NewsArticleBody
Desert Camp 2007 Photo Gallery Day by Day movie clips on YouTube: Day 1 Tucson Day 2 To Patagonia Day 3 To Tombstone Day 4 To Douglas - The Gadsden Hotel Day 5 To Bisbee - The Copper Queen Hotel Day 6 To Sonoita - The Sonoita Inn Day 7 To Tombstone - features Alan Scholz riding the tikit at speed! Desert Camp Discussion Forum - post your comments here OTHER LINKS Dave McElwaine's Report What a USA Pro Masters rider on a Co-Motion thought of jamming with us little wheels! Doug Harris's Gallery The gentleman on the blue New World Tourist Bike Friday Clubs We had the BF Club leaders of San Francisco, Central Jersey, Ithaca and Wisconsin in attendance this year. Check out the clubs near you. After the camp ... The Gal's interesting last evening in Arizona |
 It's 2pm and 100 in the shade. From scorched porch of a decadent Arizona historic hotel I hear sound of horses clip-clopping, cold beers pffsshtting and strains of a debate as to whether the Cornish game hen or the buffalo burger would be more wholesome fuel for the 53 mile ride tomorrow ... is this really PACTOUR Arizona Desert Camp? - The Galfromdownunder |
Yup indeedy and nope. When we asked Lon and Susan to devise a 'stop and smell the enchiladas' departure from their famously strenuous training camp format, they kindly obliged with an all-new, 'Tour of Historic Towns and Hotels' averaging 53 miles a day, custom designed for Friday funsters. The Tour proved to be so popular that it sold out in a matter of days and had a waiting list. It attracted several 'big wheel' bikes, including two recumbents, two Bianchis, a Trek, A Specialized, two Co-Motions and a screaming red Pinarello. One big-wheel mile-eater man came along just so he could accompany his mile-nibbling wife. People who play together, stay together, I say. We love big wheels, hey, it means more potential converts ... Why the change in format? Although our 'faster fold' (typically comprised of Pocket Rocket Pro, Air Friday and other 451-wheels) is growing each year, and includes triathletes and some serious hammerheads, there ain't quite enough to consistently fill a yearly PACTOUR camp - yet. Bike Fridays are still bought largely for global two-wheeled exploration, although this is changing. Global warming is encouraging the sales of more portable bicycles, and the new Bike Friday tikit and expanded mission aims to address that. More about that new gizmo soon. For many, the primary attraction of PACTOUR's winter camps is the weather - when it's freezing up north, you can fry an egg on the pavement down south. This new kind of camp is an excellent way for all cyclists to ease their hibernating torsos into the cycling season, and leave feeling like they've had a vacation rather than some kind of pedal-powered punishment. And it sure beats sitting on a stationary bike in the gym... The Bike Friday contingent this year consisted of co-founder Alan Scholz and wife Theresa (who designs and sews many of the packing materials and bags for Bike Friday), Production guy Peter Kaspar, Human Powered Vehicle (HPV) champ and R&D engineer Rob English, and yours truly, the Galfromdownunder. We all brought our single Fridays (no tandems this time) and Alan brought the hot new 5-second folder, the tikit, fully intending to smoke on it as well as inhale the enchiladas. He and co-designer Rob English showed how it snap folded and unfolded almost as easy as an umbrella, to the wide eyes of the 60 participants. Was he going to ride that thing on this tour? Does a chicken have hard lips? |
Day 1 - Arrival in Tucson The Tucson base camp for PACTOUR is the comfy Country Inn and Suites Hotel. PACTOUR had their welcome wagon out the back offering the customary schwag bag full of goodies including camp jersey, route cards, choice of cycling book/DVD/Video and travel shirt. This year they offered embroidered t-shirts in a technical fabric rather than cotton ones destined for the rag-bag - great!
When 'over the hill' means 'nice passing you, young man ...' Susan Notorangelo, the engine room of PACTOUR, told us: 'We had a special table set up at the last tour where folks could do their contact lenses. Soon it'll be their teeth!'. PACTOUR's clientele might be aging, but when it comes to the Bike Friday Community, it's like watching this phenomenon in reverse. The most senior male rider was Doug Harris on a blue New World Tourist, at 76. The most senior female rider was Leslie Bullock on a drop-bar Candy Raspberry Crusoe at 70. To watch these two riders effortlessly cover the miles was utterly inspiring and would put younger riders to shame. But that's nothing new in the Friday Fold, where being sedentary is something you do only by force of circumstance. Leslie has moved into a retirement village in Medford, Oregon. I plan to publish a list of all such places where Friday folk are retiring to, so those looking for such a place can look there first. A retirement village with a garage full of Fridays rather than electric golf carts ... imagine that! Ken Ball, 75, is recovering brilliantly from falling off a roof some two years ago. I met Ken over east at the Westchester Bike Club Golden Apple Century in 2006, where he detained me for a full hour to talk about the possibility of a Bike Friday in his life. Next minute, this seasoned cyclist is right here riding a canary yellow Air Glide at Desert Camp! Way to go Ken! The award for the most jaw dropping performance would have to go to Rob Kenner who, at 67, was seen to leave fast guys Rob English and Peter Kaspar in the dust on a downhill. 'I had to work quite hard to catch up,' said pro cyclist Rob, 29, which is like Superman saying he needed a leg up to get over the pointy part of the Empire State Building. Rob, who holds the British Hour Record (a shade under 50 mph for 1 hour) is training for the world land speed record in June. Keep an eyelash on him at http://www.bikefriday.com/robenglish Strewth, why am I talking about speed? This is a stop-and-smell-the-enchiladas tour. Let's gear down and soft pedal into Day 2 ... |
Unlike a traditional PACTOUR, we did not depart at the crack of dawn but waited until 9 am each day. This left plenty of time for a leisurely and chatty breakfast, although as the week wore on, it became obvious that it might still be better leave early. Perhaps due to global warming, this year the sun seemed particularly fierce, whereas in the past it's been like warm toast. Patagonia is a remote little town with three pretty good eateries including an avant-garde pizzeria called the Velvet Elvis, a dusty stroll across the quadrangle from the hotel. Despite the heat of the day it featured an extremely cold pool, as witnessed by Rob English who threw himself in and lived to regret it. PACTOUR provide a 2-3 rest stops and lunch, usually spaced about 17-20 miles apart, in their signature canopied cafe. You never know what high-end treats will show up among the standard offerings, especially when health nut Debby Henning (Bike Friday Club of Wisconsin Co-Leader) has her hands on the shopping cart. Honey Mustard Kettle Chips, Lara Bars, and peeled pink grapefruit, spinach and walnut salad! Susan's famous grilled cheese and tomato sandwiches appear at least once. Simple food like this never tasted so good. There's a good supply of Hammer Nutrition powders and Electrolyte pills for hi-tech tummies that can stomach them. Alan Scholz was seen drafting Alan Fine's Pocket Rocket Pro into town at a steady 25-29 mph on the tiny tikit. It left me coughing as I fought to stick on Alan's wheel for the last 10 miles. On hearing me coughing, Dr Steve Chang, a pulmonary expert from NY, assured me that I was suffering from 'exercise induced asthma', and recommended I try one of those prescription puffy things that many people carry. Apparently they open up the airways, quite legally. 'In a race you have to declare you're using it or you're in big trouble,' said Peter Kaspar. At the hotel, Judy Norris, 67, from Edmonton, Alberta, watched as Rob converted her sedate H-bars to drop bars. 'I wanted a road bike, to go faster, so I bought a Pocket Rocket Pro,' she said. Judy says she would always fondle other people bicycles from an early age. 'I used to lead tours at age 11, all of us in dresses, from cemetery to cemetery because we didn't carry water and you could always get water there.' How does she like her Pro? ' I'm purposely going slow to get use to the narrow tires ... but this will go away. And.' And? 'And ... I'll be a streak of smoke!' Permalink to this story: http://www.bikefriday.com/desertcamp07 |