In 2020, former 10 time national champion and retired pro cyclist Rahsaan Bahati created the Bahati Foundation. His mission: to provide inner-city youth access to noncompetitive and competitive cycling with resources and support, and to foster success on and off the bike.

Mr. Bahati has selected a roster of five cyclists to compete at SBT GRVL on August 14 in Steamboat Springs, CO. The riders, half from the east coast and half from the west coast, are:

Nicolas Alonso – LA Bike Academy
Azyra Franklin – Kelly Benefits Strategies
Sarah Vargas – Virginia’s Blue Ridge Twenty24
Maize Wimbush – Virginia’s Blue Ridge Twenty24
Yazeed Albadarin – Big Orange Cycling

Racing in SBT GRVL will provide each cyclist with experiences that are not otherwise available to them, especially those who live in the inner city. Bahati credits traveling to unfamiliar places and interacting with people who he would not have otherwise met with changing him as a person and the trajectory of his life. As such, he wants to provide a similar opportunity for these young cyclists. when you get on a bike, you realize that you have a lot more similarities regardless of where you hail from geographically or what your economic status is,” Bahati says. “The experience alone will be instrumental, not only for the junior cyclists, but also for the other participants seeing these kids that are young, strong, people of color.”

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