APU’s bike shop ‘The HUB’ posted this photo on Facebook after the ride with Red Bull athlete Josh Boothby.
Courtesy: The HUB
A Red Bull fixed-gear freestyle rider took several APU students on a five-mile bike ride around Azusa Tuesday, Oct. 15 to spread awareness of fixed-gear freestyle and connect with the local biking community.
The rider, Josh Boothby, met students in Seven Palms in the late afternoon. The group stopped at a skate park in Glendora’s Finkbiner Park to do some freestyle and eat food from Donut Man.
“We did a couple tricks there for a while, hung out. Josh was able to play a game with one of our riders, where they go around and see who can better each other on the tricks and that was cool,” said Reed Woodyard, co-founder and manager of The HUB, APU’s free bike service program.
“It was a sweet ride. Beautiful day, beautiful sunset.”
Even though Boothby specializes in single-speed bikes commonly referred to as “fixies,” the event catered to all bikers. The group sported a variety of bikes, including fixies, DMX bikes and road bikes.
“It was a good mix. We’re just all about biking in general. So if it’s got two wheels, then we’re pretty much set,” said Woodyard, a senior business administration major.
Woodyard said he was contacted several weeks ago about the event by an event organizer.
Woodyard, who has been a road biker since high school, taught himself to fix bikes before he helped found The HUB in January 2012. They set up a booth on Cougar Walk every Friday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. to offer free bike fixing services to the APU community.
“It’s great to kind of help organize the biking community,” Woodyard said.
According to an event organizer, Boothby brought with him several “Wings Team” members — women who pass out free Red Bull drinks. Woodyard said the free drinks and their large van made the event even more exciting.
“They do it right,” he said.
Boothby visited five universities in three days to ride with students and network with local bike shops while spreading awareness of fixed-gear freestyle.
“I think it’s really cool [that] I get to hang out and ride with different people in different locations and see how they ride and how they interact with each other,” Boothby said.
This year marks Boothby’s second year with Red Bull. He said Red Bull has been “an awesome opportunity” and has allowed him to try new things, such as riding with college students.
“I thought the APU students were really cool and they were really interested in what I do, and it was great having them come out,” Boothby said.
After departing Azusa, Boothby traveled to California State University San Bernardino, then to the University of California Riverside to meet other college students and their local bike shops.
This is not the first time Red Bull has reached out to APU students. In March, Red Bull hosted “Rail Jam” in Citrus Crossing, where snow and a ramp were brought into the parking lot behind the Ross store across from East Campus. Students rode with professional Red Bull snowboarders in the parking lot for several hours.
Last year, Red Bull BMX rider Terry Adams also visited campus, according to an event organizer.