Post by Angela on Nov 4, 2012 17:49:27 GMT -5
The 2012 Bikefest was a success! The weather was absolutely perfect all day long and into the night. Having Specialized, Liv-Giant, and Niner demo vehicles was stellar - the crews were fantastic and it is always so much fun to try out new bikes (sounded like there might be some additions for this year's Christmas list)!
It's always hard to gauge how many people come to an event like this, some come and spend time trying out the new bikes and are gone, some come for the afternoon rides or games and then leave, others come for the whole day (and there were some competing football games yesterday to add pressure to the day) but I counted 65 sitting down having some chow at one point during the cookout.
Thanks to all the behind the scene planners and organizers and to all who stepped up to lend a hand on the day of the event. We could not do this without you!
Loved to see the kids (young and older) having a great time with the games - as you'll see from some of the pics below we had some competitors! Every chance you get to get your kids out and engaged with others who are enjoying biking - whether it is Take a Kid Mountain Biking or the Fall BikeFest - you increase the chance that we'll keep mountain biking strong as a sport going forward into the future!
I'll add some notes and possibly a few more pics and a video or two in the next week! Hopefully others will share their pics as well.
Was great having the Specialized, Nine and Liv-Giant demo teams out! Great crews and a lot of radically fun bikes.
Took this 26" Giant Trance out for a spin - woman specific - fit like a glove and was a great ride! A group of us had a great time with Jeanette (Giant demo gal) on Friday night at the women's clinic - she is hilarious! Also had the chance to ride with her out at FATS today - she is terrific and I hope she comes back next year!
Also took out this Niner Jet 9 RDO - it was a quick, edgy ride and so fast! Went back out to FATS today to take it on another spin (I didn't realize the shock was locked out yesterday so it was a little stiffer than I thought it should be) on Skinny & Brown Wave - wicked fun!
Start of the led rides!
Let the bike games begin!! The tire popper contest was a hit and I will tell you that the girls ruled in the first round!
The Ghost Bike contest was a challenge since this Huffy was a bit of a dud (as the kids quickly pointed out... remembering the long ghost rides of last year)!
The wheel toss was a big hit and kids wanted to keep doing it over and over again!
Ooliej was a little too good at the wheel toss - the kids squealed with delight as it rolled down the hill, jumped over the retaining wall, rolled all the way down the beach and jumped into the water. She had quite an adventure retrieving the tire!
The limbo contest was popular with kids and adults alike! I'll try to post more of the pics later interesting to see all the techniques!
And the winner is....................Chuck Messick! Look at that limbo style!
The bunny hop was not nearly as easy as it looked!
The long jump was a lot of fun to watch (video to come) - was actually surprised to see David Kay in the Modoc pics from today since he took the time on his last run to make sure the ground was smoothed out for the other riders!
AZDrawdy was grillmaster again this year with the usual excellent results - those hamburgers, hotdogs and brots were good and juicy and followed at the end by some of Kim Jordan's amazing pistachio nut and chocolate chip bundt cake! Lots of good socializing going on!
The end of the night, weather was still beautiful, the clean-up crew was taking 5!
It's always hard to gauge how many people come to an event like this, some come and spend time trying out the new bikes and are gone, some come for the afternoon rides or games and then leave, others come for the whole day (and there were some competing football games yesterday to add pressure to the day) but I counted 65 sitting down having some chow at one point during the cookout.
Thanks to all the behind the scene planners and organizers and to all who stepped up to lend a hand on the day of the event. We could not do this without you!
Loved to see the kids (young and older) having a great time with the games - as you'll see from some of the pics below we had some competitors! Every chance you get to get your kids out and engaged with others who are enjoying biking - whether it is Take a Kid Mountain Biking or the Fall BikeFest - you increase the chance that we'll keep mountain biking strong as a sport going forward into the future!
I'll add some notes and possibly a few more pics and a video or two in the next week! Hopefully others will share their pics as well.
Was great having the Specialized, Nine and Liv-Giant demo teams out! Great crews and a lot of radically fun bikes.
Took this 26" Giant Trance out for a spin - woman specific - fit like a glove and was a great ride! A group of us had a great time with Jeanette (Giant demo gal) on Friday night at the women's clinic - she is hilarious! Also had the chance to ride with her out at FATS today - she is terrific and I hope she comes back next year!
Also took out this Niner Jet 9 RDO - it was a quick, edgy ride and so fast! Went back out to FATS today to take it on another spin (I didn't realize the shock was locked out yesterday so it was a little stiffer than I thought it should be) on Skinny & Brown Wave - wicked fun!
Start of the led rides!
Let the bike games begin!! The tire popper contest was a hit and I will tell you that the girls ruled in the first round!
The Ghost Bike contest was a challenge since this Huffy was a bit of a dud (as the kids quickly pointed out... remembering the long ghost rides of last year)!
The wheel toss was a big hit and kids wanted to keep doing it over and over again!
Ooliej was a little too good at the wheel toss - the kids squealed with delight as it rolled down the hill, jumped over the retaining wall, rolled all the way down the beach and jumped into the water. She had quite an adventure retrieving the tire!
The limbo contest was popular with kids and adults alike! I'll try to post more of the pics later interesting to see all the techniques!
And the winner is....................Chuck Messick! Look at that limbo style!
The bunny hop was not nearly as easy as it looked!
The long jump was a lot of fun to watch (video to come) - was actually surprised to see David Kay in the Modoc pics from today since he took the time on his last run to make sure the ground was smoothed out for the other riders!
AZDrawdy was grillmaster again this year with the usual excellent results - those hamburgers, hotdogs and brots were good and juicy and followed at the end by some of Kim Jordan's amazing pistachio nut and chocolate chip bundt cake! Lots of good socializing going on!
The end of the night, weather was still beautiful, the clean-up crew was taking 5!