Bike Aid Provides Dozens Of Stradalli Bikes For Refugees And Youth In Blieskastel

To many in the cycling community Bike Aid is a large group of cycling enthusiasts with a professional German race team sponsored by Stradalli Cycle. However, the backbone of the group, the teams, the racers and everything that is Bike Aid is charity work. This week the charitable efforts of these amazing people were in plain view as dozens of new bikes were donated to refugees and youth in Blieskastel, Germany.

Thanks to the savings association Saarland eV and many other contributors including Stradalli Cycle, many young people were able to receive these brand new mountain bikes to enjoy and use for transportation.

Bike Aid does considerable charitable work in Eritrea, Africa as well as other parts of the world. They raise money and awareness for war-stricken areas of Africa and give hope and opportunity to many of the residents of the community.

“You’ve all probably heard about the success the team has had in bringing young African cyclists to Europe and giving them an education as well as an opportunity to have a real career in pro cycling. That’s great but what about the people who aren’t going to be pro cyclists? They need help as well and when you visit these communities or meet with some of the young men and women from there it is very humbling because you hear their stories and you are amazed at how positive an attitude they have and how much they enjoy life. That’s why I was very happy to help in any way I could.” Stradalli Cycle CEO Tom Steinbacher

It wasn’t long before the young men and women were riding their new bikes over to the local BMX race track. Bike Aid does outstanding charitable work all around the world, specifically working with refugees of many countries in Africa as well as Syria. If you would like to contribute to these efforts please contact Stradalli Cycle. 

Stradalli Cycle Papa Johns Women's Elite Team Pan Florida Challenge

Video of the Stradalli Cycle Papa John's Women's Elite Team as they get ready to ride in the Pan Florida Challenge from West Palm Beach to Naples to raise money for hungry kids all over South Florida.

Florida based Stradalli Cycles /Papa John's woman’s race team

Florida based Stradalli Cycles /Papa John's woman’s race team is all geared up to travel  to various US racing events covering the Pro Road Tour Calendar and USA Crit Series in 2016 but first this Domestic Elite Woman’s team will  be participating in a big charitable event, March 12th and 13th. The team will ride 160 miles across Florida on there Stradalli R7 carbon bikes in “The Pan Florida  Challenge”.

Hunger in children is an epidemic. Florida has over 1 MILLION hungry kids (1 in 4), ranking 5^th worst in the nation. The Annual Pan-Florida Challenge (PFC) for Hungry Kids, this year in its 3^rd year, was founded to do something about this problem. This year the PFC will have over 100 riders cycling more than 160 miles from Naples to West Palm Beach; 100% of riders’ funds raised will provide meals for children in Florida and Haiti who often find themselves with no food from the time they leave school on Friday until they come back to school on Monday morning. This year’s goal is to provide 1,000,000 meals to those food-insecure kids – a bold increase over last year’s 700,000 meals.

The Stradalli Cycles / Papa John’s Elite Woman’s team will be riding along side the other riders on Saturday and Sunday to bring awareness to this cause. They will bring a level of professional cycling, energy, and fun to this group of riders, many of whom have been training hard for months in order to make it across the state in 2 days. Good fun, and a great cause! 

Meet Stradall-Bike Aid Rider Joshcka Beck

Joschka Beck, the 23 year old 6’4 German powerhouse riding for Stradalli – Bike Aid has started the 2016 cycling season on a mission.

Beck started the season in La Tropicale Amissa Bongo and was continuously bringing Stradalli – Bike Aid their first top placings of the season. He played a huge role in guiding Meron Teshome to a podium finish on stage 2 and throughout the Tour of Gabon he netted a couple top 10 placings as well.

After Gabon it was time for an even tougher competition as Beck headed to the Challenge Mallorca. Facing the toughest teams in the world during the stage won by Andre Greipel of Lotto Soudal, Beck was able to finish a solid 32^nd after battling hard the entire day. Even more impressive was that of the 167 starters for the stage only half managed to even finish in the front group.

Only racing for 6 years, Beck has accomplished an incredible amount in such a short period of time. He regularly races in the Vuelta Independencia in Dominican Republic, a UCI 2.2 race, and has held the young leaders jersey on 3 separate occasions as well as multiple time trial victories. His size and strength along with a surprising calmness make him a great addition to the Stradalli-Bike Aid race team.

“It’s important to me that my teammates know they can rely on me during a race to be at the front. I get opportunities but my focus is to help the team succeed, that’s more important than any individual results. That’s been the key to our success so far and our team/family mentality is what keeps us battling, we know we are here to support each other.”

Despite being a full time racer, Beck is also working on a college degree.

“I love cycling but there are other interests I have outside of the sport. Education is very important but the charitable work of the Stradalli-Bike Aid team is also very important. I am looking forward to racing in Africa because we make a difference there for people. That’s what I am most grateful to this team for, I get the opportunity to race against the best in the world and still get to help real people.” 

Stradalli Cycle - Bike Aid Will Continue Inspiring Charity Work In Africa

You may not know the difference between a Wal-Mart bicycle and a full carbon road bike but you do know about the devastation and poverty that is day to day life in many countries of Africa. There are hundreds of charitable organizations trying to help and a great example is Bike Aid, a German cycling club with over 600 members who help to bring aspiring cyclists to Europe.

The Conti Team has races all over the globe in hopes to raise awareness of their cause and in only two years they have real success stories they can be proud of. Mekseb Debesay, one of the young cyclists from Africa who was given an opportunity to race in Europe because of Bike Aid has signed on to be a teammate of Mark Cavendish for team Dimension Data in the World Tour.

“The story of Debesay is a great success for him as well as for our cause. It is always a challenge to try and educate people on what you are doing and why they should support you but when you have true success stories you can start showing them results for their efforts. With the success of the program we are getting more attention and help than we ever thought possible in such a short period of time and we are excited that 2016 is expected to be our biggest season yet with more African cyclist on the team than before and we will also have the help of our new title and bike sponsor Stradalli Cycle from America.” Bike Aid Racer Spokesman Matthias Schnapka

The full carbon bike manufacturer from Florida has been looking to sponsor a Conti Team for a while but took a special interest in Bike Aid because of what they represent. 

You can read more about the Stradalli Cycle - Bike Aid Conti Team as well as their cause and updates during the 2016 racing season. 

Powerful Video Of Why Stradalli Cycle Teamed Up With Bike Aid For A Great Cause

There were multiple reasons why Stradalli Cycle wanted to team up with Bike Aid in 2016 to form the Stradalli Cycle Bike Aid Conti Team. While the team itself has highly talented pro racers, it is the cause they raise awareness for that is truly the main reason why they caught our attention. 

2016 is still a ways away but we want to immediately start bringing attention to this important cause. Please watch this short video to see how cycling is more than just a sport and it can save and change lives all around the world!