When I learned Jill Tanner, a very talented member of our Creative Services team, was designing the WhiteWave bike jerseys for the upcoming Venus de Miles bike ride, I knew I had to sign up.
Here’s the thing though, I hadn’t been on a road bike in years, so despite my enthusiasm for the cool jersey — the rest felt really overwhelming. But last Sunday a nice thing happened. My husband led me on a 13-mile bike ride as a precursor to Venus and in a shocking twist of events two things occurred. First, I didn’t yell at my husband.
He was great, giving me pointers, but not in a condescending-I’m-a-know-it-all-lifelong-cyclist kind of way. He was calm, patient and, well…helpful. Therefore, the other thing that happened was I actually enjoyed it.
Good thing. I’m signed up to ride the 33-mile course. There are 51 other women at WhiteWave participating — some of whom are far more ambitious than I am and have signed up to ride the 50-mile course. Others are courageous enough to ride the 100-mile course. The 52 of us nearly double the number of WhiteWave women who participated last year.
Venus de Miles is the only all-female bike ride in Colorado and it’s taking place this Sunday. The website emphasizes that this is not a “race” — rather a “celebration of sisterhood.” I grew up with two older brothers so I’m not sure what that means, but I’ve heard this ride includes men dressed in drag, great food, drink and even pedicures. If all that stuff equates to “sisterhood” I’m all in.
The ride is not only about women riding bikes and guys in drag. It’s to raise money for a great cause — Greenhouse Scholars. Pete Burridge and a team of professionals from the branding and marketing firm Greenhouse Partners created this non-profit group seven years ago and have already begin making an impact among low-income college students. Go Greenhouse Scholars!
(And in true WhiteWave fashion, our team has already raised $1,535 for this incredible cause. Dig that!)
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