Is that a dinosaur? Inside Boulder Junior Cycling’s Strava art challenge

After just one week of spring practice, Colorado’s Boulder Junior Cycling (BJC) program was faced with the mounting coronavirus pandemic. Schools across Colorado were emptied, the major races were canceled, and the 2020 racing season was called off. The dozens of teenagers in the program were left with few goals to strive for, which meant coaches had to get creative.

“Some kids are really, really bummed,” said BJC Executive Director Pete Weber. “They had big dreams for the season. So, we’ve been continuing to operate the team virtually. We have a lot of programming to keep the kids engaged.”

The leadership team at BJC wanted to keep kids engaged, even if that meant going virtual. Like scores of students and professionals across the globe, BJC athletes are now communicating with each other and their coaches via virtual platforms like Zoom and Google Hangouts.

Colorado rules still permit residents to exercise outdoors, so long as they follow the appropriate guidelines of physical distancing. This means that some BJC kids are still doing what they love: riding bikes. It also means that their coaches have an opportunity to keep programming fun and fresh. Last week, coaches asked riders to snap and submit photos taken during training rides.

This week, BJC’s riders received a new challenge from coaches: A Strava art challenge. Kids were encouraged to use their rides to sketch out pictures on their respective Strava accounts.

Weber says he was expecting some simple geometric designs or a few letters. The pictures the kid submitted were far more complex.

There’s a picture of a dinosaur, one of the ski boot in a ski binding, and the Colorado state flag, among other designs. We are impressed.