A bike shop is often the heart of a local biking community. Even in a cycle saturated city like Sarasota, Tempo Cyclery had no problem filling their shop for their Grand Re-Opening party on Nov 16th, 2013. What a party it was! With good food from the grill, good beer in the coolers and prizes being raffled off every 15 minutes, the atmosphere was jubilant and anticipatory.
Tempo owner Julian Gregory and his staff kept the shop running with sales and service even while it was filled with friends and customers.
Between sips of Fat Tire Amber Ale and sweets from Sirard's Chocolate Cafe, the cyclists retreated out back to prepare for the day's planned entertainment. A chalk outline on the cement marked an obstacle course designed to be raced by adults on miniature kids bikes. The prize was two brand new Scott cycling helmets, one each for the male and female winners.
A handful of men and women, some of them Ironman competitors, struggled playfully with the tiny bikes. The course was timed and hilarious as each took their turn trying to pedal like mad while avoiding hitting their knees against the handlebars. In the end it was former BMX racers and married couple Terri Brashear and myself, Alex Hutchinson who took the victories.
The party was also a congratulations to shop owner Julian Angus jr who had recently completed his very first Ironman contest. This was a big check on his athletic bucket list and he enjoyed the experience. Julian took time during the celebration to show off his trials skills by riding wheelies and bunny hopping onto the coolers behind the building.
The raffles raged on and the generosity of Tempo Cyclery continued to surprise. They gave away cyclometers, road tires, t-shirts, hats, socks, boxes of energy bars, a $180. gift certificate to Mr. Beerys and much more. The big prize came at the very end of the day when they raffled off a beautiful Cruiser bike.
All through the day the cameras were clicking as there were so many images you just had to catch. Be sure to look through our photos to see some of the fun and if you happen to be in Sarasota be sure to swing by the shop to say hi.
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