Check out our team from 2021:

Annijke is from the small Northern Californian town - Sonoma and spent much of her childhood in the Monterey Bay Peninsula.  Now, Annijke lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico with her 1 year old Black Lab - Pondo.  Mountain biking and gravel cycling has changed her outlook on life.  Through cycling she has found more work/life balance, the ability to work through challenging situations, a wonderful community and has traveled to many awesome locations and trails.

She currently is an ambassador with Pearl iZUMi, Guerrilla Gravity, and VIDA Mountain Biking Series.  She is the Education Lead at VIDA Mountain Biking Series through the Impact Committee.  As the Education Lead she helps connect the community with resources with the aim of propelling the organzation into being anti-racist and a leader in the womxn mountain biking community.  She envisions the cycling community as one where underrepresented individuals can feel not only welcome & included but are celebrated and elevated.

Age - 29

Resides/hometown - Chicago, IL

Main disciplines - CX, but I like anything off-road!

Born and raised in Chicago, I am definitely a late-bloomer to cycling. I found it via work as a courier, and it really just became one thing after another. Through work I ended up racing alley-cats, then friends convinced me to race some sanctioned events, and after exploring a few disciplines, I found I really liked riding off-road/mixed surfaces.

I am thankful for cycling, because it has helped mold me into a better person. I’m not anyone special, and that's why I’m excited to be participating in Steamboat via R4RJ. It’s really to show people, “No matter your color/ethnicity/etc. It could be you.”

I am a native of Alabama and true southern woman. I always have my grits before a big ride, and part of my pre-ride bike maintenance check is making sure that my lipstick is perfectly applied. If you hear someone rolling past you screaming “roll tide”- that’s me. 

I love to ride, but more than that I love to introduce the joy of cycling to  womxn, especially Black womxn. I am a coleader of Black Girls Do Bike Denver, and a high school mountain bike coach for Boulder High School.  As an ambassador for of VIDA, I co- lead an Impact committee that works to ensure we are eliminating barriers to make mountain biking more inclusive, equitable, and diverse. I have recently joined with one of our largest local mountain biking clubs (Boulder Mountain Bike Alliance) to establish BIPOC only bike rides lead by me and some other experienced riders. 

I have ridden on some of the most beautiful and amazing trails in the world.  My favorite was being able to shred in the French Alps last year.  Oh yeah, and one more thing, I have only been riding for three seasons. There is no limit to Black Girl Magic.  I have so much more room to grow and I am not letting anything stop me.  That’s why this summer I am reconnecting  with the land and testing my resilience by riding along the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route, over 2,700 miles with over 200,000 feet of elevation gain and loss. 2021 is going to be a good year!

Born and raised in Denver, Colorado. De Andra considers herself a dedicated novice cycler who utilizes cycling as a healthy coping skill. She is constantly pushing herself to learn more about the sport in all facets from mountain biking to gravel racing. 

Holding a master’s degree in social work, De Andra is committed to serving chronically unhoused veterans in the Denver metro area. She uses her professional work to fuel her passion of fighting for social justice for under resourced communities. De Andra is proud to represent Ride for Racial Justice and is thrilled to help usher in diversity and create cultural awareness within the sport of cycling.

Chef Derick Gaspard Jr is a New Orleans Native with new roots being laid in Nebraska. He is somewhat of a serial entrepreneur and has never been afraid to take risks. Once a full-time graphic designer, he is now the owner of Nebraska’s first Black-owned vegan restaurant (JuJu’s Vegan Cajun and Creole Cuisine). Proud father, son, brother, uncle and much more to many. His cycling journey began around the same time as his fitness journey and vegan lifestyle transition. Having all these things coincide during a global pandemic turned cycling into a form of fitness and therapy as opposed to a hobby. After joining “The Black Cyclist'' group on Facebook, he soon discovered a new world of cyclists that looked and talked like he did. The Chef was inspired to raise awareness and let the community know that Black cyclists are indeed here, and here to stay.

Being a human/animal rights activist I'm always looking for ways to make a tangible impact. Many cycling ambassadors helped the Chef along his journey and he wanted to pay it forward. This led to a cycling apparel collaboration with Champion System to raise financial support and awareness for a local non-profit (Black Leaders Movement) dedicated to battling racial inequality. Chef Derick continues to take risks and has committed to 3 gravel races over 120 miles in 2021. The first 2 are in the elevated terrain of Colorado with the latter taking place in SteamBoat Springs (SBT GRVL). The finale will take place on the gravel seas of his neck of the woods in Lincoln, Nebraska a week later at Gravel Worlds.

From city dweller to adventure cyclist, Dwayne has been all about bikes since a young age from the beloved child Big Wheel to BMX, Fixed Gear, Road Cycling, Bike Touring, Bikepacking and Gravel. He got his first taste of bike touring in 2014 when he completed a 4,000 mile, 75-day journey from New York to California. Since then he discovered a new found love for bikepacking after riding the Kokopelli Trail and continued his passion for two-wheel travel while sharing the adventures on his YouTube Channel Manual Pedal. Dwayne is a graphic designer, photographer and author of eBook ‘Believing is Everything’ where he shares stories from his cross-country trip.

He is passionate about promoting the benefits of cycling to his local community as a coach through his Velo HIIT program and leads out free gravel group rides as an intro to adventure cycling. In addition to YouTube, Dwayne also covers all things cycling in his Manual Pedal blog and Instagram @manual_pedal. His goal is to positively represent for BIPOC cyclists in an industry that is lacking in diversity. He wants to share with others that gravel & adventure cycling can be an outlet for change in themselves and the community.

Edwin Lindo is Central American Indigenous, with roots from Nicaragua and El Salvador. His organizing has focused on ending police terror, and addressing racial injustices. He has embarked on the journey to ask and explore the hard questions of Race & Racism within the institutions of Medicine and Law. Edwin brings forward the interdisciplinary study and practice of Critical Race Theory so we can better learn how Racism detrimentally affects our health, our learning, our teaching, and justice. Edwin is also the Assistant Dean for Social and Health Justice within the Office of Healthcare Equity at the University of Washington School of Medicine. His research and scholarship has focused on the history of racialized medicine, race & racism within medicine, social justice and social movements, and decolonized pedagogies for critical education.

Estell (his partner and wife) and Edwin founded and curated Estelita’s Library, a Social Justice Community Library & Bookstore in Seattle dedicated to the goal of bringing truth and justice to communities through decentralized knowledge and decolonized spaces. Their books cover topics of justice, liberation, identity, race & racism, economic and political theory, and anything else that guides us in understanding our world through a critical lens. You can find them at EstelitasLibrary.com. Estelita’s Library is named after their 3 year old, Estella. 

Edwin is also a co-founder and co-organizer of North Star Cycling, the largest BIPOC cycling club in the Pacific Northwest — their goal is to bring melanated people and justice to cycling.

I am from the Pascua Yaqui Tribe of Tucson, Arizona, though I was born in San Francisco and still consider the Bay my home. I have been an artist my entire life working mainly in photography and as a writer. I'm an indigenous rights activist and educator, a mother to a 12 year-old long haired skateboarder named Roy, and cat mom to Kika, Bowie, Olle and Sewa. I have practiced yoga for over 20 years, I love trail running, long bike rides and city walks. I've lived in San Francisco, Tucson, Santa Fe, Paris, Barcelona, New York and currently reside in Washington, D.C. I speak French and Spanish, and a little Italian and Swedish.

In conjunction with riding hundreds of miles to train for RFRJ, I plan to keep a blog that will include my landscape photography and writings about the landscapes I train on. Despite the borders, the roads, the cities and all the man-made infrastructure, I consider every part of this country to be indigenous land. I take this notion with me wherever I am and do my best to learn about who came before me wherever I lay my feet.

I am an Maryland native that found the love of cycling in the heart of San Antonio TX.  It started with hosting social charity rides for things like penguins, chocolate farmers, and breast cancer, and quickly became big brunch rides around the city to historical and endurance rides. The growth in advocating for people on bikes stayed strong and I was offered to become a Senior Transportation Planner for the City of San Antonio focusing on bike infrastructure design and policy. (Dream job accepted!) With a wonderful team, we tackle many projects on equity, safety and engineering possibilities of top priority to get SA more multimodal, active and accessible. 

Outside of work,  myself and other great cycling groups teach lessons in bike safety, host benefits and rides for our cycling business owners, and build participation by driving public cycling sites and rides throughout Texas. 

I even started a monthly crit race and include a skills competition for those wanting to get into the race or cycling scenes. We're growing fast! 

For our women and supporting humans, we have a team that travels the world to support or race in international events and enjoy the opportunity to travel by bike and see new cities and other cycling fam by riding in their world. 

These past six years of cycling life have really been beyond exhilarating, and for more days in the saddle...I cannot wait to see what happens next.

Jessica Alexander is a bike racer and bike rambler based in Austin, TX. She has a diverse cycling background and has raced criteriums, road, cyclocross, triathlon and gravel. As a full time photojournalist, Jessica enjoys opportunities to both write and capture visual media while she travels and races throughout the US and is passionate about bikepacking as both a storytelling medium and a visceral experience. In 2021 she is sponsored by Specialized, POC Sports, WYN Republic, Strava, The Meteor and Pickle Juice. 

I am excited to be part of the Ride for Racial Justice BIPOC Athlete program with SBT GRVL!  I identify as Mexican-American as my parents immigrated from Mexico in their early 20’s.  I was first inducted into the great outdoors on a family trip to Yosemite National Park when I was 5 years old.  Since then, I have spent time outdoors through various pursuits.  I currently work as a Park Ranger in Boulder, Colorado, and most recently rediscovered my love for exploration on two wheels, especially within the gravel community! 

30 years old. Born and raised in Fort Collins, Colorado now living in Seattle working as a High School Teacher. I was privileged to have access to bikes from a young age but it wasn't until I got to college that I realized I could ride and experience that freedom on my own.Two years later, I had dropped out of college and decided to do a bike tour from Colorado to Oregon. I only had a 7 speed Schwinn, couldn't fix much on a bike but I felt the need for a change and did it anyway. The experience helped shape my life, helped grow my interest in bikes and ultimately got me involved with bike racing.

As my interest in bikes grew, it became normal to be the only person with melanin at these events. As a mixed race person, it was difficult to break this down and make sense of it. I am beyond excited and grateful to receive this scholarship and be part of such an amazing group of melanated riders. I'm excited to use this experience to continue creating cycling opportunities for my students and change the cycling culture. Can't wait to put in the miles to get ready for the race!

KC (they/them) is a Licensed Professional Counselor and cyclist in Northwest Arkansas. KC identifies as Black & Nonbinary Queer. They began riding bikes as a kid on rural country roads but like so many people, left the bike behind as a teenager with a car. KC rediscovered cycling in 2016 when they & their partner bought hybrid bikes. They quickly fell in love with bikes all over again and have progressed to mountain biking and gravel over the years. KC loves the freedom of exploration a bike brings along with the connection to the outdoors the bicycle provides.

KC is incredibly passionate about advancing Black & Queer representation in mainstream cycling.  They believe that cycling is more than just a sport and would love to see the cycling industry begin focusing more on cycling as a means of recreation and transportation to fully serve the entire cycling community rather than only focusing on those who can afford high-end bikes, gear, & expensive race fees.

Hello, my name is KeJuan Smith; I am from Chicago, IL. I currently attend Whitman College, double majoring in Philosophy and Film & Media studies with a minor in Art. I started my cycling journey in march of 2015 when I learned how to ride a bike. Later that year, in September, I began to race cyclocross. In 2019 I started racing on Velodrome, where I became 4x state champion in the juniors division. In February of 2020, I signed a 2-year cycling contract with Whitman College. Since I began my racing career, I have fell in love with bikes.

When I am not racing, I'm a bike mechanic on the south-side of Chicago. I am splendid to be on board with Ride for Racial Justice because being a BIPOC in cycling means a lot to me. It's very often during my races I'm one of the only BIPOC athletes in attendance. I believe this program will spread a message and get more BIPOC athletes into cycling.

Krystal Salvent is all things fitness and fun who started cycling in 2018 when preparing for America’s Most Beautiful Ride, a 100-mile ride in and around Lake Tahoe, NV to help fund research for Leukemia and Lymphoma. That same year she moved from New York City to Colorado in the chase of more cycling adventures. 

“Bikes have allowed me to journey, adventure, and give back but also build a community.” says Krystal. This is why she is a co-leader with @BGDBDenver to help promote cycling among a community of BIPOC women, femmes, and girls in Colorado. And is an ambassador of @OUTRIDE, a non-profit focused on providing evidence-based cycling interventions to improve social, emotional, and cognitive health in youth.

Since moving to Colorado, she has experienced some of the most exhilarating times on the bike, connecting with other athletes, who like her, want to let everyone know that they TOO love to ride bikes. Her excitement for a future when it's safe to group ride has her more excited and motivated than ever. 

When Krystal is not riding bikes, you can find her hiking, snowboarding and at one of the many @littlemanicecream locations indulging in her favorite treat, Ice cream! 

My name is Lissa Muhammad. I grew up riding my bike up and down the streets of Altadena and Pasadena, California. As a mother of five, there’s nothing more that I enjoy than finding a little me time by exploring long scenic paths around Southern California by bike. However, I must admit some of my best rides have been those that I’ve shared with my children- seeing them reach distances that they never have before.  

During the summer of 2020, I saw my eldest son become a force for social change. As parents we should be examples for our children but it was my son’s activism that ignited within me a need to do more! Armed with nothing more than my sheer will and determination to pedal forward for change, I began the next chapter as an athlete.

The week after the death of George Floyd, I rode for 46 miles in his honor. One mile for each year of his short life, to bring an awareness to the injustices plagued by Black and Indigenous People of Color (BIPOC)...that was my longest ride at the time. I’ve ridden many miles since then and know that there’s still much work to be done! I’m honored to be a part of Ride for Racial Justice. A movement that promotes the value of BIPOC lives through the sport of cycling. I look forward to using this platform to show my children that there are no limits.

Nicole Sin Quee is a Chinese-Jamaican math teacher and mother who lives in Bronx, NY. Additionally, she has been a competitive multi-sport athlete, earning a podium spot in all five of her attempts at the National and World Championship triathlons and duathlons. She is happy to come out of retirement to race SBT GRVL and partner with Ride For Social Justice. Her DEI work includes fundraisers to benefit a number of local and national charities, multiple trips to South Africa to teach at Ridgeway College for Sumbandila, an alliance with the Aga Khan Academy in Mombasa Kenya as a Zagat Global Fellow, and an affinity leader in school.

Having gone to predominantly white institutions since her high school days in boarding school through graduate school, and now in her workplace, it is important to Nicole to widen the path so that youth in marginalized communities can have a greater sense of possibility and accessibility. She is interested in opening the doors in cycling and triathlon for the community. To that end, this summer she and her husband, Jonathan Cane, co-coached a program to introduce middle schoolers to triathlon.

Hi all! I'm Tom and I'm beyond stoked to have been selected to ride SBT GRVL as a part of the Ride for Racial Justice BIPOC Athlete Program! I'm currently a Junior at UCLA and currently serve as the president of the UCLA Cycling Team. I'm honored to represent the minority experience as an Asian-American in this organization, event, and greater cycling community.