BikeFlights.com and USA Cycling Extend Partnership Through 2020
BikeFlights.com has extended its support of USA Cycling and will continue to serve as USA Cycling’s official bike travel partner through 2020. The two-year exclusive relationship builds on a previous partnership started in 2016 and enables both organizations to work more closely together to meet the bicycle shipping needs of USA Cycling members, athletes and staff.
“Partnering with USA Cycling is one of the many ways that BikeFlights.com helps grow the sport of cycling at all levels from grassroots riding to elite racing,” said William Alcorn, President of BikeFlights.com. “We’re proud to support cyclists from aspiring young juniors to 2020 medal hopefuls, many of whom are not only USA Cycling members, but are also BikeFlights.com Ambassadors.”
Serving cyclists for nearly a decade, BikeFlights.com is the leading bicycle shipping service, guaranteeing great rates, on-time delivery and outstanding service with every shipment. Per the partnership, BikeFlights.com will provide extensive shipping support for racers attending each of USA Cycling’s National Championships, which include over 14 events spread throughout each calendar year. At many of the biggest events, such as USA Cycling Cyclocross, Mountain Bike and Track National Championships, BikeFlights.com will be onsite providing additional support for racers and attendees. Through 2020 BikeFlights.com will also be partnering with USA Cycling in unique ways to showcase the relationship, including presenting the time clock/lap counter for live streaming webcasts at select USA Cycling National Championships.
“We are excited to not only continue, but build on our partnership with BikeFlights.com,” said Fuad Hamza, Chief Marketing and Sales Officer for USA Cycling. “As we work to support all cyclists in the U.S., we know that getting your bike to and from your next event or adventure is extremely important. We look forward to the strong support BikeFlights.com will bring to our members, racers, National Championships and events around the country.”
Also part of the partnership, all USA Cycling members will enjoy a new member benefit saving them $10 off their first shipment of bikes, wheels or gear with BikeFlights.com in 2019 and again in 2020. USA Cycling Members may redeem the member benefit via this link: https://www.bikeflights.com/usacycling.
BikeFlights.com customers can also get a free basic level USA Cycling Membership or save $20 off their silver or gold level membership via this link: https://www.usacycling.org/memberships/new-2019-membership-free-bikeflights2019.
Repost from @la_sweat We want to focus on the racing part not the logistical part. So partnering with @bikeflights is a no brainer. We are more than excited to be continuing on this journey with them for the 4th year. Show up, and your bike is waiting for you, ship in any bike case and they take care of everything. #packshipride
Last week, we enjoyed the opportunity to attend the Garmin Unbound Gravel Training Camp. BikeFlights Support Director Sparky Moir and campers from around the world traveled to the small town of Emporia, Kansas, along with Life Time and Unbound Gravel staff, other event sponsors, coaches and industry ride guides for four days of riding on the Unbound Gravel course.
Ride guides and coaches included former Unbound Gravel 200 and XL winners, professional racers and industry sponsor representatives like Sparky. She had shipped her bike to Gravel City Adventure and Supply before the event began, and the wonderful mechanics helped get it built and ready to ride in advance of the big weekend. While Sparky's luggage took a couple of days to arrive due to an unfortunate airline mixup, her bike was ready and waiting for her at the start line of camp!
Each day offered campers the opportunity to take a ride on the infamous Flint Hills gravel, learn from the coaches, eat an abundance of snacks and delicious catered meals and get to know one another. The first day started with a shakeout ride to a property just outside of Emporia, where a bonfire and BBQ were awaiting the campers. While the temperatures were chilly, spirits were high, and everyone was excited to get the event rolling.
The second day allowed attendees to ride 35 or 50 miles, and Sparky rode with a number of folks from around the world and chatted with some BikeFlights customers. The ride was followed by talks led by coaches and industry sponsors addressing nutrition, mental preparation and tire choice. Notes were taken, raffle prizes were drawn and everyone left the evening feeling more prepared for the big day in June.
Saturday was the chance to go long, and Sparky rolled out with the 100-milers at 8:00 AM. She swept the course and had an amazing day riding with the tail end of the campers. A gas station pizza party greeted riders at the mid-way point and it was a welcome sight! Despite tired legs, everyone was thrilled to have finished a long, sunny ride. After cheering on those campers departing on their Unbound Gravel XL night training ride, everyone else headed over to the local pub to toast to a fantastic day.
Sunday wrapped up with a final 20-mile sendoff, complete with cold temperatures, mud and burritos waiting at the finish. After cleaning her bike, Sparky dropped it off at Gravel City Adventure, where the mechanics packed it up for shipping home.
Unbound Gravel Camp was a wonderful opportunity to ride parts of the course, learn from leaders in the industry and bond with new friends over our mutual love of this sport.
We can’t wait to return to Emporia for race day on Saturday, June 3, 2023!
If you need to book your shipment in the meantime, check our Unbound Gravel Event Shipping Guide.
Bear National Team, a long-time BikeFlights-sponsored team, recently held their second team camp of the year in conjunction with The Cactus Cup at the McDowell Mountain Regional Park near Phoenix, Arizona. With their excellent early season results and team camaraderie, they’re clearly on the path to another strong year of racing. We at BikeFlights love helping this group of up-and-coming racers and watching them race, and we especially enjoy seeing the teamwork and dedication that make them so successful.
Aside from the multiple weekend podium finishes, Bear National Team enjoyed the early spring time together in preparation for the season ahead. A trip to Vail Lake, California and Fayetteville, Arkansas for some UCI-categorized races and a return to the Sea Otter Classic lie ahead on their schedule.
We are excited to see Bear National Team compete and grow as a team this year, and we wish them luck along the way. We’ll be cheering from the sidelines.
The gravel event season shifted into high gear this past weekend at The Mid South, a grueling but exhilarating gravel biking and endurance running challenge that takes participants across the rolling, red dirt roads of Stillwater, Oklahoma. This year competitors were treated to warm temperatures and fast roads. BikeFlights’ team members Kerry Werner and Michael Potter were there to work the expo and compete in the event.
The annual migration to The Mid South starts with a gathering of industry brands and packet pickup at the event’s expo. Calm winds and moderate temperatures created a welcoming environment where the gravel community could come together from all over the U.S. and catch up after the long off season.
BikeFlights' newest team member and Event and Marketing Support Specialist Kerry Werner and Partnerships Director Michael Potter spent the expo day connecting with current and future BikeFlights shippers among the nearly 2,500 like-minded people celebrating the ride that would follow the next day.
Race day featured sunny skies, warm temperatures and strong winds. The pace was fast over what were smooth, dry roads, causing the field to break into many smaller groups. As the winds pushed out of the south, it challenged riders from every direction as they pedaled clockwise around the course throughout the day.
In the men’s race, the deciding move occurred 89 miles into the 100-mile course. A sandy, twisty mountain bike trail section took the lead group of 12 down to three. Payson McElveen, John Borstelman and BikeFlights’ own Kerry Werner emerged from the trails and sprinted for the top three podium spots, crossing the line in that order.
The women’s race was shaken up halfway through the race when the leader was held up at a railroad crossing by an unfortunately timed freight train. During the delay the top five women regrouped. Keeping calm and continuing to push the pace, Lauren De Crescenzo would again ride away from her competitors to repeat her 2022 victory with her teammate Caroline Wreszin claiming second place and Heather Jackson rounding out the last podium spot.
In the event’s first-ever non-binary category, Rach McBride claimed victory by riding a consistent, strong effort from start to finish. Apollo Leonard and Sam Hansen completed the podium in second and third places.
Special congratulations to BikeFlights Team Members Justin Barr and Zach Heyer who spontaneously decided to ride the 100-mile route after originally registering for the 50-mile route. Both pushed themselves hard and finished in impressive form.
Lastly, BikeFlights Brand Ambassadors Jessica Brunson, Maria Doering, Enzo Moscarella and Sarah Bowman inspired us with their efforts in the 50, 100 and ‘the double’ routes. Congratulations to you all!
BikeFlights Customer Support Team Member Sunny Singh wastes no opportunity to stay active, emphasizing the mental benefits in addition to the obvious physical benefits. “You’ve got to make the time to feel good,” he says, as he walks on his “walking desk,” a specially designed treadmill and desk for walking while working.
Sunny covers three to 10 miles per BikeFlights shift while answering customer emails, phone calls and chats. And there’s a good chance he had already been out on the trails prior to his “walking shift,” catching a sunrise on his Santa Cruz mountain bike.
Sunny grew up in the Detroit area, and moved around a bit as an adult before returning to his roots within the past year. Somewhere in that journey, about five years ago while working in corporate finance, he found mountain biking.
While out trail running Sunny would often cross paths with mountain bikers, and he was intrigued. So he picked up his first mountain bike, a Norco hardtail, and off he rode into the sunset.
Until his mountain bike was stolen.
As unfortunate as having his bike stolen was, it inspired Sunny to pursue a new angle of his relatively new hobby. He scoured the second hand bike sources and began piecing together his next bike with the intention of building it up himself.
“I had made some new friends through mountain biking who were always building up bikes, and I had spotted a Santa Cruz Hightower frame being sold locally. So I put it upon myself to build up a bike. I had never done anything like that.”
Sunny built up a collection of used tools and parts and got to work, often consulting with everyone’s favorite modern source of knowledge, YouTube.
But he also had another invaluable source of guidance: his local bike shop.
Jimmy and Jonathan at Motor City Bicycles in Livonia, Michigan have assisted Sunny with the process over two mountain bike builds so far.
“Having a physical resource like that has been great.”
While Sunny is chasing some fitness goals, he's more likely to cite the importance of the mental benefits he gets from riding.
“For me the bigger motivation is I love being on my bike. It brings me a lot of calm, joy, and I have to make that time for it.”
When time allows, Sunny prefers to hit up the DTE Energy Foundation mountain bike trail system near Chelsea, Michigan, finding the well-maintained trails ideal for getting in some solid miles. But not having time for his ideal destination does not prevent him from hopping on the bike, hitting some local trails, getting out in nature and catching a sunrise before his BikeFlights shift.
“I feel like there’s this innate joy that comes with riding a bike. It’s such a mindful activity. In adulthood you get so wrapped up in what’s happening versus what you’re doing, and you get in your head about a lot of stuff. For me, in adulthood especially, it’s brought me a lot of calm and clarity.”
Another item on Sunny’s list of inspirations, which he was able to add coming up on one year, is his fellow BikeFlights team members.
“Being surrounded by like-minded people inspires me to get out and ride even more.”
Sunny looks forward to the day he can actually ride with his fellow BikeFlights staff, and he’s eager to “get the miles in” to prepare. “If someone like Gordon [Wadsworth] sets the pace, someone better bring a shovel, ‘cause they’re gonna have to bury me out on the trail somewhere.”
In addition to being inspired to ride, Sunny has also noticed other benefits of being a part of the BikeFlights team over the past year.
“I feel a lot of satisfaction when I’m able to help someone,” Sunny says.
And the BikeFlights work culture is a departure from his experience in corporate finance.
“We share a lot of interests which is something I’ve never really had in work life,” Sunny says. “I really love working with everyone all the time. Everyone is very supportive and fun to work with.”
Improve Your Bike And Life Skills With Ladies AllRide
A decade ago, Lindsey Richter saw a void in women’s mountain bike skills clinics and created Ladies AllRide to fill it. To this day, Lindsey, a long-time BikeFlights Ambassador, and her business partner Meredith Brandt of Grit Clinics continue to offer skills camps for women. Their camps are the perfect opportunity to take a mountain bike vacation at one of the best trail centers in the U.S., ride challenging tracks with supportive friends and sharpen skills.
On a day-to-day basis, Lindsey manages public relations, social media, written content, public speaking and general inspiration for Ladies AllRide while Meredith serves as the CEO and ‘Director of Everything’, handling logistics and managing everything and everyone.
Lindsey initially set out to design a new kind of skills camp that acknowledges the fears and difficulties associated with mountain biking while also creating an environment in which riders could celebrate their love for working through those elements of the sport. Its an ethos that remains a driving principle of hers today.
So what exactly happens at Liv Ladies AllRide camps? Here is a rundown from Lindsey herself:
We run 14 instructional mountain bike skills camps across the country annually where we coach up to 70 participants at each camp. These are fun-filled weekend events that are meant to bring women together to share the joys of mountain biking and learn in a safe, encouraging and welcoming environment.
We are passionate mountain bikers and professionally trained skills instructors who teach all levels of riders from beginner to advanced. We strive to build community and grow the population of female mountain bikers across the globe.
Combined with skills on the bike, we also inspire women to face fears, believe in themselves and change negative thoughts to positive. We relate mountain biking to life by helping women see how fear can debilitate us on bikes and in life. We have a unique formula where we throw in life skills along with bike skills.
For instance, we don’t stare at that rock and imagine crashing into it; we choose a line, look ahead, and think only thoughts that serve us, thoughts about what we need to do to get through, thoughts that keep us moving forward.
A Ladies AllRide weekend is not only full of awesome instruction on the bike, we also provide a Friday and Saturday afternoon happy hour, goody bags full of awesome sponsor product and coupons, raffle prizes, discounts to our partner bike shops, a nutritious lunch, snacks like Picky Bars and free demo products like G-Form pads, Smith helmets and Liv demo bikes. We also offer an hour of “education stations” with topics like bike maintenance, suspension set-up, nutrition on and off the bike, managing fear and a body positioning slideshow with commentary.
When they’re not busy running Ladies AllRide from the road and at home in Bend, Oregon, Lindsey and Meredith can be found leading private lessons and destination-based camps with their staff of 50+ professionally-trained coaches. Together, they continue to sow the seeds of mountain bike stoke across the nation.
Book a skills camp with Ladies AllRide, or book a private lesson with Grit clinics.
BikeFlights Ambassador Enzo Moscarella is committed to racing in some of cycling’s premier events, and has written and illustrated a children’s book dedicated to the simple desire of riding a bike, aptly titled “I Want to Ride My Bicycle”.
But just a few years ago bikes were barely in his periphery.
Growing up in New York City, bikes would occasionally come in and out of his life, via hand-me-downs and apartment basement finds, but they rarely played a significant role in his life.
“They were just another toy,” Enzo says, “we never went out on bike rides.”
College was similar; the occasional borrowed bike might transport him to a class or work, but he never gave bikes much thought beyond that.
Then came 2019, and as the world shut down, the streets opened up. Enzo started noticing bikes a lot more and a new perspective emerged.
“I was living in Brooklyn at the time, and I saw more people [on bikes] in the park and messengers zoom[ing] in and out. I just got this itch and thought, I think I want to buy a bike.”
In 2020, he scratched the itch and purchased an entry level steel single speed. That’s when a new world appeared on the horizon.
“I did one lap around Prospect Park and was winded and got a little buzz. It snowballed from there.”
Enzo felt compelled to keep challenging himself to do more laps around the park and to explore further throughout the city. His world expanded both literally and figuratively.
He set his sights on a more ambitious ride and began researching the prospect of riding his bike from New York City to Chicago. Somewhere in his research he came across the call for applications to From the Ground Up, a program – run by BikeFlights Ambassador Alexey Vermeulen and fellow professional cyclist Ryan Petry– which provides resources and guidance to “inspire cyclists of all ability levels to step outside of their comfort zones” and compete in an event like the Leadville Trail 100 MTB.
“I actually sent it to a couple friends, who I thought were serious cyclists at the time, and said, ‘Hey, you guys should do this,’” Enzo says.
His “serious cyclist” friends found the idea “insane.” So Enzo decided to give it a go himself, thinking it was a long shot.
Enzo was chosen for the inaugural season of the program and began training for the Leadville Trail 100 MTB, a 104-mile mountain bike race with more than 11,000 feet of climbing in the oxygen thin Leadville, Colorado. He was quickly struck by the physical and mental benefits of using the bike to work toward a lofty goal, and those benefits translating to his off-the-bike life.
“I found the phrase ‘send it’ happening more and more in my life,” Enzo says, relating it to situations in his life in which, “the worst that could happen is I fall and have to get back up.”
When a training ride crash and injury forced him off the bike for an extended period of time, Enzo took advantage of the situation to “send it” on an ambition that had been lurking in the back of his mind for a while.
“I always wanted to write a children’s book, but never had a subject or solid idea.” With his arm in a cast and a long recovery ahead of him, Enzo took inspiration from a persistent nagging feeling: “All I wanted to do was ride my bike.”
Enzo began to reflect on his cycling journey through photos and memories, noting the diversity of people he’s met and their chosen path within the world of cycling. He began sketching.
“I tried to represent the diversity of people and bikes that I’d interacted with over the past couple years. I drew my friends on mountain bikes, adaptive bikes and fixed gear bikes.”
In addition to his background in fine arts and graffiti art (he has a Master’s degree in sculpture), Enzo drew on his experience as an early childhood educator to arrange the book in a way that would be engaging to young children.
The result is 38 colorful pages, simple text in both English and Spanish, introducing children to the diverse world of bikes and the people who ride them. A second volume is in the works as well as two other non-bike books. If you’re interested in purchasing “I Want to Ride My Bicycle” you can do so here.
Although Enzo’s initial participation in the From the Ground Up program was cut short by injury, he was invited back for the second season. You can watch both seasons on the From the Ground Up website.
As for Enzo’s endeavors in 2023, we’re excited to have him as a BikeFlights Ambassador as he continues to explore the world of cycling. He’s also been chosen to be a Ride for Racial Justice rider at SBT GRVL in Steamboat Springs, Colorado.
In addition to SBT GRVL Enzo hopes to continue to challenge himself physically, mentally and creatively. Although he may not have a schedule etched in stone quite yet, he has a basic plan.
“I don’t know exactly what to expect over the next year, but I know I’ll be making stuff and riding bikes.”
