Tag Archives: Chris Horner

Many Faces of the Haul-a-Day

See why Bike Friday and so many of our customers are excited about the Haul-a-Day. It’s potential to change lives is vast.

WATCH THE HAUL-A-DAY INTRODUCTION VIDEO

That’s Gratitude!

Camille Soleil Stupar, who founded GratitudeBike.com, won a Bike Friday New World Tourist at the National Bicycle Tourism Convention in San Diego.

BY RAZ

The conference room at the Bahia Resort buzzed as I reached my hand into the glass bowl to pull out the name of the winner of a New World Tourist at the National Bicycle Tourism Convention in San Diego.

For the past three days, the movers and shakers who represent the heart and soul of cycling stopped by the Bike Friday booth to drop their business cards into the bowl and chit-chat about cycling — the tie that binds us all.

Arlen Hall, a tour director for Adventure Cycling, is a Bike Friday owner and very vocal supporter of our bikes and our cause. I can’t tell you how many people came up to me at this event to tell me Arlen is Bike Friday’s biggest supporter.

As my hand swirled around the bowl and the anticipation intensified, Arlen said he started thinking to himself.

“I thought, what if he picks my name?” Arlen said. “I don’t need another Bike Friday. I have one and I have one for my girlfriend. So I thought, who would I give the bike to? Then I thought, I’d give it to Camille.”

According to Arlen, seconds later, I announced the winner to the crowd: Camille Solei Stupar.

She screamed and rushed to the front.

With 250 folks at this convention, it was hard for me to talk to every last one. I did spend an elevator ride with Camille earlier in the week, so I knew a little about her. But not enough.

Camille lived in California for a long time, and then moved to Florida. There she got rid of her car.

When she was between jobs, a friend offered to build up a bike for her.

“A good friend of mine built up a Trek 520 for me,” Camille said. “It was such a great bike, and I asked to pay him. He wouldn’t take any payment. Instead he told me, ‘This is your Gratitude Bike. Just pay it forward.’ ”

So, that’s what Camille does. She recently got certified by the League of America Bicyclists as an instructor, and started doing tours in Florida.

“To be honest, you have a new dealer in St. Pete, Two Fold Bicycles,” Camille said. “And I was there looking at your bikes. They were high on my wish list.”

Camille’s goals are to get bicycles into the hands of those who don’t have access to bikes. She wants to teach kids how to ride, and mothers.

“I think we’re losing a whole generation of cyclists,” Camille said. “There are a lot of kids who don’t know how to ride because their parents don’t know how to ride. I want to create mother-child classes to teach both.”

Camille Soleil Stupar

Camille simply couldn’t wipe her bright infectious smile from her face the rest of the day.

“Now that I have this bike, it will allow me to do a lot of traveling with my bike,” Camille said. “And it will let me take the bike riding now, and give it to one of my volunteers who recently got her bike stolen.”

Paying it forward.

“You couldn’t have picked a better name out of that bowl,” Arlen said.

I couldn’t agree more.

 

A Family [business] Affair

Missy MacRhodes and her three children rode to victory on a Bike Friday Haul-a-Day in the Women’s Class at the Eugene DRT

The buzz began months ago.

Check that. It began a year ago.

Back in October 2013, a couple of Bike Friday employees rode some prototype Cargo Bikes in the Eugene Disaster Relief Trials. Engineer Willie Hatfield was first across the finish line. Michael Macemon was fifth.

You could say from that moment, the race was on.

Over the course of the past year, Bike Friday moved aggressively to get its Cargo Bike, the Haul-a-Day, into production.

All the while, the list of employees hankering for a Haul-a-Day grew. So did the list of those who wanted to spend a Saturday riding around Eugene, hauling challenging loads up to 200 pounds, and just testing the limits of our bike.

When they lined up for the 2014 Eugene Disaster Relief Trials on Saturday, October 11 at Eugene’s Alton Baker Park, no less than 10 Bike Friday employees straddled Haul-a-Days.

Bike Friday Engineer Willie Hatfield won the Responder Class at the Eugene Disaster Relief Trials. Willie has crossed the line first in the three Disaster Relief Trials he has competed in on a Haul-a-Day in the past year.

When all was said and done, Bike Friday Engineer Willie Hatfield won the event. But not without some extra challenges thrown in.

The night before the event, Hatfield’s modified Haul-a-Day that he raced to victory in the Portland Disaster Relief Trials this summer was stolen.

At the last second, Willie switched to a production Haul-a-Day decked out in Gaylynn Pink for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. And he still won!

Bike Friday General Manager Hanna Scholz carted the booth canopy to the event on her Haul-a-Day, a little pre-race work for the bike.

From start to finish, it was a Haul-a-Day event.

The wide range of Haul-a-Days showed off the custom designs available to all customers.

Bike Friday donated a Haul-a-Day to be raffled off at the event. And we loaned two Haul-a-Days to officials from FEMA, who competed to see what a real Disaster Relief might feel like.

Bike Friday’s Hanna Scholz (right) helped FEMA official Thomas Sendgraff prepare to race on a Bike Friday Haul-a-Day.

Of course, the proud papa of the event was Bike Friday Co-Founder Alan Scholz. He worked closely with Eugene Safe Routes to School Coordinator Shane MacRhodes to design the Haul-a-Day. Shane’s wife Missy won the Women’s Class on a Haul-a-Day carrying three kids!

For Alan, who invented the Burley Trailer in the 1970s to transport his young daughter Hanna, it wasn’t just seeing his bikes everywhere that was inspiring.

“We had so many families out there,” Alan said. “That’s where my heart is. With families. So to see a lot of parents with their children was really rewarding for me.”

Bike Friday Co-Founder Alan Scholz prepared for a day of Disaster Relief on his Haul-a-Day, and he won the Resilience Class.

A lot of those parents felt the same way.

The heartfelt bond between a parent and child has been a driving force in Alan’s designs of tandems, and that translates easily to the Haul-a-Day. Bike Friday Production Manager Jordan Bishko enjoyed working closely with his five-year-old son, Eli.

“The DRT and Haul-a-Day allowed us to participate in a competitive event together as a team,” Jordan said. “I knew the stakes were high when I heard Eli mentioning the race to Mom and friends multiple times, as well as his expectations of winning. I was certainly engaged and excited, it was refreshing to see him as engaged.”

Bike Friday’s Jordan Bishko and his son Eli charged toward the finish line and won the Family Class.

The fun unfolded over days, not just on race day.

“We practiced mounts, dismounts and talked about the various obstacles we might face,” Jordan said.  “We even practiced the finish line salute and high five, if we were first.”

Although they didn’t get to do their salute, they did win! They were first in the Family Class.

“The Haul-a-Day set him (Eli) up right behind me during the event,” Jordan said. “We were able to chat a bit, as much as my elevated heart rate would allow. We both had a great time; Eli particularly enjoyed the variety of surfaces we traversed.”

Bike Friday’s Walter Lapchynski worked on his hefty load, with more than 200 pounds of equipment strapped on his bike.

For many of the Bike Friday entrants, the Disaster Relief Trials represent more than just a day of fun. They ride their bikes every day, and cycling is a key element in their lives.

Bike Friday Consultant Walter Lapchynski experienced a roller-coaster of emotion during the day as he described his time on his Haul-a-Day.

“Useful. Fun. Painful,” Walter said.  “Saving lives is hard work, but rewarding. Springfield’s Washburne district and the path leading to it is darn pretty. It was an awesome turnout. It’s way better to be at a DRT in your community — it opens you up to opportunities to help your community be prepared for disaster.”

Bike Friday Service Rep Kelly Humber moved to Eugene this year and is still exploring the city.

Seeing the various challenges a city like Eugene offers a bike proved to be educational for riders, and a good challenge to show off the Haul-a-Day’s features.

“I loved the off-road section,” Bike Friday Service Rep Kelly Humber said, echoing a sentiment shared by many of the Bike Friday riders.  “I also really enjoyed getting to see parts of the city I’d never been to before.  Anna, my girlfriend, accompanied me for a lot of it, which made it like a really fun ride all over Eugene/Springfield where you get it to wave at friends passing every few minutes.”

As for his Haul-a-Day?

“My Haul-a-Day performed excellently,” Kelly said. “Point it uphill and it goes like any other bike. I climbed up Skinner Butte no problem. Well, OK,  it was hard still. The foot rails allow bulky weight to be carried low; it’s great for stability and handling”

Bike Friday Sales Manager Robbie Dow is ready for a zombie apocalypse.

Like Kelly, Bike Friday Sales Manager Robbie Dow was impressed with the Haul-a-Day’s ability to feel like a regular bike, especially while climbing Eugene’s challenging Skinner Butte.

“I was impressed with how well the Haul-a-Day handled, particularly on the off-road section,” Robbie said. “I climbed Skinner Butte on the bike, which was my first time ever climbing Skinner Butte on any bike. Even with 75 pounds of cargo, the bike handled the steep hill like a champ.  The DRT proved that the Haul-a-Day is an indispensable tool for surviving a natural disaster or a zombie apocalypse.”

Bike Friday Webstore Manager Todd Reed won the Electric Class at the Eugene DRT for the second straight year, this year on a Haul-a-Day.

Bike Friday Webstore Manager Todd Reed has been experimenting with various electric assist devices over the years, and used an experimental prototype while winning the Electric Class.

“I used up almost my entire charge on three batteries I carried, so at the end was pretty much limping home,” Todd said. “One of my axioms for e-bikes is that they have to be good bikes when the power is off, so in that respect, the bike works pretty well.”

No, we aren’t quite ready to announce an electric assist Haul-a-Day is ready for production. Still more testing to do.

FEMA Official Keerthi Vemulapalli splashed a Haul-a-Day through the water hazard, getting a cold wet feel of what Disaster Relief might be like.

Bike Friday Consultant Michael Boggs summed up the event, which fits the Bike Friday mission statement and the goals for the Haul-a-Day

“The Eugene DRT was a wonderful event full of people trying to make the world a better place for bicycles,” Michael said. “It was so much fun seeing the things they wanted us to carry and to test your mind flexibility in packing your bike with water jugs, pumpkins, grain, and variety of smaller goods.”

Bike Friday’s Michael Boggs (left) and Walter Lapchynski chill before the Eugene Disaster Relief Trials. Bike Friday had 10 employees compete in the event and Bike Friday Haul-a-Days won three categories.

tikit Wins Design Award

Bike Friday’s tikit won a Good Design Award in Japan.

Read the story here.

The Good Design Award is a comprehensive and annual program for the evaluation and commendation of design, organized by Japan Institute of Design Promotion (JDP).

Its origin was “Good Design Selection System” established in 1957 by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry.
Since then, it has been given to approximately 40,000 outstanding designs for more than 55 years.

Bike Friday cameos

Bike Friday owner Merle Ledford sent us this note that a couple of Bike Fridays make cameo appearances in the latest Safe Streets video.

Kicking the Bucket(list)

Bike Friday owner Dr. Murray Fishel enjoying the beauty of Arches National Park while checking off Utah on his bucket list of cycling in all 50 States.

EDITOR’S NOTE: We recently received an essay from Bike Friday owner Dr. Murray Fishel, who discovered cycling and let it change his life. He retired from teaching and took up cycling.

The Background
In 1991 I was a professor of Political Science at Kent State University. In the previous 10 years I had become increasingly sedentary in my life. No major activities or exercise, only pacing across the front of the classroom. By this time I weighed about 250 pounds.

Then the University announced that it would offer a 5 year buyout to faculty members who had a minimum of 25 years of service. After buying 2 years of service from other universities at which I’d taught, I had 27 years, making me eligible for the buyout. I suspected, however, the program would be so popular with more senior faculty that I would not be included in the buyout, at least for several years.

My suspicion proved wrong. I was selected in the first year. While I had a skill that would allow me to continue to earn money —namely political consulting– I began to panic because I had no real outside interests beyond politics. So, here I am a 54 year old professor faced with early retirement and nothing to do most of the time.

Everything I’d read warned against allowing that to happen. The caveat was, “Don’t retire unless you have a variety of outside interests.” And, I didn’t. As luck would have it, around this time, I happened to see an article in the Cleveland Plain Dealer on mountain biking. Intriguing. That night I decided that I would take a chance and risk investing $300 on a mountain bike. Hopefully, I would like it.

In September, 1991, I went to the Wheel and Wrench Bike Shop in Kent and purchased my first bike as an adult… a Diamondback Sorrento mountain bike. Mark, the salesperson, persuaded me that I should also buy a helmet, tire levers, patch kit and a spare tube. I did, even though I didn’t have a clue as to how to fix a flat.

I vowed to myself that I would never spend a lot on biking “stuff.” and would NEVER EVER wear those funky looking spandex bike shorts!

Shortly after buying my Diamondback, I ventured out for my first ride. I was scared, a bit embarrassed at 250 pounds and was hoping I wouldn’t see anyone I knew. I put on an old pair of jeans, Cleveland Indians tee shirt and my vintage converse All Star shoes. I also wore my new helmet. I was the living incarnation of the anti-biking persona.

I rode 3 miles on the Summit County (OH) Bike Hike Trail. I took a radio so I could listen to the Cleveland Browns. (Yes, another loss.). I made every rookie mistake possible. I missed shifts, threw the chain on a hill and was unaware of bikes around me.

After the 3 miles, I thought my legs would fall off. The next morning I woke up sore with an aching butt and legs. It took me another few days before I was willing to try again. But I did. And, that was 113,000 miles ago.
From Retirement to Bucket List

After I retired I began to do political consulting around the country. I realized quickly that I needed some form of exercise or I’d go crazy. The consulting was high pressure work. Candidates and organizations expected me to be smart, creative and instantaneously give them answers to complicated questions. I always did the best I could; but by the end of most days I had a bad case of fried brain.

Sometime in the early to mid-1990s some biking friends, Greg and Judy, bought Bike Fridays. These bikes were remarkable since they allowed riders to fold them, pack them and travel with them. I decided to spend the money and get a New World Tourist from Bike Friday.

Pretty soon I was taking the bike on consulting gigs in different states. Sometimes, I’d ride very early or very late on a certain day; other times I’d build an extra day or two onto the trip itself.
Since getting the Friday, I’ve ridden about 20,000 total miles on the folding bike.

The convergence of political consulting and the Bike Friday in my life were the initial stimuli for my biking adventures outside of Ohio. The versatility of the Friday is remarkable. Without it and the consulting I’d never be writing this essay. It was years later–2007–however, that I actually put the goal of biking in all 50 states at the top of my bucket list. By that time I had pedaled in 40 states. I’ve used a Bike Friday to ride in 35 states and 4 countries. (See Table provided)

On Saturday, August 30, 2014, I flew to Anchorage, Alaska to bike in state number 50. And, on September 4, 2014, I returned home, having pedaled 160 miles in my 50th state.

Favorite Friday Tours

  • Seattle, WA to Crescent City, CA along the Oregon Coast (Self-Contained)
  • Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England to Edinburgh. Scotland (Coasts and Castles)
  • San Francisco, CA to Santa Barbara, CA (With the Bicycle Adventure Club)

Toughest Friday Rides

  • C-2-C, Whitehaven, England, to Newcastle. England
  • Ireland, Cobh Island to Galway
  • Death Valley and Lake Tahoe

Most Beautiful Friday Rides

  • Oregon Coast
  • Pacific Coast of CA
  • Big Island of Hawaii
  • Moab, Utah, Arches National Park

Best Friday Trail Rides

  • Centennial and Hiawatha Trails, Spokane, WA to Coeur d’Alene, ID to Hiawatha Trail
  • Bird to Gird, Anchorage, AL
  • Military Ridge Trail, Madison, WI
  • Ohio and Erie Canal, Towpath Trail, Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Cleveland, OH

Most Satisfying Experiences on the Friday

  • Riding with my late wife Judy on the Big Island of Hawaii, England and Ireland
  • Using the bike to ride with my Grandson, Max, Stepdaughter, Amy, and Granddaughter, Jude
  • Using the bike to help fulfill the bucket list goal of biking in all 50 states

Haul-a-Day Camping Adventure

Who said you couldn’t put a Cargo Bike on a car rack? Elle Steele refused to listen.

Elle Steele packed up her Bike Friday Haul-a-Day, along with her kids, and came to Eugene for the Kidical Mass Camping Trip.

Read her adventure here.

Seeing Eye to Eye

Members of the Lane Regional Program for the Visually Impaired enjoy an afternoon in the sun riding Bike Friday Family Tandems along the Willamette River, thanks to the Northwest Association of Blind Athletes.

By Raz

On the surface, Alan Scholz and Billy Henry might look as though they have little in common.

Alan, a Baby Boomer with gray edges up top, is Co-Founder of Bike Friday.

Billy, a Millenial with his hair spiked to a point in the middle, is Co-Founder of the Northwest Association of Blind Athletes.

Spend a little time chatting with each, and their kindred spirit shines as one.

Alan started his first bike shop as a teenager in his parent’s basement in Fargo, N.D.

Billy started his non-profit organization in his parent’s garage in Vancouver, WA.

Alan designs Bike Fridays to extend the wonderful experience of cycling to others.

Billy just took delivery of his first fleet of Bike Fridays to deliver the wonders of cycling to others like him.

“I started with six kids in my garage, doing powerlifting,” Billy said about the organization he started to get visually impaired individuals out and active. “This year we’ll touch more than a thousand people. For a lot of them, it will be the first time they get to experience the joy of riding a bike.”

It’s known as the power of one.

“We like to do whatever we can to help organizations like this,” Alan said. “We actually sell quite a few tandems that allow visually impaired individuals to get out on a bike. In working with Billy’s organization, we’ve been able to come up with a discount program for fleets of tandems, and we want everyone to know that opportunity is out there.”

A fleet of eight Family Tandems sat in the Bike Friday Showroom awaiting delivery to the Northwest Association of Blind Athletes.

Billy couldn’t wait to see his new fleet in action. He picked up the bikes at our Factory in Eugene, and drove them to the Rose Garden on the River Bank Bicycle Path for use by the Lane Regional Program for the Visually Impaired.

Each summer the Eugene-based program gets its students out for a day of riding. Billy was pleased to be able to provide the new tandems. On the same day, his organization had a ride going on in Portland. In coming weeks they will have rides in Salem and Albany.

Staff members of the Lane Regional Program for the Visually Impaired, parents and volunteers prepared for a ride on a wonderful summer afternoon in Eugene.

“We spend the summer organizing rides throughout Oregon and Washington,” Billy said. “Last year we had a 60-year-old go on his first bike ride ever. This year a 55-year-old did the same. We have a lot of programs, but without question, bicycling is our most popular.”

The smiles and excited chatter among the group reflected the popularity of cycling. The Bike Friday Family Tandems are highly adjustable, allowing saddles and handlebar heights to be set for different captains and stokers. The 20-inch wheels provide a low center of gravity, and give small children more comfort being closer to the ground.

“The bike was great,” said Joel Phifer, a braillist with the Lane Regional Program. “It was nice to have a bike that fits someone smaller like me. In the past we’ve had to try to ride some bikes that were a bit too big for some of us.”

Billy smiled as he heard the review.

“I can’t thank Bike Friday enough,” Billy said. “This first fleet is just great, and I can’t wait for people to ride these. I’m going out and see how much money I can raise to get another fleet as soon as I can.”

 

Jonathan Gault steers while Mark Miller provides horsepower from behind. Jonathan’s wife, Kristin, works with the Lane Regional Program and they have a son who visually impaired. They bought a Bike Friday tandem last year. Joel Phifer captains while Kenza Minkler rides as stoker. All shapes and sizes enjoyed pedalling along the Willamette River on a toasty summer afternoon.

 

 

 

Egg-citing Redemption

Bike Friday engineer Willie Hatfield displayed four uncrushed eggs to the crowd, confirming his victory on our new Cargo Bike the Haul-a-Day at the Portland Disaster Relief Trials on July 19th.

By Raz

The buzz along the banks of the Willamette River began to intensify as the afternoon wore on and a blazing July sun beat down on Portland.

In the parking lot of the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, the Disaster Relief Trials Cargo Fair floated in an easy-going manner for a small crowd while, somewhere out there in Portlandia, about 50 competitors zoomed around performing feats of Cargo Madness.

The concept of Disaster Relief Trials are simple: Show off what support human powered machines might be able to provide in a disaster situation. Competitors ride from station to station, performing tasks and picking up cargo along the 30-plus mile route.

The route itself is challenging. Pick your own route. Just get to the stations and perform your tasks.

Among those hauling around Portland were Bike Friday engineer Willie Hatfield and Co-Founder Alan Scholz. They came to Portland to show off Bike Friday’s new Cargo Bike, the Haul-a-Day.

Bike Friday Co-Founder Alan Scholz prepared his Haul-a-Day for competition at the Portland Disaster Relief Trials.

Willie is no stranger to racing with  the Haul-a-Day. He rode one of Alan’s prototypes in the Eugene Disaster Relief Trials in the fall of 2013.

Willie placed second, although he did cross the finish line first. However, part of the challenge was transporting an egg, intact, to the finish line. Willie had broken his egg, and was delegated to second place.

So, back in the OMSI parking lot, as the excitement built in anticipation of the finish, we knew Willie had been among the top three for most of the day. He led at one point, then fell a couple of minutes behind two local competitors.

The Disaster Relief Trials began with a short sprint to a collection of buckets, lids and cones. Each rider had to grab one of each, get it on the bike, and ride!

Willie and Alan, of course, live in Eugene. That put them at a bit of a disadvantage in knowing the best routes to take.

Then the PA Announcer barked that they were getting close to the finish. At one of the last checkpoints they would receive eggs. We looked at each other as the tension mounted. Did Willie learn his lesson?

To best understand who Willie is, rewind first of all to the moment I went to Willie to propose he ride in Portland on Bike Friday’s behalf. Willie said he already committed to riding there, and agreed to ride in support of another local Eugene rider.

See, last year in Portland, a ringer showed up. Depending on who you talk to, he was a professional messenger/delivery biker from New York City. NEW YORK CITY!

Of course, he won in Portland. So the tight-knit gang from Eugene hatched a plan to make sure nothing like that would happen this year. They wanted to put Eugene on the Cargo Bike map, and show the folks in Portland what we’re made of down south.

“So,” Willie said, “I’m not going there to try to win myself. I’m there to ride in support. Are you okay with that?”

“Sure,” I said. “That’s really the Bike Friday spirit, not to mention the spirit of Disaster Relief: Find a way to help out, and be there for anyone.”

In the time between then and the Trials, Willie’s responsibilities at Bike Friday grew. He also came up with some ideas for a modified version of the Haul-a-Day to build for the race.

“I wanted to build something that was loud, and stood out,” the typically soft-spoken Willie said. “I wanted to build something that would kick a– and really show everyone what we are capable of doing at Bike Friday.”

Willie’s modified Haul-a-Day attracted a lot of attention as soon as the Cargo Bike crowd got a glimpse of it. [EDITOR’S NOTE: Don’t even ask about the price of a paint job like Willie’s. It was crafted by Peter Kaspar. If you have to ask, you probably can’t afford it.]Without question, Willie produced something loud, his paint job called Pink Lemonade. He also designed a pair of unique cargo racks that some so-called experts questioned, whispering under their breath, “I think he might have some trouble with those.”

Slowly the crowd gathered around the Bike Friday booth as Alan and Willie prepared their Haul-a-Days for battle. Even OPB cameras captured the buzz.

We heard that Willie took the lead by the third station, but then we heard how that station challenged them. They would have to pick up a wooden pallet, and carry it for the rest of the race.

Suffice to say, the imagination of the crowd went crazy. How would you carry a pallet?

“I just threw it on and strapped it down,” Willie said, “I really didn’t have any time to think about it.”

The first to congratulate the new Portland champion? Bike Friday owners Zane Ingersoll (right), and Lou and Sue Liserani.

At the seventh station, where they had to pick up a box of food — some as heavy as 30 pounds — Willie arrived in third place, but found the two leaders forced to completely unpack and repack. Again, Willie’s strategy was simple.

“I just tossed it on and strapped it on,” Willie said. “I gained a lot of time there.”

For sure. Willie crossed the line in 3 hours and 11 minutes. Two minutes later, second place Ryan Hashagen of Portland finished, dragging his cargo across as his trailer tipped.

Ryan Hashagen had some late race cargo issues, and finished second with a very strong showing with his bike pulling a trailer.

Amazingly enough, it would be 19 minutes before the first true Cargo Bike arrived after Willie. But that came after the PA Announcer greeted Willie as the first finisher, but asked if he could show his eggs. Willie reached back into the pockets of his Bike Friday Compass Jersey, and thrust a third-carton of eggs into the air, unharmed. The victor.

Alan finished with the neatest, tightest looking batch of cargo. His eggs, too, were unharmed.

Alan crossed the line 16th in the Open Division, covering the course in 4 hours and 29 minutes. His attention to detail displayed for everyone in how neat and simple his packing was on the standard Haul-a-Day rack.

All smiles, Alan was tired, but had a great time.

“That was quite a challenge, but also a lot of fun,” Alan said.

As for the gang from Eugene, who Willie planned to ride in support of, well, they finished and were thrilled to see that Eugene stood atop the podium.

Alan Scholz rode the Disaster Relief Trials on a Bike Friday Haul-a-Day with a standard rack and bags. In addition to the wooden pallet, Willie collected a 9-foot 2×6 board, a five gallon bucket of water, a cone and a box with nearly 30 pounds of food. He didn’t race, but Bike Friday owner Zane Ingersoll showed off his modified Tandem XL that he uses to haul up to 200 pounds of cargo.

 

Tandems are Family

Bike Friday is more than a family business for the Scholzes.

That’s because cycling is part of the fabric of their lives.

Alan Scholz, the co-founder of Bike Friday, cracks a wide smile when he thinks about today’s cutting-edge cycling publications that are geared toward young families. Magazines like Momentum and Bicycle Times.

These are the kids who grew up in Burley Trailers, says Alan, the man who designed the Burley Trailer in the ’80s to transport his daughter Hanna as they lived a car-free life.

Now they have kids of their own, and they have cycling in their blood. It’s part of their life and they want it to remain part of their lives and their children’s lives.

While Bike Friday has built an international reputation with its travel and folding bicycles, tandems always have held a special place in the company’s DNA.

When Alan and his brother Hanz decided to try their hand at designing bicycles, their first creation was the Burley Duet Tandem.

The brother duo raced tandems, and put their designs to the ultimate stress test.

That knowledge is built into every Bike Friday tandem.

All Bike Friday tandems break down and fit into two TravelCases for air travel.

And the Bike Friday Two’sDay folds to conveniently fit in the trunk of most sedans or the back of an SUV.

There is great utility in our tandems, Alan says. But more than anything, they are built to be legacy tandems. They are built to last and to be handed down from generation to generation.

When Alan’s youngest daughter, Sarah, came along, Alan designed the Bike Friday Family Tandem. He quickly learned the magic of a tandem.

Sarah was only four years old and we had it under the tree for Christmas, Alan remembers, noting that the stoker seat was set for a child, one of the benefits a Bike Friday tandem can offer. When we came out, she was already sitting on the stoker. Even a young child can see it’s right for her.

The Bike Friday Tandem XL Select is set up as a great mix of components to give you the best ride at the best price.

Tandems are a Family Affair at Bike Friday.