Once a year, a select group of bike industry representatives and cycling journalists descend upon Utah's picturesque Deer Valley ski resort for Bike Press Camp. The annual event allows the participating twenty-five companies a chance to give the cycling media sneak peeks at future products, as well as detailed information on best-selling bikes, parts and gear. The week-long event provides an intimate setting for all parties involved, benefiting the companies, media personnel and their readers. It's a sharp contrast to the two biggest cycling trade shows, EuroBike and Interbike, which was precisely the idea that event founder Lance Camisasca had in mind.

This year, journalists were put up in the ultra-posh Stein Eriksen Lodge. Nestled mere yards away from Deer Valley's world famous ski lifts (which are used as mountain bike lifts in the summer), and overlooking some of the event locales from the 2002 Winter Olympic Games, the Lodge is named after Norwegian skier Stein Eriksen. Eriksen is currently the director of skiing at Deer Valley Resort, and was a gold medal winner at the 1952 Winter Olympic games, as well as a three-time World Champion. Outside the Lodge's entrance is a slightly larger-than-life effigy of Eriksen.

Upon arrival at the Stein Eriksen lodge, journalists were instructed to "sign-up" for meetings with company representatives. This involved writing your name on various points of three giant whiteboards, which felt like a game show as certain time-slots became hotly contested. On Tuesday, the first official "meeting day" of Press Camp, journalists crossed the road to the Black Bear Lodge, where a friendly-looking statue of a bear offered us a warm welcome, and where bike company reps had their wares displayed inside their own private, plush condos.

My first meeting was with the folks from Hutchinson tires. While they didn't have any new, 2012 products to show, they did have more tires on hand than one could shake a pump at, including their best-selling Fusion 3 and Atom Comp models.

As our meeting ended and I prepared to leave, the Hutchinson crew offered me a glimpse at their most unique product: a pair of $500 tubular tires. I know what you're thinking, $500 for a set of tires?! Well, these aren't just any tubulars. These are Hutchinson's Pro Tour model, which are handmade in their French factory and are used by nearly all Hutchinson-sponsored professional teams. In fact, these are the very same tires that carried Lance Armstrong to his seven Tour de France victories.

Up close, you can see the Pro Tour tubular's tread pattern, a design dating back to the 1970s (the tires are, in fact, jet black in color - they appear grey in the photo due to lighting). All of Lance's tires were aged a minimum of five years before he raced on them. What does  "aged" mean, you ask? Hutchinson's non-vulcanized tubulars have their tread glued directly onto a cotton/poly casing, with a cotton breaker underneath the tread. As the cotton and glue dry out over time, they harden, which increases puncture resistance and the natural rubber becomes more supple. The 500 sets that Hutchinson has produced for consumer sale are aged a minimum of six months and are date-stamped. Only 34 sets have made their way to the United States.

Cannondale made a big splash at Bike Press Camp this year, unveiling a line of four helmets, including one road-specific model. The Teramo will be available in five colors and two sizes, and features 23 vents, a micro-adjustment dial that can be operated with one hand, and rear padding crafted from the same material found on the popular Crocs shoe line, which is anti-microbial and water-resistant.

This prototype version of the Teramo was taken apart to show its inner workings. The CPSC-rated lid features a 360-degree retention system, aluminum inserts for rigidity, and cone-shaped segments of injection-molded foam that act as "crumple zones" in the event of an impact. Unfortunately, this sharp-looking green and black color scheme will not be available on production versions.

As I continued on my day's journey from one condo to the next, meeting with industry reps and tech experts and learning detailed information about their products, the event began to feel like a day on a college campus. This felt especially true when I went to visit the temporary dwelling of Gore Bike Wear, where I not only received plenty of great information about their line of road and mountain bike clothing, but also participated in what felt like a laboratory science experiment.

I recently finished Davis Phinney's new book, "The Happiness of Pursuit." If you haven't already, get it - it's a fantastic read, an exciting historical account of one of America's greatest cyclists, and an inspirational story about his current battle with Parkinson's disease. In the book, Phinney recounts a cold, rainy race in Europe that was made a bit more comfortable by a prototype jacket made from the then-revolutionary GoreTex fabric. The folks from the current Gore Bike Wear company instructed me to dunk my hand in a vat of cold water, then gave me an oversized glove made from the latest GoreTex. I put on the demo glove, then dunked my hand in the water again and wiggled my fingers for a minute. I pulled my hand out, took off the glove, and was pleased (though not surprised) to find my once wet hand completely dry, the moisture having been wicked away through a permeated membrane. I've worn GoreTex fabric before, but this simple demonstration was impressive nevertheless, and it emphasized the incredible technological advances found amidst the current crop of cycling apparel.

After lunch, most journalists opted to go for a ride on one of the many demo bikes available from a variety of brands, including GT, Turner and Niner mountain bikes, and Ridley and Parlee road bikes. Having just met with Parlee's reps, I decided to test out their best-selling Z5 model. The carbon fiber frameset retails for $3700, and is available in a variety of builds, including SRAM Red, Shimano Dura-Ace, Shimano Di2, and options from Campagnolo. My demo bike was outfitted with SRAM Red (black edition), a Zipp Service Course seat post, stem and handlebar, and Enve 45mm-deep carbon clincher wheels.

Our group of four intrepid riders descended from Deer Valley's lofty perch into Park City proper and partook of a 30-mile loop that included some of the most beautiful scenery I've laid eyes on in quite some time. The Parlee Z5 frame was stiff on the flats but quite vertically compliant over some of the less pristine roads. Our long, steady climb back up to Deer Valley Resort was a bit of a challenge, considering my sea-level lungs were still acclimating to the 9000 feet of elevation. But the ascent offered still more fantastic views and reminded me a bit of portions of the climb up to Mount Baldy ski station, recently featured in Team Radioshack's dominant performance on the penultimate stage of the 2011 Tour of California.

What could be better than enjoying a fantastic ride on a great Parlee bike? Being welcomed back at the demo area by the man himself, namesake Bob Parlee. Bob is, quite simply, one of the nicest guys in the bike industry and was eager to learn the details of the ride and my thoughts on his carbon beauty.

Check back soon for more coverage from Bike Press Camp 2011!