On Sunday, January 19th, Velorosa Cycling Team kicked off the 18th year of the team (originally named "All 9 Yards") and the 15th year as Velorosa. We gathered at team sponsor, Captain Roy's, to celebrate the accomplishments of 2024 and to get 2025 started!
It's hard to capture the excitement of the night as we reconnected in this new year! Here's some of the information and fun shared at the party.
Mission and Organization
Velorosa Cycling Team exists to encourage, nurture, teach, and challenge women to get more involved in the cycling community. We continue to grow and to increase the reach of our mission. Anyone interested in joining is asked to sign up and sign the waiver via the "Join Us!" tab on the team website.
Velorosa Cycling Team is a nonprofit organization and herding all the pink cats falls to the Board of Directors, five volunteers who plan for the success of our team. Our 2025 Board: Rose Willey (President), Barb Bremner (Vice-President), Krystyn Williams (Secretary), Dorie Hammer (Treasurer), Kelli O'Leary (At-Large) and advisors Erika York and Deanne Herr (board members who have recently rolled off the board).


Deanne Herr is coming to the end of her services as the team's treasurer, a role she's been in for over six years. Deanne will be sharing information as she transitions off and trains Dorie Hammer to take her place.
Team Sponsors!

We couldn't do it without our team sponsors. Their donations to our team help us with the costs of team insurance, USA-Cycling license, member events, charity donations, memorial gifts, AND so much more. Each sponsor makes a huge impact to our team's success. And we're proud to sport their logos and names on our gear as we race, ride, and volunteer!

Our generous sponsors for 2025 are: Aptitude Fitness (*new in 2025), Bastion Capitol Group, Best Day Coffee, Beth Montpas Life Coach, Body in Motion Therapeutic Massage, Brickyard Burgers & Brews (* new in 2025), Captain Roy's, Compass Chiropractic, Cumming Tap, DSM Financial, Iowa Distillery, Jasper Winery, Pigott Office Furniture, RYLU Bike & Be You, T-Shirt Graphix, Velorosa cycling apparel company, and West Hill Brewing.



Volunteering

As a team we place a high priority on giving back to our community. We ask members to volunteer, and as a team we often donate to the cycling community and the community at large. Members are asked to log their volunteer hours throughout the year so we can share some of our collective impact. Members support races throughout the year, provide bike support for the Des Moines marathon, help on UBFM food delivery rides, to mention a few of the efforts. In 2024 Velorosa teammates contributed:
over 655 woman-powered volunteer hours
raised over $3,000 through Sip & Swap which benefited Urban Bicycle Food Ministry (UBFM) and the Dream Team
raised over $33,000 for Break the Cycle
At the Winter Party we celebrated Barb Duff, 2024 team top volunteer, who contributed more than 233 hours to our community! Way to be AWESOME Barb!

Racing and Riding
Throughout 2024 teammates trained together and competed in gravel, mountain bike, cyclocross, and endurance races. Members challenged themselves in new ways, and there was a lot of pink on the podium.



As you're riding events in 2025 represent by wearing your kit, sporting the team logo, posting event pics, tagging Velorosa Cycling Team, and linking to our team website. #velorosa #iamvelorosa #pinkposse #pinkonthepodium #petalpowerispedalpower Can't wait to see all the successes achieved by teammates in this new year.
Committees
As the team has grown, we rely on committees to help all the fun, volunteering, and riding happen. Committees include: Communication, Volunteer, Member Engagement, Sip & Swap, Summer Party, Fun Rides, and Training Rides. Hopefully you indicated your interest in a committee when you signed up. If you didn't, or if you have questions, please reach out to a board member to find out more.
And drumroll please . . .
Team Kits!
2025 is the exciting introduction of a brand spanking new kit design.


This year's kit was designed by Rose Willey with the help, expertise, and mentoring of Kim Hopkins. Rose wanted to celebrate the team's 15-year milestone and incorporated the iconic thorn pattern which was a part of the first several years of Velorosa Cycling Team. The rose blooms were inspired by the chain ring rosette which is our team logo.
Petal Power is Pedal Power.
The design is bold, beautiful, and strong just like the women who will wear it!
We stick with a design for two years. This kit will be the team kit for 2025 and also 2026. Team members can order one time per year. The window for ordering is short so don't miss it! The store will open February 1st and close February 10th. This is the only time for the kit order; it's not an open all year kind of store. All members who have signed up and completed a waiver will get an email with all the necessary information for ordering. You'll see info on our team Facebook and also via our Spaces app. (*A kit is the uniform or attire worn by athletes participating in competitive cycling.) Casual apparel (t-shirts, hoodies, etc.) ordering will be open in March. We anticipate kit and casual apparel pick up will be in April.
Can not wait to see everyone out on the trails, gravel, roads in this new kit!!
Team Updates & Reminders
Winter party is always a terrific time to get together and celebrate, but also a time where we convey important updates and reminders. If you ever have any questions about the team, our bylaws or information please reach out to any board member, we want your feedback and to help!


Planning for 2025 Velorosa Events
Planning for the coming years' events is underway. A full schedule will be housed here on the team website under the events page. We'll continue to post reminders via Facebook, email and push notifications. Here's some things to be thinking about and planning for. Look for a full calendar to be available by the end of February.

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