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Jeff Linder and Hanz Scholz ford a stream with their Air Fridays at the inaugural PACTour / Bike Friday Training Camp. Photo by New World Tourist now Air Friday owner Rufus Woods.
BIKE FRIDAY/PACTOUR DESERT CAMP 2005: Feb 26 - March 5. The arrival date in Tucson is Saturday, February 26 - ride to Sierra Vista on Sunday - return to Tucson on Friday, March 4 - fly home on Saturday, March 5. Register now!
PACTOUR/BIKE FRIDAY DESERT CAMP 2004 PHOTO GALLERY
POST YOUR COMMENTS ON THE CAMP FORUM
WHAT MAYNARD HERSHON DID ON A FRIDAY
EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THIS CAMP
WELL ... Alan and Hanz Scholz are just back from the First Ever PACTour Bike Friday Training Camp and from what I hear, it was one big, 25+ mph party, studded with cycling luminaries (illuminated by cycling studs?), famous comedians, press owners and nutty folding bike inventors (we counted at least 2).
And 6 women! Hallelujah, we were worried that such a camp would end up being 99% testosterone, 1% Susan Notorangelo, but the bravado of the female Bike Friday adventuress came careening through...
You can see a list of participants on the PACTour website if you click on "2004 Events-Arizona Desert Camp" and scroll down to Week 5: Bike Friday Camp. We want to do the camp again, in early February 2005, so please register your interest now with PACTour, info@pactour.com.
There was a slightly wider range of rider speeds than PACTour's president Lon Haldeman had anticipated, however, by all accounts, the participants were pretty happy to be there.
"It seemed like the members were hand picked," said Pocket Rocket Pro + Air Friday owner Elmer Bricca.
In a sense they were - a self-selecting peloton of the most evangelistic and connected folk ever to bless a small company like Bike Friday.
The 25 participants included luminaries Fred Matheny of the roadie's bible RoadBikeRider.com ; Manfred Schwoch, one of Bike Friday's much-loved original boosters; Lon and his wife Susan; 24-hours-of-Adrenalin champ Jeff Linder; multiple Bike Friday evangelist Terry de Campo, and famous cycling satirist Maynard Hershon, to name just a few. And of course, the The Scholz Bros.
Take a look at the fantastic photo gallery submitted by Elmer Bricca and Rufus Woods. Yours truly was tasked with captioning the shots even though I was present only in spirit, so corrections or further information on the shots most welcome.
I hear whispers that Maynard is busy penning a pithy piece about the camp that's guaranteed to have us giggling over our Gatorade, but in the meantime, I asked participants to send along their lingering memories of the camp. This is what they came up with:
Best of the Camp according Elmer Bricca, Pocket Rocket Pro and Air Friday owner:
 Group Dynamics: The group almost seemed like it was hand picked so everyone would get along. Great people, although my roommate was a little crazy (more on that later) Lon & Susan: Great hosts. Thanks, Susan, for the cherry pie. Support with food, maps and directions were excellent. Our hosts were great and treated us with great stories and slides about Pac-Tour. Fred, Maynard: Great tips and stories. Maynard, I feel I know Robin Williams after your story about him. It was great to meet and talk to these legends. The Bike Friday Animals [not Airnimals - Ed] - Hanz, Jeff, and Alan: I did not see much of Jeff and Alan. Only a blur when they passed me chasing that Cat 1 guy (Turuel = Terry de Campo). At least Alan slowed down. We had a good talk about everything and anything. [Then you weren't riding hard enough, as Alan keeps telling the chatterboxes in the lunchtime rides - Ed] Hand picked roommate: I think Rufus [Woods] is crazier than I am. And I am certified. We had a great time. I don who lost or misplaced more stuff. Putting us back together: Kudos to Mary & Phil [Kohl]. They stayed up part of the night massaging our tired muscles so we could go out and ride the next day. Hail Mary! The Caper: After the first day Rufus and I knew we were no match for all these super riders. How could we save face and beat these guys? The only way I could figure was to bend the rules and cheat. So, after riding 3 days I took a well-deserved day off. Thursday ride was an 18 mile trip to the base of Mule Summit and about 8 miles to the top. We planned to leave 35 minutes early and hammer across the flats (and take a few pictures just to give them a chance). Because Rufus is a super climber, he would continue to the top of Mule summit. The peloton caught me half way to the top. They thought they had us. I slowed them down long enough to tell them I was just the domestic and my partner was 2 miles up the road and they couldn catch him. That got them going. They were all business then. But they never caught Rufus and the day was ours. Great story! It's true; I wouldn lie or cheat about any of this, would I? Best of the Camp according to drop bar New World Tourist now Air Friday owner, Wenatchee World Daily press owner, Rufus Woods: |
 1. Listening to Maynard Hershon read his best cycling columns at our seminars, i.e. "You Ride Anyway." 2. Trying to keep up with the whirlwind seven: Randy Komisar, Terry De Campo, Alan and Hanz Scholtz, Reg Norberg, Maynard Hershon and Fred Matheny. 3. Learning how to fix a bike with roadside trash, courtesy of Lon Haldeman. [Ah, Powerbar wrappers? - Ed] 4. Unbelievably beautiful scenery in southeast Arizona. 5. Listening to RAAM stories by Fred Matheny, Lon Haldeman and Susan Notorangelo. 6. Riding, eating, sleeping and not thinking about work for an entire week. When all was said and done, it was a great week, with great people on fabulous bikes. Little wheels rock. Best of the Camp according to Air Friday owner and author of "The Monk and the Riddle", Randy Komisar: |
 1. Little wheels move fast, very fast. Lon commented that the Type As hauled it 85 miles back to Tucson on the last day faster than any of the other groups he could remember. 2. Bicyclists have a lot in common, but cyclists with little wheels are soul mates. The cameraderie was remarkable and immediate. Everyone had their own style - slow and steady, chatty, aggressive (yes Hanz), but everyone shared a great deal in terms of values, interests, experiences. 3. Alan is a jack rabbit in disguise. When I first met Alan I would never have expected him to pressure the front as much as he did. It was only the 9th or 10th flat that finally reeled him in. 4. Linder is an animal. Don't ride with Linder. He draws you in with his gentle nature and then tears you up on the road. 5. Hanz has a crappy computer and ISP. I had to borrow Hanz's laptop each night to keep on top of things. It is cluttered and unnavigable. All the software on it is ancient. And his AOL account conks out every few minutes, leaving me with a "goodbye" and setting me off in search of Hanz who never gave me his password so I could log in myself. My guess is it was "bikefriday". 6. If you like to ride and like to read I found a great book. The Handsomest Man in Cuba. I don't remember the writer, but after reading the book straight through I feel like I know her. 7. In the middle of the desert, quite near the Mexican border, just off the map there are 3 sushi resturaunts. Whe eats raw fish in the desert? Our trusty masseusses did not lead us astray. It was delicious. 8. Little bikes are way fast. Hanz broke out on the ride to Elgin and pummelled the lead group averaging some 26 MPH for ten miles or so across gorgeous county. I caught his wheel and huff and puffed my way to the rest stop where he destroyed any remaining ego I might have salvaged by proudly telling me he could have gone faster but he didn't want to drop me! 9. Susan makes the best grilled cheese sandwiches. Absolutely the best. [Her secret technique is in the process of being cajoled out of her - Ed]. +++ Bike Friday pumped up in RoadBikeRider.com Bike Friday was glorified in the latest edition of the roadie bible, www.RoadBikeRider.com free e-newsletter. We've archived the words of Fred and Ed permanently in our No, You Don't Have To Pedal More Hall of Fame. Here's what they said: We've taken trips with our Bike Fridays for 10 years. Ed's ridden the little wheels in centuries, brevets and eight cycling camps. Fred has rolled his Pocket Rocket through two Hotter'n Hell Hundreds, two El Tours de Tucson and a seven-day tour in Ireland. Here's the best part: We haven't spent one extra cent to fly with these bikes to all those events. They pack easily in a regular Pullman suitcase, avoiding as much as $150 in rip-off bike charges per roundtrip flight. Other good solutions for bicycle transport have been introduced in recent years (S&S couplings and Ritchey's Breakaway bike, to name two). But we remain so pleased with our Pocket Rockets -- and Bike Friday's customer service -- that we're not tempted to change. And Hanz didn't even have to let Fred drop him for Bike Friday to get such a great plug! +++ THE SEMINARS Here's a list of the seminars that were given at the camp. I hope to wrestle a brief synopsis of each out of the participants in due course, but if you want to know more, you'll just have to do the camp next year, won't you? We will plan to have new topics for next year but with a similar mix of technical, physical and adventure topics - Lon. Mon. Tue. 4:00 PM...Fred Matheny 7:00 PM...Susan Notorangelo Wed. 4:00 PM...Fred Matheny 7:00...Lon Haldeman Thur. 4:00 PM...Lon Haldeman 7:00 ...Maynard Hershon Fri. 4:00 PM...Fred Matheny 7:00 PM ...Fred and Jeff Linder Sounds like serious fun, doesn't it? REGISTER YOUR INTEREST for the 2005 PACTour/Bike Friday Training Camp now, and please indicate if there are other dates that work for you. Email Lon and Susan on info@pactour.com +++ Links and other tidbits: * Camp participant and multi-Bike Friday owner Terry de Campo's photo gallery |
 Alan Scholz and Bike Friday evangelist Terry de Campo. * PacTour Bike Friday Desert Camp 2004 Original Article * Desert Camp Discussion Forum *What Maynard Hershon Did on a Friday Shortcut to this article: http://www.bikefriday.com/bf/pactour2004 For more information, follow this link http://www.bikefriday.com/desertcamp. |