Chad and I served together on the board of Phoenix Bikes. We are so proud of the Phoenix team, which has continued to serve the community during the pandemic, providing used bikes for sale, reasonably priced repairs, and high quality instruction online to the community. The team has even found innovative ways to allow youth to earn bikes safely through a mix of online and socially distanced in-person instruction. We are riding to show our support for Phoenix during this uncertain and financially challenging time and we are grateful for any support that you can provide.
We will both be doing Rails to Trails rides this weekend. Chad will be riding the C and O trail with his 2 year old twins in a trailer. Taking Ivanka's advice to "find something new", I will be riding a new trail for me, one that runs from Cockeysville, MD to York, PA. I am hoping to complete a metric century.
Phoenix Bikes Raise + Ride: Sizzling Summer Century
This year's Sizzling Summer Century ride will be a little different than normal, but that's 2020! We're changing our summer ride to make sure everyone stays safe and socially distant, but also that we re-connect this community through the joy of cycling. Your challenge this year is to come up with a ride that challenges you and to raise money to support the mission of Phoenix Bikes. You can ride the full 100 mile century on the Washington and Old Dominion Trail--our typical route--or you can make your neighborhood trails into a race course. Whether it's the most mileage in the smallest area or the longest ride in a single day, we'll be giving out amazing prizes to the individuals or teams with the most creative ride. This summer ride is also a peer-to-peer fundraiser for Phoenix Bikes, and we encourage you to reach out to your friends and family to help fundraise. We're also giving prizes to the most successful fundraisers! Last year, you raised over $27,000 total, so let's try and top that this year. We can't wait to get rolling!
The mission of Phoenix Bikes is harnessing the power of bikes to help youth build passion, purpose, and a place in the community. We are an Arlington nonprofit that uniquely combines youth educational programs with a full-service professional bike shop and retail store. Since our launch, we have had the opportunity to engage thousands of teens, with over 900 earning their own bikes so far. Local youth, ages 12 to 17, are invited to participate in bike refurbishment and retail operations as they contribute to the daily operations of the Phoenix Bikes shop located in South Arlington, VA. Through these experiences, our students are not only given the opportunity to learn technical mechanical skills and put in hard work, but also develop their problem solving abilities and gain self confidence.