Pros Pedaling for a Cause through the Pandemic
Rebecca Rusch, @katecourtney, Isabel King, Reggie Miller, and @iamtedking are using their platforms to challenge themselves and thousands of others to ride for a cause during the pandemic. Here are the highlights.
Rebecca Rusch’s Giddy Up for Good Climbing Challenge Raises Over $130,000
Over Memorial Day Weekend, over $130,000 was raised by a global community of athletes who biked and ran over 10 Million Vertical Feet. The challenge was driven by adventure cyclist Rebecca Rusch’s call to complete an “Everest” challenge on their own in support. Funds went to the CDC Foundation, People For Bikes and World Bicycle Relief to aid COVID-19 relief.
Highlights from the Giddy up for Good Challenge.
World Champion Kate Courtney’s Climbing Challenge Raises Over $50,000
Kate Courtney’s 10 day Strava climbing challenge just finished. The challenge: “Log activities over 10 consecutive days. Any amount of riding counts, but the focus should be on striving for maximum elevation gain. Whether you climb 100 feet or 10,000 your elevation gain adds to the collective tally and shows your support for those impacted most by this pandemic. Set a goal that excites you and go for it!”
From Kate, “😴 10 days, 57 hours, 703 miles, 109k ft of climbing and many gummy bears later… we did it! Together we raised over $50k for @who to help fight Covid 19 and had a lot of laughs along the way. Thank you to everyone who participated in #climbforcovidrelief!”
Isabel King Raises funds for Mountains for Medics with guest appearance from Basketball star turned bike racer Reggie Miller
“With all of my races cancelled or postponed, I wanted to use my training for something meaningful. The Mountains for Medics idea came about as a way to honor the heroes that are risking their lives to treat those infected with COVID-19. These front-line workers are putting in 12 hour shifts, 3 days in a row (if not more), crushing themselves to save others. I can’t help in the hospital, but I hope to pay tribute to these heroes by crushing myself — climbing the mountains I know.” – Isabel King
Starting on May 29th, Isabel rode 112 miles and climbed 12,000 vertical ft, each day, for three days in a row. She was joined by training partner Reggie Miller for day one, and quaranteammate, Joe Emmerling, helped her finish the challenge on day two and three. Isabel’s raised over $22k so far; help her get to her goal of $25,000!
King of Gravel Ted King launches DIY Gravel with eye on sustaining $100,000 for the Krempels Center
As more events get pushed later in the calendar, there is something special about the original event day and that’s something @iamtedking wants to recognize. Join the whole DIY community and ride the same distances as the events on Ted’s 2020 calendar.
You can support the King Challenge and sport some DIY gear in the process. Sebastian Logue designed a sweet logo with a terrific story behind it.
The King Challenge is a huge part of Ted’s year and his life. Ted’s father suffered a stroke in 2003 and this ride raises funds for the Krempels Center. Losing rides is sad. Losing charitable rides is heartbreaking. $100,000+ is raised every year for the Krempels Center through the King Challenge—it is unknown whether the ride will be able to happen in 2020 but fundraising remains crucial.
Others coming up
- Michele Lisi is organizing a fundraiser on behalf of NAACP Foundation. On June 21st, Michele will climb 10,000 Meters throughout the Santa Monica Mountains on his bike “to benefit NAACP Foundation, to help the challenges the minority community faces on the daily basis. Any donation will help make an impact.” Donate on GoFundMe.
- Blackstone Bicycle Works is a community bike shop and youth education program with a mission to provide educational and vocational opportunities to youth from some of Chicago’s most underserved neighborhoods. Blackstone is a full-service bike shop that offers an “earn and learn,” hands-on bicycle mechanics curriculum to kids who can earn bikes by apprenticing as mechanics. Approximately 175 youths work at Blackstone Bicycle Works each year, with over one third of participants having been in the program for three to seven years. On June 20-21, they will ride to raise awareness for their effort and you can donate to their GoFundMe page.
- Ride for Justice on June 20th is organized by Nehemiah Brown with support from San Francisco Cycling Club, Fat Cake Club, and @ornot. Riders will get on their bikes and ride as many miles as they can. For each mile you ride, they encourage you to contribute $1 per mile (any amount/mile is okay though) to their GoFundMe page supporting the Equal Justice Initiative. If that is not motivation enough, a corporate sponsor will be making a matching contribution based on total money raised.
What did we miss!? Leave us a comment for other important causes being supported on the bike.
