VeloNews (june 10, 2022) by Betsy Welch

Pivot Cycles, the Arizona-based bike brand, has announced a multi-year partnership with The Cyclist’s Menu (TCM) in Patagonia, Arizona.

The relationship between Pivot and TCM will focus on gravel and sustainable recreation development in the borderlands region of southern Arizona.

The Cyclist’s Menu was founded in 2014 by Heidi and Zander Ault. For nearly a decade, the duo have provided high-end bike and food experiences around the world. Through their gravel and road cycling camps, the Aults have taken cyclists on tours of the lesser-known regions of Mallorca, northern Italy, Montana, Mendocino, and Vermont.

But one place has always lured them — as well as countless other cyclists — back.

Patagonia, Arizona is a small town nestled in the Coronado National Forest, just north of Nogales, Sonora, Mexico and south of Tucson, Arizona. Some know it as a birding mecca, others have worked in its neighboring zinc mine for decades. Now, Patagonia is another rural outpost becoming synonymous with gravel.

After running TCM tours in Patagonia for years, the Aults relocated to the borderlands town in 202o. In 2019, they hosted the first Spirit World 100 gravel event, and last fall, they opened the Patagonia Lumber Co, a bar and cafe. They have plans to increase mountain biking access with a nascent project called the Patagonia Trails Project.

As champions of cycling-based community development, it made sense for the Aults to find a partner in the bike industry. Pivot will bring both physical and emotional capital to their endeavors, including demo bike fleets, unique gravel camp and travel experiences, fundraising for the Arizona Trail, and support for The Spirit World 100.

The Patagonia Lumber Co./TCM will be home to an expanded factory demo fleet Pivot Vaults, the brand’s gravel bike, and Pivot E-Vaults, the pedal-assisted version. The first Pivot gravel camp in the region will take place during the fall of 2022.

“We want the quality of the gravel demo experience to match the quality of the bike,” said Elorie Slater, Pivot’s senior brand strategist. “That experience should be in Patagonia.”

In addition to facilitating and promoting gravel experiences in Patagonia, Pivot’s involvement in The Cyclist’s Menu umbrella will also help the couple — and the community — increase efforts into developing mountain biking infrastructure in the region.

Patagonia is the first gateway community for northbound bikepackers on the Arizona Trail, and the possibilities for developing an adjacent trail system are endless.

“Pivot athletes have always had a special relationship with the Arizona Trail,” Slater said, “and the Patagonia project brings us even closer to the AZT.”

“There’s just so much more coming,” added Zander Ault.

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