On August 7 through 8, Emily and I will be biking 100 miles! (Over two days. Haha.) We've never ridden this far, but we're taking on this arduous challenge to support a cause we believe in: Phoenix Bikes, a nonprofit that runs youth programs so that kids can have access to and enjoy biking in the same way that we do. Our ride will take us from Richmond, VA down to Williamsburg, VA on a route called the Virginia Capital Trail.
Phoenix Bikes Raise + Ride: Sizzling Summer Century
Phoenix Bikes is back again this year with another exciting Raise + Ride event, this year sponsored by our generous friends at Amazon! The Sizzling Summer Century ride is designed to get you and your team active and raise money for a great cause! With this event we're giving you the opportunity to stretch your creative skills and make your own routes, whether that's sticking with the 100 mile century on the Washington and Old Dominion Trail--our typical route--or transforming your neighborhood trails into a race course. To spice things up, we'll also be giving out amazing prizes for acheivements like most money raised, highest number of donors and team members, and more!
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. Last year we blew our goal of $25,000 out of the water by raising $75,000, making it the most successful fundraising event that Phoenix Bikes has ever had! We're looking to soar to last year's astronomical heights again by setting our fundraising goal at $75,000, with the hopes of continuing and ideally exceeding the incredible efforts of 2020! We can't wait to get started!
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.