ready for you to stagger into, complete with folding armchairs and your bags parked at the door.

The fact that T&P has ballooned in popularity seems to reflect an aging bicycling population at both ends of the bell curve. The old folks like comfort and have the dollars to buy it. The young folks like comfort because they've been brought up with aircon, heating and Gameboy. It's just the dwindling few in the middle who still cling to the notion that it's noble to shiver under a damp piece of ripstop nylon until an impossibly taut bladder forces you out at 2am for a pee.

Hanna drove the riotously decaled Bike Friday biodiesel Jetta and set up our small white marquee. Each Friday person received a nice folding stool embroidered with 'Bike Friday Homecoming, Cycle Oregon 2007'.

"I can't believe it supports a 200 lb guy like me," said Tuna, carefully squaring himself over the three legs. Meanwhile, 150 lb tikit line staffer Don Person fell over backwards when trying to activate the non-existent swivel-chair function ...

We also released the 2007 Bike Friday jersey, a sporty design by Rob English and Peter Kaspar, that also comes with a matching cap.

What Do You Do On a Friday?

"So I leaned my SatRDay up against a post in some long grass, and before you know it disappears into ten feet of water!"

Bob Siegel had us on the edge of our borrowed yoga blocks with his story of rescuing his red SatRday from the clutches of the subterranean world in Amsterdam. "I'm kneeling there hanging with one hand on the rim of the rear wheel, laughing about how I can't believe this is happening and I'm actually laughing."

Each night at 7pm we were given the Cycle Oregon Yoga tent to conduct a Bike Friday pow-wow of sorts. On What Do You Do On A Friday? night, Pocket Crusoe owner Audrey Medina read her El Tour de Tucson tale that won her a free ticket to the ride in our Homecoming Story contest. The other winner was Air Friday owner Andrew Black, a Cycle Oregon veteran, who split his time between his Team Bag Balm pals and Camp Friday. Both stories were selected by famous cycling writer and Pocket Rocket Pro owner Maynard Hershon, who was no doubt sleeping under concrete tarp at the Davis Phinney fundraiser in Cincy.

Pictured left: Theresa Hogan won the 50% off a Friday raffle

Contests and Challenges We ran a special Win 50% off a Bike Friday raffle (cheap at half the price, quipped Alan Scholz) and a T-shirt Slogan Contest. The winner, Theresa Hogan, was drawn by Cycle Oregon grand poo bah Jonathan Nichols of Cycle Oregon, from the 'barrel' of entries - of Alan's seat post bag. Alan and Hanna gave a speech that was probably news to a large section of the audience: that of Alan inventing the Burley Child trailer, and how Hanna was the original Burley baby.

Our T-shirt slogan contest is proving to be a work in progress. "They're not quite there," declared Andrejs, after he and several customers looked over the efforts. Now you know why they overpay ad agencies to come up with slogans like "Performance that Packs."

Cycle Oregon also ran a contest in its daily newsletter, devoured at breakfast. My Friday-centric submission was roundly ignored, but since this is Friday turf, here goes:

To the Chorus of "The Gambler"

You gotta know when to fold 'em
Know when to ride 'em
Know when to paceline
Know when to sag

You don't have to pay no money
To fly a Friday
No one need ever know
That's a bicycle in your bag

Thank you Cycle Oregon
For a great big welcome
A hundred pairs of little wheels
Spinning with the flag unfurled

Soon we'll know how to fold 'em
Suitcase will hold 'em
Bicycles rule, not fossil fuel
Together we can change the world

Pictured left: Place without a postcard ... Steve Smith was serenaded by a ghetto blaster playing 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow' and TWO pots of gold in the 'settlement' of - you guessed it - Rainbow,  on the final day of Cycle Oregon.

Friday Family Night at Dorena Lake. The midweek layover night in Dorena Lake was close to Eugene, so that 45 Bike Friday staff and families motored out to meet the fold, thanks to some expert organization by our office manager, Gal Friday Nicole Tiffany.

HPV champ and BF tikit co-designer Rob English actually rode the distance, drafting a staff vehicle at 35-40 mph on his experimental ultralight Friday for around 10 miles. He decided he was concerned something might break or fly off at that speed so broke off and arrived separately. Movie clip: Watch for the video of Rob by Ted Wade, to be posted on YouTube channel 'bikefriday'.

I screened my hastily cobbled together Virtual Factory Tour, a product of a day's shooting with my digital camera and a sleepless night slaving over the laptop. It looked like a non-starter as the inFocus projector refused to work with the portable generator. Just when I was about to invite only the most rabid customers to gather around my 12" laptop screen and press their ear against the speaker, May Bell and Chris Miller stepped forward with an extension cord connected to their stonking great RV generator. Hallelujah. (When God said 'let there be light' we can only imagine what size generator he was packing ...)

On the following night I screened my Route 66 by Bicycle digi camera pebblebuster that attracted quite a crowd given that I had serious competition from the Cycle Oregon movie showing that night. All the next day I was stopped by people who expressed amazement at how one can do so much with such minimalist technology. And how I love to share the adventures of our famous Friday folks like RAAM champ Lon Haldeman - who owns three Bike Fridays - with the uninitiated ... the answer to the question "are Bike Fridays any good?" is "If it's good enough for those guys, it's gotta be good enough for you!"

The Friday staff brought out a bunch of bikes for the crowds to test ride. The tikit was the big crowd pleaser of the week, being what Co-founder Alan Scholz calls 'A Human Amplifier' and 'A way to effect Global Oil Abatement'. "It solves the Last Mile problem," he said. "That's where you need something to take you that mile from your house to the bus or train stop at the start of the day, and vice versa at the end." Check out the video of Alan talking up the tikit.

All week our customers reported intense interest in Bike Friday, with comments ranging from the usual "don't you have to pedal more?" and "Is Bike Friday some kind of cult?" to, in the case of Dan 'no-brakes' Fallorina: "I can't believe you're still there!"

Pictured left: Cycling coach and founder of VeloGirls.com, Lorri Lee Lown

We ran into some interesting luminaries: Jonathan Maus of bikeportland.org, a consummate bicycling blogger who put me to shame as I struggled with my new iPhone (I'm returning that puppy to the store and reviving my Crackberry); Lorri Lee Lown, cycling coach and founder of VeloGirls, and I even spotted folks from TeamEstrogen.com.

Our customers came from USA, Japan, and Alaska. Six of them had managed to get the Tent and Porter folks to set up their tents in our Bike Friday area each night, what a coup. There were much less than 100 Fridays camped with us each night, perhaps because many had signed up for Tent and Porter early and independently of us; it certainly split up many of the groups who would have tented together in the past.

Check out the gallery and spot yourselves! If you're not there it's probably because you're a faster rider than me (almost everyone I know is).

Pictured left: Diamond Lake.

The Route. In 2003 the route took us out to the boonies of Eastern Oregon, to the stunning painted desert and hinterland sliced by Snake River. This year the ride began in artsy craftsy Sisters, just over an hour and a half drive from Eugene, and took in rapturous Diamond Lake, Dorena Lake, long climbs through ponderosa pineforests and the stark lava fields of the Mackenzie Highway scenic route. On several days there was a lot of steady climbing, 20-45 miles of it, before bombing down the other side. This kind of ride profile, with rest stops every 15 miles, makes a relatively short distance quite challenging. With Cycle Oregon, as with PACTOUR, never look at a 45 mile day and dismiss it as 'a short day' until you examine the profile!

A highlight was a climb to Crater Lake. I jumped in the RV ahead of all the Fridays with my camera and balanced precariously on loose lava embankments, trying to catch them huffing up to the top then careening all the way down. Those who didn't do the hilly, 30 mile rim ride could do the lower rim - a nice paved 13 miles around Diamond Lake, chased by millions of tiny gnats that fortunately didn't eat flesh.

Pictured left: With community-baked pie this good, Peter Krichman isn't counting trans fats.

The Food and Facilities. The food this year was fairly regular event food, save for the last day when salmon, wild rice pilaf and vegetables appeared. As far as I could tell, a company called EventCorp appeared to be orchestrating all food, bathrooms and toilet facilities - probably for the same headache-avoiding reasons we ask an outfit like Cycle Oregon or PACTOUR handle our Bike Friday events.

Cycle Oregon made a great effort to have a somewhat sparsely attended line for vegetarians, though the caterers demonstrated a slightly blinkered understanding of what healthy vegetarianism is. It's not just absence of animal protein, but a leaning towards whole foods. So wholemeal pasta, pancakes and brown rice would have certainly been more nutritious that their refined white alternatives, and would have added fiber that is often lacking in large-event menus.

The rest stops were thankfully stocked with V8, bananas, anti-oxidant loaded grapes and, if you must drink it, new kind of sports drink called Gleuko that thankfully wasn't colored or hyper sweetened like Gatorade.

It was a bit disappointing to see trans fat, i.e. partially hydrogenated vegetable oil, plainly written on the packets of Grandma's cookies, and monosodium glutamate in the Tim's potato chips. One rider said, "It's great that they raise money for all these communities, it would be even greater if they were able to care about everyone."

I once asked why they couldn't use Kettle Brand chips from our very own neighboring town Salem, Oregon, but cost was cited as a factor. So why not give a squeak less to the towns and a squeak more to an ethical business that also provides jobs in Oregon, converts its chip oil to biodiesel, and is trying not to poison us in the name of profit? Let's hope Kettle approach them with a deal, because once you get 2000 sweating cyclists a taste of good chips, you have a batch of addicts (I notice PACTOUR buy them as well as Lays for their tours and you know which ones go first). 

One of the cooks made special mention that the salmon on the final day was cooked olive oil, but declined to vouch for same for the other days. As on RAGBRAI, I megadosed on my USANA anti oxidant supplements in an attempt to even out any gaps in the diet. Whether this creates spendy fluorescent pee remains to be seen, but I felt energized enough to waste many hours playing with my new iPhone in the tent each night.

We did, however, get a homespun dessert smorgasbord prepared by the local community on one night.  Shades of RAGBRAI!

I report these observations only as information, not as a criticism. Diet is very important to some, equally important is running an economically viable touring company. You should be informed as to what going to go into your body if you elect to sign up for a tour like this. Diet and degenerative disease is a currently a hot topic of discussion at Bike Friday, particularly as our beloved 44 year young receptionist has just passed away from colon cancer. We're reading The China Study.

Entertainment.  I didn't get to see much of the Main Stage activity at all, as I was on the clock for the week. However, Cycle Oregon is noted for its evolved taste in music. I remember a killer bluegrass band from the Cycle Oregon Weekend in 2005 (or was it the weeklong of '03?)  This year there was bluegrass, acapella, swamp rock and more, it sounded great. Such a breath of fresh air from the drony, strummy, whiny mediocre mainstream rock bands you usually suffer at big events like this.

They also showed an outdoor movie or two, although the selection 'Animal House' seemed a bit lame compared to their music program. On the first night I popped into the cosy Sisters movie house and caught a tremendous Irish music movie called Once - free to all Cycle Oregon riders! I'm rushing out to buy the CD. 

Greening it up. One of the daily Cycle Oregonian newsletters asked for suggestions about how to 'green up' this event. We all noticed some thought had gone into this since last time, with biodegradeable silverware and paper plates, not plastic. The silverware could have been reused each day - I stuck a fork in my mouth for five minutes and didn't notice it dissolving just yet (has anyone researched edible utensils?).

Cycle Oregon has unfortunately become very mechanized and fossil fuel intensive to handle such a big crowd. "It's getting like a truck stop," said one veteran.

Some suggestions I overheard per sustainability (use or refuse):

- Have participants bring their own eating utensils, plate, cup and bowl for breakfast and dinner, as they do at The Big Ride in Australia.
- Have the wash stations double as dishwashing stations - the Big Ride uses a hose with pinholes and spray bottle and brush for detergent and disinfectant. It works very well!
- Have patrons bring their own little folding stool for breakfast and dinner, rather than supply chairs and tables ... like the one we gave our 100 customers
- Stop at each site for 2 nights, and do a rest day loops, like the options offered. Less movement, hassle, and chance of burning out the volunteers
- Everyone bring their own labeled zip loc bag to re-use each day as a gear drop.
- Have the communities do more catering. RAGBRAI is a prime example of how to get towns to do the loaves and fishes trick with 10,000+ riders.
- CO, and in fact every tour operator, should insist people wash their hands before eating at every rest stop, even if it's just a packet of wet wipes. PACTOUR now have a special hand wash station at each rest stop, and are not scared to almost impolitely demand people use it.

Pictured left: Bruce Horn discovers the Air Friday has a built in duffle rack!

So would we do it again? The riding was spectacular, the entertainment good and organization and amenities excellent - I rarely had to line up to take a nice hot shower.

And as co-founder Alan Scholz said, we definitely felt so much more welcome this time, by both staff, volunteers and the other 1900+ riders, perhaps because folding bikes are becoming more common place on the street and in the media, regarding global oil abatement. There was also less of 'don't you have to pedal more?' and more 'cool bike, can I try it out?

That being said, for the reasons of long, hilly mileage, crowd size, age of our customers (average 55 and over), and cold, damp camping conditions, a smaller, more recreational event is probably more suited to our Friday Fold.

We like all our folks to be in by 2pm so we can get to know each other and do more bonding. Paradoxically, the PACTOUR Desert camps have people in by around that time ... wait, that's probably because Arizona is by and large flat!

The Cycle Oregon Weekend is an excellent 2-day sampler of this event and probably works better, being shorter. However, on the final night, Jonathan Nichols issued a cryptic statement many heard as 'this is the last Cycle Oregon', which people were still debating the next day - THE last Cycle Oregon, or HIS last Cycle Oregon?

In the next breath he said that there would be one more, Cycle Oregon 21, and offered the following hints: he likes to ride his bike but doesn't want to be out there all day; he likes being in wilderness but not necessarily holding his bladder under ripstop nylon; he likes to spend more time in the communities not pedaling past them in the big chainring.

Sounds like a Friday Friendly event, and that Cycle Oregon is coming of age, just like its patrons ...

Thank you Jerry, Ingrid and Tara from Cycle Oregon for putting us on the CO map.

And a huge thank you Hanna Scholz and Nicole Tiffany for all that you did to make this a successful 2007 Homecoming.