During the month of May, our team at BikeReg did something that we don’t usually do, we directed an event; our own version of a virtual challenge! The purpose of this event, The Saddle Up Challenge, was to bring the community together and give cyclists across the country something to look forward to and participate in, all while raising money for a great cause.
While a virtual event may seem more simplistic than the alternative, it was difficult to predict the range of questions that participants had. We also had to stay on top of all event details through various channels while staying connected and involved with our participants and sponsors, knowing that we wouldn’t all be able to come together on one given “event day”.
This experience, while challenging, was also eye-opening. It gave our team a new perspective and encouraged us to think about event logistics in a way we hadn’t before. Through this experience we started to recognize the complications that come with hosting a virtual event and improve our own tools, creating a more complete virtual experience option on BikeReg that we hope will successfully serve our event directors as more events opt to go virtual this year.
Thank you to our sponsors who donated raffle and leaderboard prizes for our challenge:
- Antidrag
- Briko
- ESI Grips
- Floyd’s of Leadville
- UpliftNaturally
A huge thank you goes out to the event directors who joined us for this project, provided valuable feedback and advice, and donated entries to their own events as Saddle Up prizes.
Thank you all!
- Alpine Loop Gran Fondo
- Barry Roubaix
- Big Dam Bridge 100
- Cache Gran Fondo and UCI Gran Fondo World Series Qualifier
- Chinkapin Hollow Gravel Grinder
- Emerald Mountain Epic
- Eurekan Gran Fondo
- Garrett County Gran Fondo
- Gran Fondo National Series
- Intelligentsia Cup
- Iron Pig Time Trial
- Joe Martin Gran Fondo
- Joe Martin Stage Race (amateur event)
- Lewis & Clark Urban Adventure Ride
- LIFETIME Driveway Series
- Mohican 100 Mile/100K MTB Race OMBC
- Mt. Washington Auto Road Bicycle Hillclimb
- Mudslinger Events
- RAPTOR Gravel Grinder
- Rasputitsa
- The Mid South
- Tour of America’s Dairyland
- Saint Francis Tulsa Tough
- unPAved of the Susquehanna River Valley
- USA Crits
- VT Overland
We’d also like to thank the 439 participants who came together as a community to participate, engage, and raise money for Direct Relief. We’ve gathered some statistics to give you picture of the engagement and participation we saw:
Saddle Up Challenge
- Total miles ridden: 81,633.92
- Total time: 5,286 hours and 16 minutes
- Average age: 45
- Total Male Participants: 248 (66%)
- Total Female Participants: 128 (34%)
- Average Male age: 45
- Average Female age: 44
- Most common state: MA
- States represented: 41
- MA, AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, IA, ID, IL, KS, KY, LA, MD, ME, MI, MO, MS, NC, NE, NH, NJ, NY, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, TN, TX, UT, VA, VT, WA, WI, WV, WY,
Saddle Up Challenge: Dirt Edition
- Total miles ridden: 15,969.86
- Total time: 1,245 hours and 50 minutes
- Average age: 51
- Total Male Participants: 32 (51%)
- Total Female Participants: 31 (49%)
- Average Male age: 34
- Average Female age: 42
- Most common state: MA
- States represented: 26
- AR, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, IL, KS, MA, MD, MI, MO, NC, NE, NH, NJ, NV, OH, OK, PA, RI, VA, VT, WA, WV, WY
Combined
- Number of photos posted on Facebook: 225
- Number of #saddleupchallenge posts on Instagram: 345
- Total number of event entries given out: 41