Introducing my 2024 Sponsors
I have been waiting for some time to announce my sponsors for 2024 and I can finally announce who is supporting me this season! First off, I want to give a HUGE thank you to Inspire Management, and Simon and Peter for believing in me in my first year on the gravel and helping me to secure these amazing sponsors for the season. Secondly, thank you to all my sponsors for giving me the opportunity to represent their brands. I will do everything I can to make it an amazing season! With that said, the rest of the blog will be dedicated to introducing my sponsors and more exciting additions coming soon! A special thank you to T-LAB Bikes, CAPO Cycling Apparel, Hunt Wheels, POC and Ride Bikes & Service.
T-LAB
TLAB is a Canadian bike brand located in Montreal, Quebec. T-LAB is a brand that sets themselves apart from many brands on the market as all their bikes are titanium. This year I will be riding a custom T-LAB X3 gravel bike. Choosing a titanium gravel bike for racing or pleasure offers distinct advantages, including durability, comfort, geometry customization, ride quality and stiffness-to-weight, which is a key contributor to the overall cycling performance of your bike, which T-Lab nails! There is one other unique feature about titanium that I find very interesting. For example, the environmental impact of titanium or lack of, as well as titanium’s longevity and minimal maintenance makes it a more sustainable choice over the long term versus carbon. While carbon bikes are popular for their lightweight and stiffness, T-Lab Titanium Gravel Bikes offer a compelling mix of the same qualities but won’t leave a lasting impression on the environment! To understand more about how T-Lab is shaping the future of titanium, look at their website https://t-lab-bikes.com/en-us/why-titanium
One of the most exciting parts of partnering with TLAB is that they have designed a custom bike for me! This is the first time I have ever been able to help design a bike and I couldn’t be more excited and prouder to be racing this bike this year. With the design, I wanted it to be clean, simple, but also unique so I stood out from my competitors. The color scheme I chose was blue, yellow, and pink and keeping most of the bike exposed so you can really see the titanium. Not only did I want the bike to reflect my own brand, but my main priority was to represent TLAB and to showcase the titanium, and I believe the design did exactly that! A little key feature to my bike is the signature Happy Face on the top tube of the bike. I have a small happy face tattooed on my wrist that has been a reminder to me to keep pushing and to stay positive and this happy face was also a big inspiration for my families bike shop. It was so cool to be able to incorporate this feature in my bike. Thank you to TLAB for backing me this season and I am extremely excited to showcase to the gravel world what a titanium bike can do!
CAPO
My next sponsor is CAPO Cycling Apparel. This year I will be a part of the CAPO Test Team along with two other gravel privateers. CAPO was founded in 2004 and designed and developed in the United States with most of the manufacturing done in Northern Italy. As many cyclists know, having a kit that fits, especially bibs, is one of the most important parts of riding a bike. Whether you are riding 10km or 300km you want to be comfortable. Thankfully CAPO offers not only extreme comfort but style and performance! Being a part of the CAPO Test Team is exciting for me as I am not only able to train and race in CAPO, but I am also able to collaborate and provide feedback of women’s specific fit and sizing. It can be hard to find high performance cycling kits, especially bibs that offer women’s specific fit and comfort. CAPO does an excellent job of meeting a woman’s needs by providing women’s specific sizing and a fit of all sizes. This year I will also be racing in a CAPO custom jersey (to be revealed soon!) First, I would like to thank Mike Chan of Inspire Athlete Management for helping me design my jersey. Mike made my vision come to life, creating a clean, simple but also unique jersey that perfectly matches the color combination of my bike and personal brand. I am extremely proud and honored to be representing CAPO in my own custom jersey this season. CAPO is continuously dropping new jerseys, bibs, jackets, and accessories! To find all new CAPO apparel be sure to check out CAPO at https://capocycling.com
HUNT Wheels
This year I will have the privilege of racing and training on HUNT Wheels! Hunt Wheels prioritizes performance and meeting the needs of athletes of all disciplines from gravel, mountain bike, road, triathlon, and e-bikes. HUNT’s commitment to performance, forward-thinking and new technology has allowed them to create fast, light, and durable wheels that exceed the needs and expectations for all riders. Another interesting fact is that since 2015, HUNT has been offering tubeless ready wheels that are ideal for gravel racing. This year I will be racing and training on HUNT 42 Limitless Gravel Aero Disc and the HUNT 40 Carbon Gravel Race wheels. First off, the HUNT 42 Limitless Gravel Aero Disc will be my wheels of choice for flat, fast, and windy races. The 42 Limitless wheels are HUNTs top of the line gravel wheelset, which optimize gravel-specific aerodynamics through HUNT’s patented Limitless technology. These wheels were created to tackle the toughest gravel conditions that maximize both aerodynamics, speed as well as providing stability. Next, I will also be racing on the HUNT 40 Carbon Gravel Race lightweight wheels that I will be using to tackle hillier and mountainous races. The 40 Carbon Gravel Race wheelset are both wide and lightweight coming in all together at under 1400 grams. These wheels are not only light, but are durable, quick, and aero. I am super excited to be able to have the option to race on both wheelsets and allows me to have the ideal race setup for any course or terrain! For more information on hunt check out their website https://www.huntbikewheels.cc/collections/gravel-wheels and HUNTs official hashtag, #thechaseison.
POC
After my accident last year, it became more important than ever to have a helmet that offers the highest amount of protection possible, and POC does exactly that! I will be wearing POC Ventral Mips and Ventral Lite helmets. First off, the Ventral Mips is my helmet of choice when aerodynamics is top of mind. This helmet not only offers aerodynamics but performance, ventilation and most importantly, safety. POC uses Mips for enhanced rotational impact protection as well as an adjustment system spanning the whole head to have a comfortable and secure fit. Next, I will be using the Ventral Lite helmet. This helmet will be used during mountainous races where every ounce of weight reduction will count. The Ventral Lite not only optimizes safety protection but comes in weighing less than 200 grams! This helmet combines both the highest protection possible with an updated and enhanced structure of the helmet shell and designed with a minimalist approach to ensure the weight of the helmet is as minimal as possible. I feel privileged to be able to race and train in POC helmets, not only did POC create high performing helmets, but also helmets with extremely high protection standards that give me confidence and ease every time I leave for a ride.
Not only will I be wearing POC helmets, but I will be completing my look with POC glasses! Finding the right pair of glasses has always been a struggle for me. With a smaller face, I have always had problems finding a pair of glasses that stayed on right, didn’t slip but also looked good on me. Thankfully, POCs sunglasses cover all my needs that I have not been able to find in any other sunglasses. This year I will be wearing POC AIM sunglasses. The POC AIM sunglasses offer maximal protection and eye coverage, replaceable lenses, and one of the most important features for me is the adjustable nose piece of grippy rubber to ensure that the glasses stay firmly on my face. I am super excited to be wearing both POC helmets and sunglasses this year. To keep up to date with all things POC follow along at https://na.pocsports.com/collections/cycling-helmets
Ride Bikes and Service
Finally, a special thank you goes back to my long-time and first sponsor, Ride Bikes & Service. Ride Bikes & Service is my Dad’s bike shop. Since day one, Ride Bikes & Service has been helping me with everything you can imagine! From building and setting up my bike, bike maintenance, bike parts, equipment, and mechanic training. Always making sure I am set up and ready for race day, there is no one I trust more than my dad. When returning to North America for summer racing, Ride Bikes & Service will be my mechanical support at key races such as Canadian Nationals and Unbound Gravel. I am extremely grateful for the belief and continued support. Follow Ride Bikes & Service at Home Page - RIDE Bikes & Service (ridebikesyyc.com).
I wanted to finish off this blog by thanking all my sponsors and believing in me in my first year of gravel racing. I am both honored and privileged to represent all my sponsors this year. Thank you for reading and stay tuned for my next blog!