Velorosa Cycling Team has been in existence for longer than 14 years. We have members who ride all sorts of bikes for all sorts of reasons. Our mission is to get more women on bikes and support women in riding whatever kind of ride they want: social, recreational, fitness, road, trails, gravel, time trial, endurance.
Velorosa is a 501c3 non-profit. Our team vision:
We exist to encourage, nurture, teach, and challenge women to get more involved in the cycling community.
Velorosa has a board of directors. Five volunteers help organize all things Velorosa. Let one of these gals know if you've got ideas or feedback for the team. In photo, from left to right: Krystyn Williams, Barb Bremner, Deanne Herr, Erika Egge York, and Rose Willey.
Velorosa has committees. Velorosa committees are how we get things done. Members signed up at the Winter Party, and all committees held a planning meeting in February at Peace Tree Brewing, a team sponsor. Even if you didn't sign up to be on a committee there definitely will be plenty of opportunities to help out.
There are seven committees: Volunteer, Communication, New Member, Fun Ride, Training Ride, Summer Party, and Sip & Swap. Look for upcoming blogs for more info about these committees.
Velorosa has team sponsors. These small businesses contribute goods, funds and services to our team. And in 2023 we added new sponsors West Hill Brewing Co. and Compass Chiropractic. Be sure to support these fantastic businesses!
Velorosa celebrates volunteering. Team members are asked to volunteer four hours and to log those hours through the team website. If everyone on the team volunteers 4 hours we will contribute over 500 hours of woman power. In 2022 we had volunteers who logged way more than four hours: Val Nehls contributed 300 hours to We-Cycle in Ames; Jen Bonnichesen contributed 65 hours to UBFM and Julie Kirkpatrick contributed 40 hours to Break the Cycle. A few of the organizations we contribute to: We-Cycle, Urban Bicycle Food Ministry, RAGBRAI Dream Team, Central Iowa Trail Association.
In total members logged over 800 volunteer hours in 2022. Let’s hit 1,000 in 2023!
Velorosa uses social media. We've got a public Facebook page Velorosa Cycling Team and a private Velorosa - Team Members Only Facebook group. This is where we want to see all of the cycling shenanigans and otherwise that members are up to. Use hashtags and tags to share your cycling adventures. And make sure if you're at one of our sponors you take a photo and tag the sponsor too. #iamvelorosa #rideyourbike #showup #whereintheworldisvelorosa
Velorosa Cycling Team has its own website. This is where events are posted, blogs are uploaded, and volunteer hours are submitted. And there's a lot of other cool stuff too.
Sometime confusing to new members, Velorosa Cycling is the cycling apparel company founded by Kim Hopkins and Lisa Carponelli in 2011. They are founders of the team and continue to be FANTASTIC sponsors and supporters of the team. And their cycling kits are the best!!
Velorosa uses the Fit by WIX app. The team uses this app to send out event invites and post info. You can see who's RSVP'd to events. You can see the blog here too. Download the app and get connected.
And last, but certainly not least . . .
Velorosa Cycling Team has a new kit in 2023! The team kit is redesigned every two years, and there is an order placed once a year for kit pieces. We all have teammate Rose Willey to thank for this year's rad design. A very special thank you to Kim Hopkins who served as design advisor.
Can't wait for the Team Kit Pick Up Party - date TBD sometime in April!!
