Justin Meade, a former Williamston resident who now resides in Greenville, is taking his love for the sport of cycling to a higher level with a special fundraising ride.
This Friday, October 18th, Meade plans to ride his bike from the base of the Blue Ridge Mountains up to the Blue Ridge Parkway, through the Smoky Mountains into Tennessee, and then ultimately end in Knoxville, TN. The ride will be about 150 miles through 3 states and consist of 14,000’ feet of climbing. Meade hopes to turn his epic ride into a fundraiser for the teams sponsor Finish Strong.
Competing individually and on Travel teams for several years, Meade has moved from a Catagory 5 (beginner racer) to Cat 2 and last year was invited to become a member of the Greenville based cycling race team that has earned the respect of riders on some of the nation’s top pro teams.
The Finish Strong Elite Cycling Team, which Meade competes with, is a Category 1/2 team sponsored by Finish Strong that races throughout the Southeast and in some National races.
“As many of you know, I ride and race bikes for fun,” he said on his team blog. “What many might not realize is just how important sponsors like Finish Strong are to the Finish Strong Elite Cycling Team, but also to the sport of cycling in general. Without financial backing, but more importantly, the overall support and dedication they give, our team and sport would not exist.”
“I personally wanted to show my appreciation to what Finish-Strong.org has helped the team accomplish this year, but to also show the cycling community just how excited and committed we are for 2014. I figured the best way to do that is on the bike!”
Finish Strong is a Christian non profit organization serving God to support those in need physically, financially and spiritually. The goal of their Christian athletes is to spread the word of Christ throughout their sport, to support charitable causes through events, and to serve the community by partnering with other local organizations for charitable needs.
Throughout the year, Finish Strong athletes partner with other organizations to support charitable causes including Greer Community Ministries, the North Greenville Food Crisis Ministry and KB Charitable Trust (a local inner city ministry). Finish Strong also organizes, promotes and executes events to financially support and bring awareness to other local charitable needs.
Finish Strong is represented with both Elite and Endurance teams.
Persons interested in showing their support for the sport of cycling and for Meade’s ride can do so at the following link:
http://www.finish-strong.org/pages/ride-at-the-140
The ride can also be followed at Twitter @J__Meade
“Honestly, if we receive $5 of donations, 5 new followers on twitter, or 5 new Facebook likes, I would consider this a success,” Meade said. “This ride is to showcase my appreciation and spread the word for Finish-Strong.org and the great work they do.”
