GREAT OUTDOORS: Cycling advocate plans biggest trip ever

Cycling changed Bill Katzel’s life so much 20 years ago that he has since become a permanent and passionate advocate for its continued presence in Pima County.

His latest projects include plans for a 3,400-mile cross-country “coast-to-coast for cancer cure” challenge he hopes will get off the ground in the next year or so.

“I want to raise a million dollars for this,” said Katzel, who is looking forward to setting yet another cycling goal for himself while celebrating his 70th birthday.

Using his considerable persuasive talents that have aided countless other cyclists in this area over the years, Katzel hopes to take the first steps soon toward getting help in creating a Web site, someone to handle contributions to the cause, and publicity support.

His wife is currently being treated at the Arizona Cancer Center for autoimmune deficiency, so he’s hoping to be able to work things out with their help.

AAA has helped him map out the trip route that begins with his back wheel dipped into the Pacific in San Francisco, ending with the front wheel touching the Atlantic in Ocean City, Md., and he already has the OK to stay in firehouses along the way.

Katzel settled in Green Valley four-and-half years ago after serving 28 years as a health systems specialist based in Tucson — 18 of those with the Indian Health Service, a division of the U.S. Public Health Service, working to improve conditions for 547 federally recognized tribes.

Accustomed to a role as a crusader for the importance of quality health care for more than three million Native Americans for much of his life, Katzel began taking those skills into the boardrooms and government offices locally as a cycling proponent a few months after he completed his first El Tour de Tucson in 1991.

Always a goal-setter, Katzel overcame a serious injury that sidelined him from a sport he had jumped into late in life after his wife challenged him to get into some kind of exercise program to deal with stress and keep him active in retirement.

He was just starting to train for his first century (100 miles) ride when a Queensland Blue Heeler — an Australian cattle-herding dog — cut him down, fracturing his neck and his bike.

“He must have thought I was a cow,” he said, now able to laugh a bit about it.

Schwinn got him a new bike, and upon recovery, he embarked on an intense 10-week training schedule, riding six days a week, eventually able to do his first century at Gene Chapman’s Memorial Ride, pedaling back from Tubac late into the evening to finish.

“My wife was looking for me in the dark,” he remembered, “but I made it.”

Two months later, he turned a 111-mile ride into a 132-mile, almost 12 hour, ordeal — “because I missed a turn,” he said — in his first El Tour de Tucson, winning the dubiously dubbed El Grande Award, given to the last place finisher.

“I got to ride down the same aisle as the winner with lights blazing to get my last place trophy,” he said, smiling. “That was really my first experience in cycling, but it changed my life.”

Immediately passionate about his newfound love, he became instrumental in helping to maintain and expand Tucson Police cycling unit, which was about to be cut by a budget decision.

His advocacy helped turn an essentially volunteer group into a unit with a sergeant and six officers. Today, there are five divisions with 35 officers,

“Bikes cross all social, economic, and cultural lines,” he put it, explaining how he feels the unit is better able to prevent crime by better interaction with the community up close and personal.

Katzel was one of only three finishers, and the only American, among 27 riders who tried to tackle a 1,600-mile Alaska/Yukon trek in 1998.

“I lost 32 pounds in five weeks,” he said.

Five-plus years as a member of the Tucson/Pima County Bicycle Advisory Committee helped him raise awareness before the public and government bodies for the needs of cyclists. His active participation with the “bicycle-friendly communities” project contributed to a nine-entity group from Oro Valley to Sahuarita/Green Valley, achieving the first-ever regional gold medal status from the League of American Bicyclists in 2006.

He issued the challenge to achieve platinum status by 2012.

“Day to day, I’m always advocating for cycling,” he said, “I’ll stop and talk to anybody.”

After Sept. 11, Katzel switched from his florescent green to red, white, and blue colors. You can spot him today around Green Valley with Old Glory on the back of his BOB, the one-wheeled trailer he uses to tow 50 pounds of water-tight gear on his longer trips.

He cites his list of benefits to everyone — cardiovascular health, stress relief, positive diet changes, a great alternative mode of transportation (“You can actually do without a car in this community,” he declares), and helping to save the environment.

“I get peace of mind from knowing that I am in control of a human-powered device,” he stated.

With eyes set on his coast-to-coast goal now, Bill Katzel plans to stay on the saddle for as long as he can.

“I feel a surge of benefits and a sense of independence just being out there.”

Mike Touzeau is a freelance writer for the Green Valley News.