*BIKE FRIDAY CLUBBING* Warm and fuzzy on a Friday

Bike Friday Clubs are loose collectives of Friday fans, usually led by a particularly community-minded BF owner. As Brenda Carlton reports, they are a great way to see the world on a Friday. It's not about the bike, it's all about the fold!

WHILE being a relative newcomer (2 years) to the Bike Friday community, I am impressed with the warmth and friendliness of fellow Bike Friday owners.

I've often yearned for the simple life of the Mayberry RFD (Andy Griffin show) community;  how everyone knows everyone and gathers to help in times of need. In the transient USA, that way of life is mostly just a memory. But since getting connected in the Bike Friday world, my faith in that elusive sense of community is thankfully being restored, especially given the transient nature of cycle touring.

After owning my orange and yellow Crusoe and Samsonite trailer for two years, I have eased into using it as self-supported bicycle tourist.

Last year, twelve cyclists from Atlanta had van support as we made our way on the Lewis & Clark trail 800 miles from Astoria, OR to Missoula, MT. Wanting more adventure, I arrived a week early to explore Bend & Eugene, OR.

I visited the Bike Friday factory/offices in Eugene and was warmly greeted with a tour and invited on the daily lunchtime ride from the factory.

In Bend I connected with a Bike Friday owner and was given helpful advice on routes and restaurants.

This year, while doing a cycle vacation in Burlington, VT with a group of 20 from Atlanta, I discovered a 2" gash in my rear tire. I retreated to a bike shop in Burlington for a replacement tire. I had fully intended to bring two spare tires but forgot. Ten minutes after walking into the store, another Bike Friday customer walks in, sees my Crusoe, greets me and asks what I need. I now know that finding a 20" x 1" road tire is not a common item in many bike shops. He already knew that. and offers to sell me a spare if I can not find one in town, even though he was planning to carry the spare with him on a trip next week. (Sounds like a card-carrying member of the BF Club of Vermont - Ed) But wait, there’s more.

After hearing we’re from Atlanta and touring he offers the three of us a place to stay. He is part of www.warmshowers.org.  What hospitality! After telling him there’s really 20 of us and we’re settled in at the campground, we thanked him for his kind offer and headed to the next shop to pick up my tire.

From Burlington, VT I flew to San Francisco to attend a wedding in wine country. I was still easing into the concept of a self-supported tour so I decided this would be an excellent opportunity to pull my trailer to/from the B&B and do day trips.

I extended my visit to five days to explore the various valleys of Sonoma County. To lighten the load, I decided to stay at a B&B rather than camp - somehow I still managed to have a trailer weighing 48 pounds so I need to work on minimalist packing!

I find it so easy to meet people when I'm on my Bike Friday; they see my unusual bike and come up to me to inquire. On day one, a woman sees my bike and trailer while stopped at a bakery. She was a cycle tourist prior to having children and offered to store my trailer for the day so I could enjoy a 30 mile wine tasting tour I'd chosen before doing the 15 miles to the B&B. Plus, she suggested an alternate route putting me on a scenic bike path.

Later in the day, I planned to connect en route with a BF Club of San Francisco cyclist I met briefly two years prior. I felt it would be nice to have some company and also safer than traveling solo. We had a great time, even though our traveling styles were very different.

For the two remaining days I scheduled to be in SFO, the Bike Friday Customer Evangelist herself, The Galfromdownunder,  contacted Friday friends from her San Francisco visit to find me a host.

I soon had three offers from other Bike Friday owners offering a place to stay and assistance with transportation. They were all so warm it was hard to choose among the three! All three sounded great and interesting, with lots of cycle touring stories to share. All were convenient to public transportation.

The trump card was when my chosen host and well known publisher,  Rob van der Plas also offered to drive me to the airport. All you fellow riders know how huge that is when you don’t have to struggle with a bike/trailer or luggage/bike box on a train or bus. The Bike Friday community comes to the rescue again! And get this ... Robert does't currently own a Friday, although has has in the past, and he plans to buy another. The BF Community really is the cyclist's modern version of Mayberry RFD!

Arriving in SFO I have a map and address to Rob's home near the Golden Gate Park. The silly thought crossed my mind that maybe I wouldn't have any large climbs to get there. I should have asked for a preferred route (Locals call it "the wiggle" - Ed). I hit one hill so steep that I had to side-step up three blocks pushing my Crusoe and pulling my 48 pound trailer. For those who don’t know me, I'm barely 5'2" and don’t weigh a huge amount. Needless to say, I was quite happy to find Rob's house. I passed a hospital and ambulance in route and considered hopping in the back and telling them to "hook me up".

Rob was a wonderful host. He showed me my room, took me out to dinner, gave me a key to his home and made me feel most welcome for two days.  He even wanted to pay for my meal but I insisted on treating. Rob was the icing on the sweet cake of my travels. The cherry was him driving me to the airport for my flight home to Atlanta.

BF OWNERS BEHAVING BEAUTIFULLY

Bike Friday owners have a wonderful community if they choose to participate. But let's not forget, each of us bear the responsibility to keep our community intact. So let's revisit some commonsense rules:

1. As a guest, be low maintenance and appreciative. Bring a gift or buy a meal. Open your home to your host for future travel. Certainly abide by their rules. If they keep their house neat and clean then so should you. Share stories of your adventures and be a good listener. 

2. As Bike Friday ambassadors on the road, offer friendly greetings to your Bike Friday neighbors. Welcome others into our fold. I keep my referral cards handy in my seat bag. Much of the joy we encounter in our cycling adventures comes from the people we meet along the way.

3. A word about selecting a travel partner. Although Bike Friday does seem to attract easy-to-get-along-with people (you can't have a giant ego and ride a small wheeled bike, right?), do your due diligence. Get to know them prior and provide yourself an "out" in case you later discover your styles and requirements are incompatible.

For example, agree in advance that you don't have to do the same thing everyday. One of my travel partners did not camp (I love camping), preferred fine dining for evening meals (I'm OK with a pizza slice or three), changed our B&B reservation without feeling the need to discuss it with me (I had a budget I was trying to stick to), preferred to start the day at 2:00 p.m., did not wear a helmet or cycling clothes, and did not carry a water bottle. Needless to say, our riding needs and speeds were very different, including distances and types of roads we could handle. There is no right and wrong, just be sure you have compatible touring styles.

I’m looking forward to my next self-supported tour although with a lighter load. In the meantime, if your travels bring you to Peachtree City, GA, come see me! Here's a sneak preview ...

Brenda Carlton, Bike Friday Club of Atlanta Co-leader

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Bike Friday Clubs