Luke Update #2

Here is the latest update from Luke. Enjoy!

We raced the "EKZ" Swiss cup race Monday. The course was a four lap race with punchy climbs and descents.  It was much more extreme than any course I have raced on in the States. It included a two foot log drop, a 4 foot gap jump (which was optional; it could be bypassed but you would lose about 10 seconds and get passed by about 5 guys), a super steep switchback that was almost impossible on a 29er, and, best of all, a super sketchy downhill steeper than any I have ever ridden. On top of that, the downhill was slick with mud and had a huge rut down the middle. I was so gassed in the race that I endoed here on the third lap in front of tons of spectators! Luckily, I landed on some nice orange pads laying on stacked hay. The course, however, did not have the rocks that we have at Buck Creek.

At the start line we got interviewed as team USA for German TV, which was totally awesome! We had to start at the very back of over 40 racers though, which was not ideal. One thing that is awesome about the Europe racing scene is the spectators are not just parents lining the course, but tons of fans yelling in foreign languages. I can happily say that there were at LEAST the number of spectators there as there are at a Wylie Bulldogs football game.

We moved up quickly once the race started and formed a train of me, Lucas (US national champ), and Keegan who was 2nd at Nats. Zach and Joe were not too far behind us.  The Europe kids were aggressive and had no problem elbowing you for a better position going into the singletrack. I ended up finishing the race in 12th, 56 seconds behind Lucas.  It was also pretty cool seeing juniors racing for the actual Specialized team, and beating them! The race was age category 15-17, so some of the top guys were older. I missed the podium by less than two minutes!  Our next race, the World Cup, is Saturday and should be huge. Racing in Europe sure does make you glad you are a bike racer, because it is the sport here! We Americans were some of the only guys that did not have someone holding an umbrella over us at the start line for shade, whereas in America only the pros do that.  The food here is duh-lish! I will probably not be ready to leave come next Monday!

-Luke Allen

Thanks for the update, Luke. It sounds like you're having a great time. Good luck at the World Cup!

Luke and Team USA

Luke Allen, Abilene native and BikeTown employee, got the chance to race over in Europe as part of the USA Cycling Development Team. He left for Germany on August 18th and will spend about a week racing over there. He's sending a few blurbs back to us to share with everyone here on the blog. So, read and enjoy a bit of Luke's adventure.

I arrived here in Germany yesterday. I did not sleep on the plane, except for about an hour before the flight attendant woke me up to ask if I wanted a drink... We met up with four other guys in the Frankfurt, Germany airport, the first and second place guys from nationals, the top 15 year old, my teammate Zach Carlson who was fourth at nationals, and then me.  USA cycling selected five guys based on results from nationals, the ProXCT series which is a national series around the states, and the regional camp we attended in Colorado Springs in early June. It is very cool here in Germany, and the mountains are beautiful. They are super thick with huge trees mixed with patches of green "golf-course" looking grass. Everyone speaks crazy German, but it's okay because I do, too. Well, just "your fly is unzipped" because my mom says that in German, because her mom said that to her brothers in German growing up. Today we are racing a "smaller" race in Switzerland with about 30 15-16 year old juniors registered. Our coach said the Swiss junior national team will be there and they are wicked fast, along with the Rabobank junior team. We race at 1:30, and got our "USA" team kits yesterday. They are sweet! My bike and gears are performing great so far thanks to Jim and Gary at BikeTown! Thanks everyone for the support! I will try to write again later this week before the big world cup at the end of this week.

-Luke Allen
 

We've known and ridden with Luke for many years now, and it's great to see him get the chance to race at this level. His hard work is paying off. Good luck, Luke!

Bike Tour Downtown Tomorrow!

As part of the B!G Day Downtown this Saturday, the Abilene Preservation League is leading a bike tour of historic places in and near downtown Abilene. This is a leisurely urban ride (3.5 miles) with several stops for learning about the history of buildings and places in downtown, good for the family. Register online at www.bigdaybikeride.eventbrite.com or call or call the APL for more information, 325-676-3775. We will depart from North First and Cedar at 10:30.

Cycling Awareness Commercial

Memorial Service for Susan Gerred

There will be a memorial service honoring Susan Gerred this Saturday, June 26 at 11 a.m. It will be held in the main auditorium at the Civic Center.

Happy Memorial Day

We hope you have a great Memorial Day. We remember all those who gave their lives so that we might enjoy our freedom. We're thankful for your sacrifice.

The Shop Rag

Did you know that we send out The Shop Rag every week to people on our email list? Why would you want to know this, you ask? Well...The Shop Rag has a list of our weekly group rides on it, as well as various other information you might be interested in. Best of all, it offers a weekly special that can be printed out and brought in to be used that week in our store. If you are not on our email list but would like to be, just send us a quick email and we'll add you to The Shop Rag list. Our email is at the bottom of the blog, or, better yet - just click here: biketownabilene@yahoo.com

Become our Fan

Just putting in a shameless plug for our store. If you are on Facebook, look us up under pages and become our fan. Then feel free to leave us messages or join in the discussions. While you're at it, check out our website as well: www.biketown.com There's always fun stuff going on in the forum. All right - shameless plug over. Thanks!

Blog Break Over

There has been a bit of a blog break around these parts, in case you haven't noticed. Of course, there might be all of 5 readers of this thing in which case, the anticipation of a new blog post probably isn't all that high. Even so, we just want to let you know that the break is over. There will be some new, hopefully regular, posts coming soon. This week, even! So - stay tuned, read the posts, and feel free to leave comments so we know someone is out there. :)
Comment moderation is turned off, but there is comment verification (that fun little part where you get to type in the letters and numbers). Hopefully, this is all we'll need to keep all the spam comments out.

New Year

Welcome to 2010! It seems hard to believe that a new year is already here. It's been a little colder than normal around here the last month or so. It makes it hard to get out on the bike. If you are not riding as much right now, it is the perfect time to bring your bike in for a tune-up. That way, as soon as the weather warms a bit, you'll be ready to go. It sure beats taking your bike in for that tune-up at the the same time as everyone else and getting to wait for your turn! So bring it on in now while the wait is short. Let one of our experienced technicians look your bike over, fix it up, and have you ready to roll out the door as soon as the arctic winds pass us by.

Merry Christmas!

From everyone here at BikeTown - Merry Christmas! May you be blessed with time with your family and friends to celebrate the best gift ever - God's Son. Even a brand-new shiny bicycle under the tree can't compare with that! Have a wonderful Christmas Day.

ABC Membership

This is a reminder that all memberships in the Abilene Bicycling Club expire at the end of December. Go ahead and renew now! Print out the form below, fill it in, and either mail it in or drop it off with your dues at BikeTown. Dues are $20 for the year, and one membership does cover your immediate family. If you write a check, please make it out to Abilene Bicycling Club.

Click on this link for the membership form:

https://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0B-0LCR9d8v4iZGMyYTUwZmItMTMxOS00NzI3LTgxODctODU4YTI3YjM4NDMw&hl=en

Forum Drawing Winner

Thanks to everyone who registered on our website forum and made a post. Like we said, anyone who registered and made a post by September 30 would be entered in a drawing for a $30 BikeTown gift certificate. And the winner is.....nodnarb134. Just get in touch with us to claim your gift certificate!
Check back here later tonight for some info about upcoming events, both on and off road.

Hotter'N Hell 2009

Hope everyone who rode in Hotter'N Hell had a blast! If you have any fun stories or pictures from this year's ride, send them our way. We love it when you share!

Way to Go, Luke!

At the end of May, Luke Allen got to race in the Bump 'N Grind mountain bike race in Alabama. He raced in the 15-16 age division and got 1st place. Keep in mind that Luke is 13. Here is a link to an interview he had after the race.
http://www.cyclingdirt.org/videos/coverage/view_video/235096-us-pro-xct-3-bump-n-grind/183388-luke-allen-post-race-bump-n-gring

Way to go, Luke!

I Love America Parade

Sometimes, when you work in a bike store you get to do some fun, out of the ordinary things. For instance, today we got to go participate in a parade. One of the elementary schools here in town has an annual I Love America program and parade. We are one of the school's business sponsors, so we were invited to ride along on the parade route. So, we loaded up the bikes and headed to Dyess Elementary to join in the fun.

It was great to see so many kids having fun at the parade. Those teachers put a lot of work into the program and parade, and it was well done! There was one very excited student riding along with us on the parade route. She was the one who won the bike that we donated to the school. It was so fun to watch her as she got to ride it for the first time.

Thanks, Dyess, for making it a memorable day!

Reminder for Sunday

Hey, everyone - remember that Sunday there is the mountain bike race at Buck Creek Trails benefiting the Police Unity Tour. Registration will be from 12:00 to 1:00 and the first race will start at 1:15. Entry fee is $10 and there will be raffles for all racers to enter. The normal entrance to Buck Creek will be closed tomorrow until the race is over. For the race, you will need to use the entrance to the police training academy. Just drive north past the regular Buck Creek Trails entrance and the next entrance on your right will be the Warren Dodson Training Center. Turn in there. For the schedule and all the other info about it, click on events over on the left sidebar of the blog and it will be the first post that shows up. Most everyone knows this, but just to be clear - helmets are required!

Y'all have a great weekend and hope to see ya out there!

Thanks for the Hard Work!

If you were out at Buck Creek Trails last Saturday, you might have seen these guys. Richard Valdez, Steve Stovall, Bob Sanderson, Mike Daniel, and Jay Kish were hard at work building a new bridge to tie in Mutt Loop to the rest of the trail system.

They also spent some time taking care of the big ruts in the parking area. It's a much smoother place now.

Buck Creek wouldn't be the great trail that it is without so many of us working hard to get it that way.

We appreciate all the time and effort these guys put in last Saturday.

Enjoy the trails, and if you see any of these guys be sure and say thanks!

Hello?

Yes...It has been a while since a post. Hopefully, they'll be occurring a little more often now. For all those who keep checking...thanks!

As you may or may not know, the 2009 TMBRA spring series kicked off today at Mas o Menos in Terlingua. There was a 30k, 50k, and 100k race. The BikeTown crew made a good showing. We'll be finding out the final results later on, at which point I'll post them along with some pictures. Well, that's assuming I still have internet connection.

Thanks for hanging with us. Check back soon!

Remember...

...Set your clocks back before you go to bed this Saturday. Daylight Savings Time will be ending for this year. So...if you are riding in the Bent Wheel Bash on Sunday, make sure your clock is right so you're not waiting at the gate for an hour!