Events: Black Friday Challenges 2021
(2021) The day after American Thanksgiving used to be known as a free-for-all at stores looking to offload inventory. Recently the narrative has tilted toward stores remaining closed on the last Thursday in November instead of late night openings. American chain Target announced it will not open at all on Thanksgiving. The day after is becoming a normalized day, as it should.
There are two converging cycling challenges for the final Friday of November, called Black Friday in America. There are numerous theories as to the coining of the term, but it has been a shopping day where the holiday gift-buying season officially starts. Think fake deals grabbed by people mostly buying for themselves. To keep employees out of stores and with friends and family, Rapha as well as outdoor store REI have continued their tradition of encouraging cyclists to hit the roads, not the aisles and checkout lines.
Back for its second year, Rapha’s Black Friday Ride is an event seeking to total one million kilometers ridden to benefit World Bicycle Relief. Depending on a rider’s local climate, the event can be a study in standard base miles or bragging rights of riding in early season cold weather. Think sunny equator rides versus blowing snow in high mountain passes. Rapha has continued to accept indoor miles for 2021. This event can be logged via Strava, and every kilometer helps. The Rapha Foundation is pledging $150,000 per year for the next three years to support the Mobilized Communities program.The Foundation has made it a goal to donate 2,000 bikes in the next three years.
Given we live in the northeast portion of the United States, late November can be a wily time weather-wise. This year the forecast is for morning rain and a high of 44 degrees Fahrenheit. That’s not exactly comfortable riding, but the alternative is the basement trainer. For some reason our challenge rides tend to gravitate down to the Delaware River where early season ice is taking hold of roads shadowed to sunlight. But, it’s not a digital landscape. We often think of the riders farther south wondering if that day’s ride necessitates arm warmers.
Started in 2015, REI continues its Opt Outside program where the stores remain closed on Black Friday and encourage people to spend that time outside. They implore people to do something, anything, in the great outdoors. What better way than to throw a leg over the top tube and go looking for fund-raising miles? It’s a great way to support a company that does not open stores, process purchases online, and pays employees on Black Friday. This isn’t anti-commercialism, it’s more tempering of a false narrative making people think they are getting deals by standing in line instead of standing in the driveway, wondering where the route is about to take them.
Regardless of the weather, we plan to be outside for both Black Friday challenges. The goal is to cover miles and contribute to the global chance at bikes being donated to World Bicycle Relief through the Rapha Foundation. The second goal is to make sure the ride happens outside so we can brag by using the tag #optoutside for another year. As far as we know, REI does not have a Strava challenge, but that’s no excuse to forgo a bike outing. Even a quick turn of the pedals down to the coffee shop counts. Ride near or far, but ride the bike.
Let’s plan to get out for Black Friday instead of sweating at the keyboard waiting for coupon codes to activate. Let’s roll the bikes out the door instead of standing at a chain store waiting for the closed sign to flip over and the stampede to commence. With a day off from work after two stressful years, getting outside is a great way to reinvigorate a day that could be filled with stress. Stay away from the KOMs though, that’s stress not needed.
