To conclude the fall semester, Juice House’s Cycling Blend celebrated participants of its first ever semester-long 200-mile Strava Challenge on Dec. 2, which brought together the campus and community for promoting cycling as a healthy and eco-friendly activity.
Participants — including students, mentors and community members — had tracked their rides using the Strava app since August, with many surpassing the mileage goal and achieving impressive milestones. The gathering awarded cyclists for their efforts, and featured displays of various bicycles — over 25 — as well as gear and other equipment to inspire attendees and future cyclists.
Top achievers were Nate Smith, known as “Nate the Great,” Cycling Blend’s newest mentor, with nearly 1,007 miles, Rochan Ramesh, a medical student, with nearly 697 miles, and Dennis Baker Tamale, a returning student, with nearly 661 miles. Many participants were awarded certificates and other fun prizes including cycling themed socks, stickers, a Juice House t-shirt and water bottle.
To keep awards engaging and memorable, Smith’s certificate read, “I Biked More Than Your Car Drove.” Ramesh’s read “Saddle Smasher, Kitchen Crasher” as he is also an avid pickleball player who more than tripled the 200-mile challenge. Affan Mapkar’s certificate read, the “Master of the Micro-Commute,” because he had tracked every single commute he took on campus — including multiple times per day — to name a few.
”I ride as much as I can,” Smith said. “I ride year round.”
Smith successfully rides all year long with his diversity of bicycles: vintage steel classics, gravel, mountain, commuter and touring bikes to name a few.
“It’s like picking a suit and we went out on the town,” Smith said.
The night was also an opportunity for Cycling Blend students to meet their new mentors, Smith and George Baibak, and learn about exciting new activities they could look forward to for the spring semester.
“We’re going to be doing workshops this year on bike maintenance. We’re going to be taking rides in the local community, teaching people how to safely bike and take care of their bikes. And we’re really excited to have a great group of University of Toledo students here and we’d welcome more,” Baibak said.
Smith also shared cycling tips and some of his own experiences riding on different types of terrain, leaving students inspired with what a cycling lifestyle can mean for them.
“It’s really about freedom. My best thinking is on the bike. The bicycle is your freedom machine […] It gives you [a] healthy body and [a] healthy mind, and you don’t have to fill up at the gas station. You just hop on it,” Smith said. “And it’s rewarding, because wherever you went to, you got there under your own pedal power. You didn’t press on a gas pedal, you didn’t sit in a seat, you got yourself there and on your own power. And it’s incredibly rewarding.”
Interested in riding along with Juice House’s Cycling Blend? Spring semester’s Strava challenge will be 300 miles! Join our GroupMe and fill out our survey! See you on the trail!
