Downshift WTF Cycling Team

The results are in!! Great job Bex! In any galaxy, you put in a strong effort.

Thanks for the space-tacular event PLAY Roanoke!

www.playroanoke.com

We've been on a bit of covid-19 induced hiatus, but Becky McKimmy got out today to race cyclocross in the PLAY Roanoke Space Cross race. Results will be out tomorrow.

We want to give a special shout out to our amazing team member Kathryn Early, who has handmade 100s (😯) of cloth face masks to help keep family, friends, teammates, and complete strangers safe. ❤️

She is an inspiration and such a caring individual. 🎊🎉🤗

She is also working her way back into riding after a bad crash last year involving a 🚗 and accomplished her 1st ride over 20 miles in a year this weekend. 💪

Kathryn you are brave, strong, resilient, and compassionate. Thanks for riding with us! 💯🚴🏼‍♀️

Shout out to our amazing sponsors:
Downshift - Hand Crafted Bikes & Brews
Roanoke Outside
Devils Backbone Brewing Company
Dan Presley State Farm Agent
Thrive mind.body.massage
Sena Outdoor

Celebrating our q***r athletes 🏳️‍🌈:
Kelsey (she/her)
Bike commuter/bike mechanic/road rider
"Being part of a team that isn't just welcoming but publicly and proudly trans inclusive is important to me as a person and cyclist. Radical Encouragement is rampant!"

Shout out to our amazing sponsors:
Downshift - Hand Crafted Bikes & Brews
Roanoke Outside
Devils Backbone Brewing Company
Dan Presley State Farm Agent
Thrive mind.body.massage
Sena Outdoor

Celebrating our q***r athletes:

Morgan (she/her)
triathlete/road rider/gravel curious
"Moving to an unfamiliar city where I didn't know anyone, joining this team gave me a safe space of like-minded people that all just happen to love cycling as much as I do!"

Shout out to our amazing sponsors:
Downshift - Hand Crafted Bikes & Brews
Roanoke Outside
Devils Backbone Brewing Company
Dan Presley State Farm Agent
Thrive mind.body.massage
Sena Outdoor

Celebrating our q***r athletes:

Sabrina (she/her)
mountain biker/all-around badass
"This team has helped me be more confident in my gender identity. The welcoming and nonjudgmental approach the team members have had with me from day one has been truly wonderful and so radically encouraging!"

Shout out to our amazing sponsors:
Downshift - Hand Crafted Bikes & Brews
Roanoke Outside
Devils Backbone Brewing Company
Dan Presley State Farm Agent
Thrive mind.body.massage
Sena Outdoor

Here is hoping you can grab a quick ride during this break in the constant rain 🌧️





As always stay safe, watch for flooding, and avoid standing water 💦





Shout out to our amazing sponsors:

Downshift - Hand Crafted Bikes & Brews

Roanoke Outside

Devils Backbone Brewing Company

Dan Presley State Farm Agent

Thrive mind.body.massage

Sena Outdoor

Who has plans to ride this week and where do you plan to ride? Let us know!

Shout out to our amazing sponsors:
Downshift - Hand Crafted Bikes & Brews
Roanoke Outside
Devils Backbone Brewing Company
Dan Presley State Farm Agent
Thrive mind.body.massage
Sena Outdoor

We are super proud of Becky McKimmy and Allison Duvall for their win in the female duo category of the Roa-stoked social distancing stage race. They each completed 3 gnarly and epic rides as a part of the 6 stage race.


-stoked


Shout out to our amazing sponsors:

Downshift - Hand Crafted Bikes & Brews
Roanoke Outside
Devils Backbone Brewing Company
Dan Presley State Farm Agent
Thrive mind.body.massage
Sena Outdoor

Solidarity and bike rides for justice aren't enough, but it is a start.

If you want to do more:

Donate to any of the following organizations 💵💵:
* Black Lives Matter - https://blacklivesmatter.com/
* Southern Law Poverty Center - https://donate.splcenter.org/
* Black Youth Project 100 - https://www.byp100.org/
* Color of Change - https://colorofchange.org/
* Families Against Mandatory Minimums - https://famm.org/
* Equal Justice Initiative - https://eji.org/

Support Local BIPOC Business 🍻

Contact your city council ☎️

Follow BIPOC on social media (especially in the bike industry)

When we find biking difficult, if not impossible, (please stop raining ☔), we get our exercise in creative ways:
- At-home workouts
- Yoga
- Planking
- Hiking
- Zwifting
- Walking our pets
- Indoor tenting (setting up those tents and forts can be a workout!)


Special Thanks to Amelie Rives, our team spirit captain, for the extra inspiration!


Shout out to our amazing sponsors:
Downshift - Hand Crafted Bikes & Brews
Roanoke Outside
Devils-Backbone Brewing Company
Dan Presley State Farm Agent
Thrive mind.body.massage
Sena Outdoor

This is really important during all the rain! Help preserve our trails!

In case you haven't noticed it's raining...a lot. Here's our prediction and we're hoping you can help prove us wrong.

After three plus days being cooped up inside people are going to hit the trails hard when the sunshine starts poking through the clouds. And they're going to do some serious damage to the trails.

In case you aren't aware hiking, biking, running, and riding horses on wet trails wreaks havoc on them, causing long-term damage. And once that damage occurs it only gets worse until a volunteer (yep a volunteer) finds the time to get out there and fix the damage done by people who couldn't just wait a day or two for the trails to dry out.

So...if we're preaching to the choir we need you to share this message far and wide so it reaches the people who don't understand the damage they'll do, or just don't care.

It's a small ask to stay off the trails for a few days, but it will pay off big down the road when our trails are still in good shape.

Blue Ridge Off-Road Cyclists PLAY Roanoke, Roanoke County Parks, Recreation and Tourism East Coasters Bike Shop-Roanoke Just the Right Gear Downshift - Hand Crafted Bikes & Brews Cardinal Bicycle UnderDog Bikes Roanoke Mountain Adventures Roanoke Valley Greenways Runabout Sports Roanoke Fleet Feet Roanoke Walkabout Outfitter Outdoor Trails Mountain Junkies LLC