Calling all riders! It's time to ride for good.
Northwest Colorado is known for great mountain bike trails and buff gravel roads. Biking is a lifestyle here and a healthy, social outlet for many of us, but Blue Fire and four other women-led businesses in Steamboat Springs think it's time to think about riding for something more. Let's ride, support those in need and give back to our community.
Earlier this spring, a group of us Steamboat ladies embarked on an adventure to bike the 150-mile Kokopelli Trail from Fruita, CO to Moab, UT. Most of us do this every spring to set an early season goal that gets our asses in shape, but in truth, we like sporting events that end with food and margaritas so we choose this cushy three day Bikerpelli option. It's a ride, not a race. All in all, it's something we choose to do for ourselves, just for fun, and this year we had the thought to create team jerseys. Yes, team jerseys! Why not?
Then we asked ourselves, well, WHY? What does it mean? What is the purpose of a team jersey? Slowly the concept of #irideforgood manifested itself, and ultimately, we created a rad bike jersey that we like and one that allows us to give back at the same time.
The Cause
Two of the jersey sponsors, Erin Brosterhous from Blue Fire and Mara Rhodes with the Mark McManus Foundation, have personal family connections with addiction. They understand all too well the tragedy and cold realities of the opioid pandemic. In choosing a beneficiary of the sale of the jerseys, we wanted to support an organization fighting the pandemic locally which led us to CAYA House (Come As You Are), the only residential recovery resource for women in NW Colorado.
Their good work felt like the perfect match for our good intentions and we dove into the jersey design process. Borah Team Gear in Wisconsin built the jerseys made with quality materials that wick, cool and look great. The Team Jersey style has a relaxed performance fit that rocks on most body types. Another jersey sponsor, Marie Fisher from Vibe Design Collective helped us get to the final design and we think it turned out awesome.
Angela Melzer of Minds in Motion and Chancie Keenan from Mountain Architecture were quick to jump on board with the cause and now our five organizations have jerseys in hand ready for people to check out, try on and order. You're wondering now...
'How do I get one these rad jerseys?'
Easy...reach out to any one of us lady sponsors. Tell us your size, pay $110 and we'll get you on the order list. We are selling them in true Girls Scout's fashion, so find a sponsor before June 20th when we place the next order! All of the proceeds go to CAYA House and their great cause to order yours ASAP. We've already raised $1008 for CAYA, so let's see what we can do as a wider community.
Scope the images below, spread the word with #irideforgood, order yours and we'll see you out there on the trails.
