Rewrite the Rules
Annika Langvad rewrote the rules of what’s possible on an XC bike. Meredith Root and Alex Parker founded an international coaching company that has helped over 4,000 people advance in their sports. Sofía Gómez Villafañe is actively making history in gravel racing. BrittLee Bowman has eight seasons under her belt proving an all-women race team can thrive.
None of them asked for permission. They rewrote the rules.
This International Women’s Day, we’re celebrating them, and the countless women who are changing cycling today, and every other day.
Specialized Off-Road Racing
Last year we sponsored the htSQD with the goal of supporting a balanced team that gave some of the best female cyclists in the sport an equal spot next to some of the fastest men.
We’ve carried that gender equality into our support of the Specialized Off-Road Racing team, with three women who are leading the sport on and off the course.
Annika Langvad
Sofía Gómez Villafañe
Gee Schreurs
Meredith Root & Alex Parker
Photo: Annemarie Hennes / Adventure Scout Media
Meredith Root is a multisport athlete with a particular affinity for bikes. She’s been riding on and off for over 20 years while enjoying excursions into other sports, including Olympic weightlifting and CrossFit, where she competed at the national and international level.
Alex Parker grew up skiing at the national level and later went on to ski at the NCAA level at the University of Alaska. She is also a multisport athlete with an aptitude for endurance.
Together, Meredith and Alex founded Tactic, which is an international coaching company that helps people from all walks of life advance in their sports, improve their fitness, and level up their health through movement, nutrition, and lifestyle practices.
Alex Parker
Photo: Gretchen Powers (@gpowersfilm)
Meredith Root
Photo: Annemarie Hennes / Adventure Scout Media (@adventurescoutmedia)
Velocio // Exploro
BrittLee Bowman leads by example. Entering eight seasons of racing at the head of the Velocio // Exploro team, BrittLee has taken the idea of an elite all-women gravel cycling team and made it so much more.
"As a team we seek to achieve the best results possible while carrying out a unifying goal of embodying positive and powerful role models, on and off the race course."
Follow along as the team trains, travels, and races together for the 2026 season.
From the Start
In 2014, Velocio launched with 20+ women's styles and two men's. This marked the first kit in the industry to focus on best-in-class cycling apparel for women.
Eschewing off-the-shelf designs that clearly did not work for half the population, we built from the ground up, solving problems of fit, function, and the ability to easily answer the call of nature with dignity and simplicity.
In the 12 years that have followed, we have never wavered from this commitment. Our collection of women's apparel has grown and improved, and our support of women riders continues to be a founding pillar of the brand.
In Practice
Women have been doing amazing things on bikes for a long time. These are just a few worth your attention.
Tara Conway
Tara is our Senior Apparel Product Designer and a hand in many of the products you know and love. With a lifetime of riding, and a deep respect for long-lasting apparel, she's always looking for new ways to innovate.
Sarah Lange
Self proclaimed gas station apple fritter connoisseur, Sarah is a former member of Velocio // Exploro now taking on gravel racing individually.
Liz Wolf
Liz has dedicated time and energy to make Vermont a better place for women to ride. This includes the Women's Drop Ride, an idea born from the lack of places for women to be push themselves to the limit in a group training setting.
Mayalen Noriega
Mayalen embodies cycling at every turn. She's a world champion, a Paralympic silver medalist, a national championship silver medalist, and a regular supporter of women's cycling in the media and on a bike.
