Titus - Tempe Arizona USA

Titus - the bicycle manufacturer based in Tempe Arizona. 

I have never come across a Titus owner who didn't seem thrilled with the product. They ride along with wide smiles. I've read the raving reviews, so I just had to see what the fuss was all about. 

It's kind of heartening to see that we still make things in this country. Great things at that.

My first stop on the Titus tour began across the street at Vyatec sports. Vyatek creates some of the tubing for some of the bikes. They also create golf clubs, tennis rackets etc.

I then came across the street and started the real tour.

My tour guide was a friendly fellow by the name of Jason. He handles the sales for the western United States. They have a small sales force, a couple of engineers and some guys working in the back.

It was great to go back and see bikes with that old MADE IN USA label. Something common in my childhood, but is more and more uncommon.

My old Moab was made in the USA, but Schwinns are now made in China and bear a sticker declaring that they are not meant for off road use. 

One thing I noticed was the there were no road bikes in the factory. I was kind of surprised because I had read the rave reviews. Jason said that they will custom make a road bike for you but all custom bikes are only made out of Titanium. (custom bikes are a bit more pricey). He also said they now focus on the mountain bike industry because there is so much more variation in Mountain bikes. Road bikes are all pretty much the same.

Titus now has two different tours going on at any one time. Keep a lookout at their website as to when you can demo one in your area.

This Jason is a pretty sharp character. At least in the area of bikes and bike history. We talked about the concept store. You know, like the Mac stores and now the Windows stores. Well, Jason said that Schwinn actually pioneered that concept. They are too small a company to start anything like that yet. Specialized is supposed to be starting some soon.

Anyway, I just had to go for a ride after the tour. Got on my old Moab. She's old, but I still love it. Maybe some day I'll have to replace her. Jason would help me find exactly the bike I need. Just tell him the trails I like to ride and how I ride them.

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Travels - Kenya

Kenya - Safari. Elephant Charged vehicle in frontof us. He's backing up - fast. Taken with Minolta x370 800 spd film.

Elephants and Giraffe look like forests in the distance. The neck of the giraffe looks like a tree swaying in the wind. Looking out at the horizon, you come to the realization that the forest is moving closer, then it hits you - big wild life.

These Lions are everywhere. They pretty much do what they want.

They do give the elephants a wide berth however.

I could hear lions, elephant and crocs all night down by the river.

I never hear a lions roar quite the same way as they did in Africa. You felt the roar more than you heard it.
Anyway, these are old photos. If I find more from the trip I will post. Nothing much happening this summer so I thought I would revive and reuse some old pics.

Also came across a story off of my own fat-tire.net site http://fat-tire.net/feedz/newzFeedz.aspx about a couple of Kenyan electrical engineering students who have invented an affordable device for charging cell phones while riding your bike.
The chargers will be sold for about $4.50. http://bicycling.about.com/b/2009/08/09/kenyan-students-create-bike-powered-cell-phone-chargers.htm