Posts Tagged ‘akinz’

Erika road trips to Rev Tour

01.15.2012

Having driven to Park City the previous day from Colorado, I squeezed in enough time to Ride at Canyons to stretch my legs out before heading to Tahoe on Monday the 9th of January.

Erika Vikander at Lake TahoeWe left around 10am after stopping by Starbucks of course. Anyone who knows me knows how addicted to coffee I am so there will be many more references throughout this post. The skies were blue, the road was clear, and we had my one and only Highlander set at a comfortable 78mph cruise control.Tthe speed limit is 75) With about 500 miles of open road in front of us, we thought it was necessary to set out at a diligent pace. Fortunately for me, I just got an I phone, thanks to my stepdad, so I had lots of entertaining things going on during the drive. I have become an instragram user as well so we took a ton of pictures.

Upon arriving, I was devastated to see how little snow there was in Tahoe, I had heard there wasn’t any, but it’s hard to believe until you see it! We checked into our place at the base of Northstar, and got to bed early to get ready for training the next morning.

Another beautiful spring-like morning in California had us up on the mountain around 9am. The course wasn’t open until 10, so we had a bit to check out the other features on the mountain. The rail line that was setup before you got to the course was really fun to play around, and get warmed up on, but the course was the place to be if you were trying to ride park.

I had a great day training on the course, and felt pretty good. Considering I didn’t compete until Friday, I didn’t want to push it too hard. A few more days of fun in the sun and Friday had already snuck up on me.

It was a crisp bluebird morning the day of the 13th, and the course was incredibly fast. I had no complaints about the course which consisted of; two options up top, on the right was a down box to a flat-down box, and to the left was a down rail, to a really fun wall ride. To finish it off was two jumps. I chose to hit the left side because the judges had determined it was the “more difficult” line of the two. I had a blast weaving my way through the course, and got two laps in before the contest started.

Max Peters and Erika VikanderUS Revolution Tour

I was 3rd to last in the heat of about 30-40 girls, so I had a long time to try to stay warm, and focused. Being so early in the morning, I knew people would have trouble putting a run down due to the shady conditions on the course, so I played it pretty safe on my first run, and qualified 2nd for finals.
When finals started the top 6 ladies were gathered at the top around 11am the sun was just peeking out around the trees to light up the course for us. Again I was 4th to drop so I had to stay entirely focused, and warm while waiting for my other competitors to take their runs.

I stomped both of my runs, but in the end I played it just a little too safe. I took third on the podium behind some very talented girls that were really fun to watch. Lots of respect to all of the other women throwing down on this course, it was wildly entertaining! I did my research before awards and found there was a Starbucks conveniently located right in the village where awards were being held so once again, I got some coffee.
We left early the next morning to head back to Park City, arriving a little later than expected we were both so tired at the end we had to hit the hay. Now, off to to Breck for some training, big jumps, and S.I.A.

Thanks to everyone at the REV TOUR and NORTHSTAR for putting on a wonderful event, as well as a thanks to all of my sponsors for your support (Gatorade, Capix, Akinz, Fydelity)

Erika Vikander on podium at US Rev Tour

And one special thanks to ECHELON SNOWBOARDS for making this trip possible for me!

Beanie Bash and Scavenger Hunt

10.8.2011

Akinz is hosting a Beanie Bash party on Thursday the 13th of October at our new showroom space. And we’re sending you guys on a scavenger hunt to get excited for the party and to win free beanies. We’re hiding beanies all over Fort Collins. Some we are leaving for you without leaving clues behind and others will have clues supplied on our Facebook page.

If you find a mini beanie, you will win either a $5 off coupon, $10 off coupon, free t-shirt, free t-shirt with beanie purchase, or free custom beanie. If you take a picture with your mini beanie and send it to us at suzanne@akinz.com then you’ll also be entered to win a free hoodie. Keep an eye out around town and on our Facebook Page for hints to nab one.

Akinz Beanie Bash and Scavenger Hunt Fort Collins

Party details:

When: Thursday, October 13th 6:00pm – 10:00pm
What: Sales, deals, and free bevvies (for those 21 and up with a FB rsvp).
Why: To celebrate the start of winter and our new permanent custom beanie creation station.

Please RSVP on Facebook: Beanie Bash Facebook Event

and please ride your bike if you plan on drinking.

Sneak Peek Fall 2011/12 – Acid Wash Hoodies

07.18.2011

Aqua acid wash hoodie dress Fall 2011 Akinz

One of our favorite items from the upcoming fall/winter line is our acid wash hoodie dress. Each one is acid washed by hand, so the variations in pattern and coloring between each one is absolutely unique. We kept them pretty simple by letting the colors speak for themselves and just adding a print of our wings on the lower back left. I wore mine nonstop last winter ever since we made the first samples and they seem to be everyone else’s favorite too since my team riders keep nabbing them from me everytime they see me. (Evidenced below by the pic of Erika Vikander (left) and Claire Hewitt-Demeyer (right).

Erika Vikander wearing the acid wash hoodie dressClaire wearing the aqua acid wash hoodie dress

And the ones we sent to Woodward at Copper as an early release for their summer camps sold out in the first few weeks of camps. I just sent Woodward a new box of freshly acid washed hoodies, so if you are lucky enough to live close to The Cage at Woodward at Copper, go snag one while they’ve got them. Otherwise, you’ll have to wait til they hit our site around September. Although it seems like everyone’s favorite is the aqua acid wash colorway, it will also be available in fuchsia, a navy-pink acid wash, and bleachout black.
Acid Wash hoodies come in Aqua, Fuchsia, Pink, and Black

Winter’s Not Over!

06.6.2011

First Run at Kirkwood!

Winter over? Not for many. This winter has been one of the best, starting in late October and continuing throughout late May into June. It just seems to be prolonging itself. Snow is still falling by the foot and all the die hard’s are trying to add as many more days to their season as they can. I was stoked to be one of them and hit up Kirkwood and Squaw’s last day.

On my way to Tahoe we hit snow storms driving over Sonora Pass, a pass near my house leading you into Nevada, upon arrival in Tahoe the snow was still dropping and really starting to accumulate. You can only imagine my feeling of stupidity rocking sandals for this shred trip. I mean one would think it being Memorial day weekend that you would be able to get away with some summer threads.  But, I didn’t let my stupidity hold my rush of excitement back from the fresh falling snow.  All this meant was that’s the last day of the season would be a powder day at Kirkwood!

Chairs 10 and 11 were open only, so the Wall was going off in full effect. If you haven’t ridden Kirkwood’s Wall you really need to get over to Tahoe and check it out. You see some of the best riders cruising this wall and blasting through the chutes.  I’m not going to lie, it took some female balls for me to get down the Wall, it was steeper than it looked from the lift.  Here’s some advice: never talk something up until you have tried at at least once…riding up the lift I was telling everyone that the Wall looked easy and would be no big deal. I may have given myself way too much confidence, because when I got to the top and looked down I may have saw the fear. So I had to female balls it  big time to get down, and trust me I was shaking in my outerwear…but it was awesome!

In all, both days of riding were pretty good conditions for being the end of May, and gaining a goggle tan in the spring time was also a major bonus. I highly recommended adding as many days on to your season as you can, this is not one to miss.

Though, for many the winter season is over and there are new adventures to be had. Maybe a time to pick up a new summer hobby? Or go on an epic road trip. Whatever it is, make it a summer that you will always remember, go off the limb a bit and dig deep into your bucket list.  If you still have the shred bug, which many of us hold year round, go to your nearest ice rink and ask to get some of the groomed shavings, set up a box or rail and have a little shred fest with your friends.  But if you still can, keep adding the days! No one wants the winter to end, they may say it for a couple weeks, but once it does its over until next year. Get as much shred time in as you can!

Bike to Work Tees and Bike Delivery!

06.6.2011

Northern Colorado bike month is back and that means so are our Bike Tees and Bike Delivery programs! The bike to work tee were so successful last year that we made several different bike t-shirt design options for you this year! You can see them all in our featured bike t-shirt product page. As last year, $2 of each Bike to Work t-shirt sold will be donated to the Fort Collins Bike Co-op.

Plus, now that we are in the month of June, local Fort Collins shoppers can choose to have their order delivered “By Bike” during checkout. This offers free shipping and we will personally bike your order to your house on Bike to Work Day, June 22nd. If the demand is there, we will be keeping Bike Delivery available as an option for the rest of the summer as well.

In addition to these things, this year we are teaming up with Big Shot Bikes and Fort Collins Emergency Vet Hospital to host a breakfast station on Bike To Work Day. Our breakfast station will be located along the Poudre Trail at Riverside and S. Lemay.

Fort Collins Bike to Work Day t-shirts benefitting the Fort Collins Bike Co-op