The second Bike-A-GoGo, a women's bicycle demo day and expo, attracted some 500 attendees this past weekend at the Genoveva Chavez Community Center in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Your hostesses, the Pedal Queens

Photo: Dominique Revelle

More than 35 companies, among them Giant, Trek, Scott, Specialized, Cannondale and Moots, displayed their wares during Saturday’s event, conducted by the Pedal Queens cycling club and sponsored by Women's Health Services.

"We had people driving four hours," said spokeswoman and club member Jill Janov. "They showed up at 9 a.m. ready to demo bikes."

Veteran New Mexico racer Jennifer Buntz rides to a top-five finish in the slow race

Photo: Dominique Revelle

Included in the festivities were seminars on a variety of bike-related topics, among them bike maintenance and repair (Sarah Frederick from local bike shop Rob & Charlie’s and Jenny Skorcz of Giant for Women); bike touring by Nicole Blouin; and power-to-weight ratios and bike fit by Dr. Jacqui Lockwood.

"It was a great event. Most of the people were beginner to intermediate riders, getting more serious," said Mike Elmer, who guides tours in northern Italy with Granfondo Cycling Tours. "More women and men want to do serious cycling without necessarily being ultra-competitive, and this event definitely helped open a few doors.

Mike Elmer said the Bike-a-GoGo was a great way to promote his touring company, Gran Fondo

Photo: Dominique Revelle

"It was all very unpretentious, absolutely no elite-rider snobbery — everyone just loved to ride bikes."

Also on the menu were a daylong tire-changing race at the Betty Bike Gear booth, two free spin classes, an obstacle-course competition, a slow-ride contest, door prizes awarded every hour on the hour and a bicycle rodeo for kids organized by local pediatric dentist Patricia Peck.

Santa Fe resident Matt Wiebe, who also happens to be technical editor for Bicycle Retailer & Industry News, said his youngsters “couldn't get enough of the kid's bike rodeo area,” which included pallets set up on milk crates to form a set of sharp hills, a cyclocross-style barrier, a 2-by-4 balance beam and other obstacles.

After all was said and done, the Queens found themselves with a little more royalty in their fun-filled, feather-boa’d family.

“We signed up 41 Pedal Queens members during the event,” said Janov. "Everyone had a great time. A lot of people told us how much they enjoyed it. We thought it was a great success and an important event."

If you couldn’t make it to Santa Fe for the party this year, you can check out the pictures below. And look for a return engagement in 2008, when the Pedal Queens hope to kick it up a notch, perhaps investing in some advertising to get the word out to more women.

"It’s a demo event, it’s for test-riding bikes, and we just want to stay focused on that next year," said Janov. "Getting more women on bikes – that’s what it's all about."

For more about the Pedal Queens and Bike-a-GoGo, see www.pedalqueens.com.