Pedaling for Youth by Mike Shwe

I love the image of a Frenchman biking around the countryside of France with a basket full of baguettes. It speaks to me about two things I love. You know it–cycling and fine food. It’s about enjoying the simple pleasures in life.

And now, fast forward to the beautiful city of San Francisco, home of Strava. Check out these bread delivery routes we track on Strava: my wife Cheryl delivers to the Richmond and my good friend Matt doing a route in the Mission.

What? What’s going on here? Bread deliveries? Give me some! Wouldn’t it be cool if the best bread in San Francisco were only available by bike delivery? Better yet, what if the best bread you could get in the city couldn’t actually be bought? Tell me more.

At Proof Baking Company, it’s happening. We’re pedaling loaves all over San Francisco as thank-you gifts to donors of a non-profit. It’s called the Proof Baking Challenge–San Franciscans are giving back to their community by donating $50 to $100 a month for the next three months to our partner, New Door Ventures, and we’re delivering our bread by bike and tracking our routes on Strava. All proceeds directly benefit disconnected youth of our beautiful, but sometimes broken city.

If you love cycling and feel like putting your passion towards a new extracurricular, contact me, Mike, at proofbaking.com if you’re interested in doing an occasional delivery for our current Proof Baking Challenge. Or, if you’re more into the refueling side, contact me about the next Proof Baking Challenge, which we hope to launch in January 2012.

Oh, I  almost forgot to mention. My nomination for Strava hero goes to Cheryl. She did her bread delivery minutes after a solo century around the hallowed Marshall loop. Looks like Matt should take a longer warm up loop next time!

Thanks and keep riding!

-Mike Shwe
http://app.strava.com/athletes/7170