Post by Barb Bremner
Velorosa members, individually and collectively, had a quite a month.
It all started with a fantastic team ride and team summer party on June 5th. Members met up at Jethro’s and rode out to team sponsor Cumming Tap for beer by Bob and a crowd-pleasing performance by Guilty Pleasures. There were cowbells. There were photos. Biking, dancing, and friendship. As someone said, “We’re a dancing team with a cycling problem.” Or something like that. Kudos to Kristie Goebel Harrold and Amy Cutler for being on the summer party committee and sharing the love with the raffle prizes!
Monday night training nights in June continued to be really well-attended and a great way to ride as a team and get some miles in at the start of the week. Thanks to Kristin Reese, Deanne Herr, and Erika York for leading these rides – and taking great group photos too.
Velorosa cycling apparel entrepreneurs and all around bad-asses, Kim Hopkins and Lisa Carponelli, were featured in the Title Nine June catalog with their Title Nine exclusive kit design.
And can't forget the Elkhart Time Trial on the 9th! Way to celebrate your birthday strong, Erika York. And was that Lael Neal in line to start before you?
June 11th was an amazing day for our team. We had 36 women riding 3 registered rides: 28 women riding 100 miles for Break the Cycle; 6 women riding 50 miles of gravel for the Prairie Burn fundraising ride; and 2 women riding in South Dakota!
Kristin Reese and Michele Smith-Jones rode the Pine Island Gravel Odyssey in Spearfish, South Dakota! Your photos looked AMAZING!
Kim Hopkins, Bree Darr, Krystyn Williams, Karolyn Jones Zeller, Deanne Herr, and Barb Bremner met in Grinnell to ride gravel for the Prairie Burn. Deanne rode 100 miles and placed first! The rest of us rode 50 and were happy to finish before the cold rains began.
Then there were the 28 Velorosa women riding 100 miles for Break the Cycle to raise funds to fight human trafficking. This was a first century for a few of these riders. Two weeks later on June 25th Velorosa mile-monsters Deanne Herr and Rose Willey rode 200 miles for Break the Cycle. Funds raised by all these members will be used for safe houses, medical care for survivors, investigators, education and so much more. The Velorosa Team also donated $15 dollars for each rider for a total of $435 donated.
June 16th was a Fun Ride to Jasper Winery. Thanks Karen Chicken, Lael Neal, and Karmyn Babcock of the Fun Ride Committee!
June 18th there were team members riding the Solstice Gravel Grinder Solar Friddy in Beatice, NE. Way to survive the heat Darcy Dinwiddie Johnson, Christine Crow, and Tonja Clark.
June 24th team members volunteered and rode with the Dream Team to support the riders and mentors as they prepare for RAGBRAI. Thanks to Lori Schwendinger for making this volunteer event happen. It was a great 42-mile ride out to Bondurant and back. Some of the DT riders just learned to ride a bike this spring, and several of them were already at 800 miles. So cool. There also were a few riders wearing Velorosa cycling apparel, which was fun to see.
For each Velorosa team member and for our team as a whole, June was full of challenges and successes. Way to go Velorosa members getting out there on your bikes, pedaling for causes, pedaling for fun, and pedaling many miles through the month of June!
