ABOUT HVWC
Learn About HVWC
From the time I started riding bikes, I longed for a community of women to train, ride, and race with. In my area, only a few male-dominated cycling groups existed. I wanted to see a change. What is the best way to get something that you don’t have?
BE THE CHANGE YOU WANT TO SEE
I wanted to see women racing, taking risks, and encouraging each other. This creates resilience, growth, and self-confidence. Creating HVWC was the way to reach these goals.
After gaining support from Erik Scott, former owner of The Bicycle Shop, Happy Valley Women’s Cycling was founded in 2018. We quickly gained support from other companies like Stahl Sheaffer Engineering, Robin Hood Brewery, and Specialized Bicycles. They believed in our team and our mission.
With support from our community, we started to grow. We were racing as a team and hosting several women-only rides promoting health and wellness through cycling.
HVWC empowers women cyclists and gives them a sense of belonging to something bigger. They say your team becomes your family, we’ve created our own family here in Happy Valley!
2019- Tanya Campbell
Our Mission statement
Happy Valley Women’s Cycling is committed to empowering women through cycling.
Our mission is to provide a supportive community for women cyclists and promote health and wellness through cycling. We aim to encourage women of all skill levels to take up cycling and participate in community events while fostering a vision to see more women on bikes recreationally and on race courses.
- Happy Valley Women’s Cycling stands on five pillars: Strength, Inspiration, Mindfulness, Community, and Perseverance.
- Our COMMUNITY is for all levels, from first-time riders to experts.
- We have weekly rides for women just getting started in both mountain biking and gravel riding. We invite anyone to join, and we offer an atmosphere of acceptance and friendliness. You do not need to be a community member to join us.
- Girls Rock is our developmental program for girls ages 10-13. We hope the confidence they gain on the bike spills over to the rest of their life.
- Girls from the Girls Rock developmental program are now junior riders on our team and join us for training rides and races. They completed many mountain bike and gravel races, including Rothrock GRIT GRAVEL Grinder.
Events
Our team members take part in a wide range of local and national events. Fortunately, with so many great opportunities near State College, we rarely have to travel far.
Our gravel events include:
- Iron cross
- Rothrock GRIT Gravel Grinder
- Unpaved
- Monster Cross
Members of our team have podiumed at:
- Seasons of Rothrock III & IV
- Transylvania Epic
- Yellow Creek Grass Roots
- Liberty Bike Race
- Laurel Classic
This year, we are participating in some new events, including:
- Parker Dam Gravel Grinder
- Grinduro
- Mammoth Endurance Gravel
- Yellow Creek
We also participate in several cycling initiatives and organizations, such as Central Cycling Classic, The Ride of Silence, Center Bike, and we are course marshals for the State College half-marathon and various other 5k events, as well as bike races.
Our Backyard
We all work, live and play in Central Pennsylvania – in and around State College, home of Penn State University main campus. We do most of our training in Rothrock State Forest, just 6 miles from downtown State College. At just under 97,000 acres, Rothrock offers over 300 miles of non-motorized trails with more than 100 miles open to mountain biking – including two IMBA EPIC rides, plus 190 miles of gravel roads. It’s a beautiful forest with a plethora of challenging climbs and terrain, babbling brooks, rewardingly gorgeous vistas, and natural finds. We’re proud to call it our playground.
Our Races
In addition to racing around the country, we put on our own races called “Seasons of Rothrock.” Four seasonal races – two gravel bike , two mountain bike—held throughout the year, including our flagstone event—”Rothrock Grit Gravel Grinder” each June. Striving for equal representation on the course, the Grit Gravel Grinder reserves half of the spots for women. Find out more about each of the races on our rothrock/hvwcycling.com site.
Board Member Roles
Current board members are listed among the community members on the Community page.
President
Presides at the scheduled membership meetings and Board meetings; in consultation with the Board, acts as public relations representative; monitors the planning for Community-sponsored events; ensures the Community conducts business in a professional manner, acting as point person for Community operations.
Vice President
Assists the President in the operations of the Community. Conducts meetings and other necessary duties in the absence of the President.
Secretary
Keeps minutes at Board and membership meetings; files and retains original signed applications and liability waivers. Handles and files all official correspondence and other paperwork for the Community, calling upon other officers and Members to assist in this task.
Treasurer
Makes written Financial Reports to the Board following the end of the year; supplying receipts and Bank Ledger/Statements is sufficient. Supports effective tracking of community spending including to support grant reporting.
Marketing Director
Leads on creating content and designs for promotional and marketing materials for HVWC, ensuring brand standards and messages are effectively communicated. This includes developing an annual community recap video; making social posts about active members, sponsors and/or community events; organizing periodic photoshoots at the discretion of the board; developing event-specific flyers and promotional materials such as business cards.
Sponsorship Director
Identifies new potential sponsors to invite and support HVWC and Seasons of Rothrock races. Creates and maintains materials to share with potential sponsors about sponsorship levels, including email templates for sponsorship communications. Reaches out to invite new businesses and entities to become a sponsor, and sends tax receipts for active/existing sponsors. May make social posts about active community sponsors. Serves as a point of contact for Hammer Nutrition & applying for nutrition products for all of our events (Seasons races & HVWC retreat) and organizing community orders. Additionally, creates and maintains discounts by contacting cycling-related brands and maintaining all sponsorship and discount offers in a spreadsheet.
Community Partnerships Director
Leads the collection of invitations and requests for HVWC to participate in various community events, and shares these with the Board for consideration of which to engage the community on given our calendar and capacity. Supports community-building through engaging in the broader cycling community as a representative of HVWC, with help from other Board and community members.
Special Events Director
Leads on scheduling, organizing, and hosting several key community outreach events put on by HVWC, including but not limited to a season kick-off party, a holiday party
CONTACT US
Have questions about our community rides or our race team? Use the "General Inquiries" form to send us a message. You can also reach out to us about sponsorships, our Get a GRIP Retreat, or Girls Rock! program. We'll be in touch as soon as possible.
All club events are posted on our HVWC Calendar HERE.
Don't forget to follow us on Facebook and/or Instagram for up-to-date information about rides, races, and more.
Join our Facebook Community group
