Welcome to the 2020 King and Queen of the Mountain challenge

KOM/QOM and SPRINT Competitions Coming to Your Neck of the Woods!

2019 marked the 9th edition of the King and Queen of the Mountain (KOM / QOM) cycling awards at Jeremiah Bishop’s Alpine Loop Gran Fondo in Harrisonburg, Virginia.

We love awarding these KOM and QOM jerseys because the winners demonstrate the #NeverGiveUp! spirit that cancer survivors need to have on their cancer journeys. The Alpine Loop Gran Fondo also is one of our best fundraising programs and generates several thousand dollars each year to support cancer survivors.

We know that not everyone can make it to Virginia, so we brainstormed how we could bring inspiration, camaraderie, and joy across the country – while raising money for cancer survivors and promoting the benefits of exercise. Being Strava enthusiasts ourselves, the idea for Strava.com-based competitions took off, and we are now prepped and ready to sponsor 12 Strava-based competitions across the country in 2020! 6 competitions will be Strava Climb segments (as part of our KOM/QOM Competition) and 6 competitions will be Strava Sprint segments (as part of our SPRINT Competition).

COVID-19 Update (March 2020): We hope you and your loved ones are safe and healthy during this very difficult time. This period of uncertainty, social isolation, and disruption of everyday routines has brought stress and panic throughout the country.

We’re here to spread some joy and healthy competition. In the coming months, we’ll be providing our cycling community with opportunities to train and compete, while complying with social distancing guidelines. How does that sound?

If you haven’t heard, our KOM/QOM and Sprint competitions are based on Strava.com segments that you can ride anytime (or multiple) times between June 15 and December 31, 2020. Registering for our competitions gives you the opportunity to put your training program to use, even though organized cycling competitions may be canceled through a major portion of 2020.

On May 1st, we hope that outdoor exercise will continue to be authorized by local and state officials if we adhere to appropriate social distancing protocols. Right now, cycling has been deemed as safe, as long as riders are at least 6 feet apart and in groups of less than 10 people. The good news is that our competition formats are individual in nature – so you should be riding these segments solo.

We are in the process of finalizing the KOM/QOM and Sprint segments for our competitions and we would greatly appreciate your input! Please send us a link (or links) to your favorite Strava sprint and climb segments, and they may be chosen as an official competition segment! You may reply to this email with your segment links, or click the button below to submit them online.

Want to know what’s even cooler than getting your segment chosen? Winning a Sprint and/or KOM/QOM jersey! The riders who registered to compete, and who have the best time in their respective Strava.com age group, on December 31, 2020, will be mailed an awesome new Sprint or KOM/QOM jersey!

Sweet! Right?

You may submit as many segment suggestions as you’d like between now and June 15! Click the link below to learn more about our Strava-based Competitions and submit your segments. Together, we can keep each other safe, maintain our exercise routines, have fun, and prevent cancer!

Oh, and your registration funds go toward supporting cancer survivors! Intrigued? Then read on…

That’s it.  “Très facile,” as the French would say.

Your Next Step if You are a Climber . . .

Pre-register to compete in one of our Climb Segments or submit your own segment by June 14 to be considered for the 2020 Competition! [Can it get any better than competing on your own personal, favorite climb that you know you can kill!]

Go to this link to register and/or submit your favorite KOM/QOM climb for inclusion in the program – https://cancerjourneysfoundation.org/cancersurvivorprojects/2020-king-and-queen-of-the-mountain-challenge/

Your Next Step if You are a Sprinter . . .

Tired of seeing those skinny climbers winning jerseys while the guys and gals who can hit the line at 40 mph are ignored. Well, no longer!

Pre-register to compete in one of our Sprint Segments submit your own segment by June 14 to be considered for the 2020 Competition!

Go to this link to register and/or submit your favorite sprint climb for inclusion in the program – https://cancerjourneysfoundation.org/cancersurvivorprojects/2020-king-and-queen-of-the-mountain-challenge/

It costs just a $10.00 donation to enter and you could be an age-graded KOM/QOM or Sprint jersey winner.

Allez!

 

 

 

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