Paige Powered Pro Cycling Support
Donation protected
Hello there! This is the #sistersquad (Megan Mouser and Jessica Ockerman) reporting on behalf of Paige Peters. This idea originated in December 2021 when Paige was recently accepted into the LifeTime Grand Prix series. She shared some of her raw struggles and fears with us as she headed into the 2022 season. As sisters (with no competitive cycling background) we listened and realized that the perception of support that professional cyclists had was very low in comparison to what we perceived. Paige was stressing about getting time off of work, taking on more clients to coach, and working more hours to pay for travel and lodging so she could support her 2022 season. If you are interested in learning more about the costs of a professional cyclist season, see the end of this description for a breakdown!
So as we sat there, we felt like we really couldn’t do much to help our sister, which bothered us. So then it dawned on us - we would create a website for her and start a GoFundMe, so we could show our support for her journey and cause. We may be biased, but anyone that knows Paige can attest that she stays true to her values and mission. She is new, but she is motivated and will do good things for this sport. She is passionate about getting new riders on bikes and is authentic in sharing her journey which helps others who want to be involved.
Paige started off as a runner, so she clearly has a strong aerobic engine and is no stranger to endurance athletics. She started racing bikes in real life in March 2021 and the rest is history as she quickly climbed the ranks of elite cycling for gravel. Many still do not know her name or who she is, but she continues to show up to races, progresses rapidly and shows great promise. The quick progression seems fantastic, and it is, but it hasn’t allowed her to build the years of support that is needed in this sport. She currently works 2 jobs - half time as a physician assistant and then also coaching cyclists and runners so she can have remote work when she travels for races. Yeah - that’s right. The night before a race or even after, she’s logging onto training peaks to work! She often will stack clinical shifts working 40 hours in 3-4 days prior to leaving for a race to get a block of time off from seeing patients.
Our request for financial support to help our sister this year does allow her to travel to these races, but more importantly it allows her to have an opportunity to compete and to prove her ability. If a cyclist has a successful season this often means more support the following year. Let’s be honest, if she was interested in making money she could just stick to her PA job but the reality for her is that she loved what she did in 2021 and she wants to make it her goal in 2022 to empower other new cyclists to help grow this great sport. She wants other new cyclists to know that this sport can be scary, intimidating and frustrating - but if you have the right support and mentors, you can accomplish great things and inspire others to ride 2 wheels in the process. After all, she just wants to get more butts on bikes!
Her estimated cost this season is about $12,000. That is CRAZY and this is on the low end of what she will spend. It’s likely to be greater than this from what she has explained to us.
Race Registration Fees ($0)
- Over $2000, but thankfully covered by her gravel team sponsors ABUS Pro Gravel - thank you!
Equipment ($2000)
- ABUS Pro Gravel and Ventum provided gravel bike
- CUBE provided full suspension MTB
- FSA with components Thankfully will have full suspension bike provided
- She currently does not have a hardtail option to race on, so she is unsure if she will buy a hardtail for Leadville, Chequamegon and Iceman or just race on her full suspension.
- Upgrades (dropper post, cranks, cassettes, etc) = $2000 (lower end)
Airfare ($1200-1500)
- This cost reflects flights outside of reimbursed team events that she is responsible for on her own (sea otter, leadville, additional fees outside of team support)
- Likely to be more with the current gas prices increasing
Driving/Fuel ($1,000)
- $1,000 Estimated (hard to know, but likely more than this)
Lodging/Rentals ($3360)
- $1,106 AirB&B (5 nights) in Monterey, CA for Sea Otter
- $329 Rental Car for Sea Otter
- ~$1,500 -$2K for lodging 7-10 days leading into Leadville (not including hopefully free lodging with friends the 1-2 weeks prior to that for altitude acclimation)
- $425 AirB&B (4 nights) in Hayward, WI for Chequamegon
- Most other events she will have generous host families
Mechanical Support/Pit Crew at Leadville ($1250)
- $400 flight for mechanic
- $600 wages for mechanic ($50/hr for 12hr day in CO)
- $250 food
Miscellaneous ($2500)
- $2500 - Misc Parts & Maintenance from bike shop throughout the season (likely more than this, underestimating here)
**Most of her pit crew at Leadville will be volunteers (friends and family) who will be paying their own way on the trip
**These prices do not reflect cost for lodging while driving, as she plans to camp if any of the drives are broken up to save costs. It also does not factor in food, given these would be normal expenses in her day to day life
So as we sat there, we felt like we really couldn’t do much to help our sister, which bothered us. So then it dawned on us - we would create a website for her and start a GoFundMe, so we could show our support for her journey and cause. We may be biased, but anyone that knows Paige can attest that she stays true to her values and mission. She is new, but she is motivated and will do good things for this sport. She is passionate about getting new riders on bikes and is authentic in sharing her journey which helps others who want to be involved.
Paige started off as a runner, so she clearly has a strong aerobic engine and is no stranger to endurance athletics. She started racing bikes in real life in March 2021 and the rest is history as she quickly climbed the ranks of elite cycling for gravel. Many still do not know her name or who she is, but she continues to show up to races, progresses rapidly and shows great promise. The quick progression seems fantastic, and it is, but it hasn’t allowed her to build the years of support that is needed in this sport. She currently works 2 jobs - half time as a physician assistant and then also coaching cyclists and runners so she can have remote work when she travels for races. Yeah - that’s right. The night before a race or even after, she’s logging onto training peaks to work! She often will stack clinical shifts working 40 hours in 3-4 days prior to leaving for a race to get a block of time off from seeing patients.
Our request for financial support to help our sister this year does allow her to travel to these races, but more importantly it allows her to have an opportunity to compete and to prove her ability. If a cyclist has a successful season this often means more support the following year. Let’s be honest, if she was interested in making money she could just stick to her PA job but the reality for her is that she loved what she did in 2021 and she wants to make it her goal in 2022 to empower other new cyclists to help grow this great sport. She wants other new cyclists to know that this sport can be scary, intimidating and frustrating - but if you have the right support and mentors, you can accomplish great things and inspire others to ride 2 wheels in the process. After all, she just wants to get more butts on bikes!
Her estimated cost this season is about $12,000. That is CRAZY and this is on the low end of what she will spend. It’s likely to be greater than this from what she has explained to us.
Race Registration Fees ($0)
- Over $2000, but thankfully covered by her gravel team sponsors ABUS Pro Gravel - thank you!
Equipment ($2000)
- ABUS Pro Gravel and Ventum provided gravel bike
- CUBE provided full suspension MTB
- FSA with components Thankfully will have full suspension bike provided
- She currently does not have a hardtail option to race on, so she is unsure if she will buy a hardtail for Leadville, Chequamegon and Iceman or just race on her full suspension.
- Upgrades (dropper post, cranks, cassettes, etc) = $2000 (lower end)
Airfare ($1200-1500)
- This cost reflects flights outside of reimbursed team events that she is responsible for on her own (sea otter, leadville, additional fees outside of team support)
- Likely to be more with the current gas prices increasing
Driving/Fuel ($1,000)
- $1,000 Estimated (hard to know, but likely more than this)
Lodging/Rentals ($3360)
- $1,106 AirB&B (5 nights) in Monterey, CA for Sea Otter
- $329 Rental Car for Sea Otter
- ~$1,500 -$2K for lodging 7-10 days leading into Leadville (not including hopefully free lodging with friends the 1-2 weeks prior to that for altitude acclimation)
- $425 AirB&B (4 nights) in Hayward, WI for Chequamegon
- Most other events she will have generous host families
Mechanical Support/Pit Crew at Leadville ($1250)
- $400 flight for mechanic
- $600 wages for mechanic ($50/hr for 12hr day in CO)
- $250 food
Miscellaneous ($2500)
- $2500 - Misc Parts & Maintenance from bike shop throughout the season (likely more than this, underestimating here)
**Most of her pit crew at Leadville will be volunteers (friends and family) who will be paying their own way on the trip
**These prices do not reflect cost for lodging while driving, as she plans to camp if any of the drives are broken up to save costs. It also does not factor in food, given these would be normal expenses in her day to day life
Fundraising team (2)
Megan Mouser
Organizer
Lino Lakes, MN
Jessica Ockerman
Team member