Dorchester native biking for a great cause!

Snippet of a message I wrote to my colleagues but captures the spirit of why I’m riding:

Some of you have read about my latest adventures in the world of cycling ??‍♀️ I was lucky that my curiosity was piqued having heard about and from Trainual’s Ironman athletes themselves. It gave me the right amount of motivation to show up to a weekly community ride I found this summer, which has turned into something significant in my life. I met new friends, formed new habits, found immense self-love when I needed it the most, and have consistently been biking around 80 miles per week since early August.

I have only begun to discover the beauty that is fundraiser rides! I’ve never imagined myself as someone capable of going the literal distance, much less utilize this discipline for a good cause. In fact, I planned to give myself until this October to consider participating in one, but I found out about a ride happening THIS SUNDAY (9/11) ? and the team my friends have formed is so close to their fundraising goal, so I thought— 1) I should donate 2) I should join and amplify the effort ? I’ll be doing the metric century or 63-mile route. (Note: I recently completed 60-mile and 50-mile rides so I feel really good about this challenge.)

The 35th annual Bike-A-Thon is a fundraiser for https://bikesnotbombs.org/, an organization local to Boston that does incredible work restoring bicycles (about 5,000 a year) and shipping them overseas to economic development projects and refugee camps. They have youth apprenticeships that teaches kids technical skills and fosters a safe, vibrant community for them. I ride with BnB organizers (who also voluntarily lead Brothers On Bikes and Women on Wheels cycling collectives, the latter I'm a member of) every weekend and know that these people are incredibly passionate and selfless when it comes to sharing the joy of cycling with everyone. To put faces to a group, I attached some photos from my past rides which were led by these awesome folks ?