USA Cycling is excited to announce the launch of Level Up Your Ride, an introduction to racing series. Level Up Your Ride offers nine different opportunities for women, trans, femme, and non-binary cyclists to learn all about bike racing. Following the American Criterium Cup series, this program kicked off in Rochester followed by Tulsa and Harlem. It will continue with six more stops taking place in Boise, Salt Lake City, Lake Bluff, Ill., Littleton, Colo., Indianapolis, and St. Louis. All clinics are taught by Kelly Barrientes, owner of Wolfpack Women’s Racing, and a selection of professional female cyclists who race for the team. Each 2-hour clinic follows a circuit-style methodology designed and tested by Barrientes and leads riders of all skill levels through cornering exercises, sprinting and gearing drills, and other practical riding and racing skills.
“This program is a huge milestone for USA Cycling. As an organization, our goal is to advocate for the growth and expansion of cycling. Offering athletes the tools and resources to start their cycling journey is only the beginning of our efforts to lower the barrier of entry for our sport. Our collaboration with Kelly and Wolfpack Women’s Racing has allowed us to connect some of the best racers in the country with local communities,” said Erika Lehman, Chief Marketing Officer at USA Cycling.
This program exists to offer cyclists from all over the country an in-depth look into the fundamentals of bike racing. Each clinic is free and comes with a one-day novice race license, allowing new racers the opportunity to try an entry-level race.
This program is designed to meet cyclists where they are in terms of their skill and comfort level. Heidi Woika, an avid cyclist who attended the Rochester clinic said, “I have never done a clinic or bike race before. Today was my first bike clinic and my first racing experience. It was amazing! I felt welcomed, and I learned a lot about racing and everything I can do with my bike.”
Woika started riding during the pandemic and has fallen in love with it. She’s one of over two hundred riders that have participated in a Level Up Your Ride clinic.
Wolfpack has been a vital part of this program. “For years I have been working to empower women of every level to ride their bikes with confidence in a non-intimidating, friendly, welcoming environment. My goal for 2022 was to expand the grassroots efforts of Wolfpack to include women’s skills and drills clinics at some of the biggest events all over the country. Growing the cycling community has to be a group effort and wouldn’t be possible had USA Cycling not stepped in and partnered with us to create these Level Up Your Ride clinics,” said Kelly Barrientes, owner of Wolfpack Racing.
Registration is currently open for the remaining six clinics. To learn more about each clinic and to sign up, click here.
Visit USACycling.org for more information on the athletes, events and membership programs, and follow @USACycling across all channels for the latest on Team USA.
ABOUT WOLFPACK WOMEN’S RACING (https://www.atxwolfpack.org)
Wolfpack Women’s Racing was founded by Kelly Barrientes in late 2014 and started out as a group of beginners racing bikes for fun in Austin, Texas. Since that first season Wolfpack has grown from a group of novice racers into a team stacked with professional athletes from all over the world. We have won national championships, landed on many a podium, and raced our hearts out at events all over the US.
One thing that truly sets us apart from the rest of the pack is our focus not on what we can get, but on what we can give. Wolfpack has always strived to make an impact by giving back to the community in a vast multitude of ways - with a focus on growing women’s cycling. We’ve hosted maintenance clinics, volunteered for women’s beginner rides, mentored at races, created a badge for the Girl Scouts, and will be found at all the American Criterium Cup races teaching women’s skills and drills clinics in an effort to create a welcoming, non-intimidating, safe space for women where they can feel more confident on their bikes
