BIG WHEEL: Tony Carklin's newest high-performance carbon bike Allied Alfa graces the cover of the March issue of Bicycling magazine. Carklin was the former managing director of Little Rock-based Orbea USA and Chainwheel prior to that.
The teaser on the magazine's cover reads "Ooh La La!" and describes the carbon bike as "revolutionary" and "hella fun." The six-page article, "The Mavericks" recounts how the new Little Rock company HIA Velo produces the brand Allied, which includes the model Alfa.
While Carklin's company HIA stands for "Handmade in America," he tells Bicycling his goal isn't to produce a boutique bike (the 15-pound Allied retails for $8,795) but instead to grow the company. "We started this to get big," he says of the company he founded in early 2016. "We want to change the industry."
Carklin started the U.S. arm of Spain's Orbea in 2001 and oversaw the business for a decade. Before that, he owned the Little Rock bike store Chainwheel for 19 years, beginning in 1982.
RAVE REVIEWS: Though now retired, Benton native Barbara Johnston Hubbard, 89, once again was honored for her work as longtime special-events director at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces and its Pan American Center.
She recently became the third recipient of the university's Presidential Medallion. In 2015, Hubbard was honored with Pollstar magazine's first-ever Lifetime Achievement Award at a ceremony at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tenn. She joined the university in 1968 as the first female business manager of the athletic department and went on to host entertainers ranging from Tina Turner to Garth Brooks.
STAGE PRESENCE: Marianna native Derrick Sanders, an actor who goes by the stage name Derrick LeMont, appears in OWN's Tyler Perry's The Have and the Have Nots as officer Mickey Burke in the episode airing at 8 p.m. Tuesday. He'll also appear in Fox's prime-time show Sleepy Hollow at 8 p.m. March 3 in the role of a colleague at Dreyfus Enterprise who speaks with the CEO about new development.
SIGN OF THE TIMES: Today's senior citizens are interested in more than just pursuing hobbies and relaxing in their later years. In response, the Arkansas chapter of the AARP is assisting them in rejoining or continuing in the workforce. Its 90-minute workshop, "Job Search in the Digital Age" is set for Feb. 25 at the Cabot Library, 909 W. Main St., with 10:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. sessions open to the public. Reservations are required and space is limited. Attendees need to already be proficient in using a smartphone, but those who don't currently have one will be given one on loan to use during the workshop. Call (866) 740-7588 or visit aarp.cvent.com/aarpjobsearchlittlerock to register or for more info.
Contact Linda S. Haymes at (501) 399-3636 or lhaymes@arkansasonline.com
SundayMonday on 02/12/2017