VELOCIO // EXPLORO
We are Velocio // Exploro, an elite women's gravel cycling team with a powerful roster of 9 women racing at the biggest gravel events in the U.S. The squad is from all around the country but we come together in search of adventures off the beaten path. In our fourth season as a gravel team, we bring on new riders and sponsors for 2022 while also maintaining a strong base of athletes and supporters who have been with the team for years. Our race and adventure calendar will again be taking us coast to coast with lots of gravel in between.
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. We are committed to teamwork, pushing athletic limits, building confidence, developing as individuals, expanding horizons, setting and achieving goals, and building a strong team atmosphere. Watch out 2022, we’re coming in hot! And we've got #matchestoburn.
MEET THE TEAM
BrittLee Bowman
Since finding the sport of cycling 15 years ago, BrittLee has always most appreciated adventures on dirt roads with good company. As owner of the Velocio // Exploro team she has kept that theme going; surrounding herself with strong, passionate, intelligent and inspiring women to take on gravel races in beautiful places. While some of her proudest moments on the bike have been landing on UCI cyclocross podiums, she is even more proud of developing the team to help other women pursue their athletic dreams. In 2022 she looks forward to returning to some of her favorite races and attending several events for the first time. Born and still living in New York City, BrittLee is a recent breast cancer survivor and hopes to inspire other women to get out on bikes.
Instagram: @bbrittlee
Cynthia Frazier
Cynthia grew up in Arlington, VA and made her way to the mountains during college. She currently lives in a small college town in the valley between two unique and amazing mountain ranges full of gravel roads to her hearts content. Cynthia is an entrepreneur and owns two businesses. She’s a wedding videographer and owns and organizes a gravel event called Gravista. She has slowly changed her ride of choice from short, fast, technical criteriums to long, slow(ish), and technical gravel racing. She loves the ultra endurance distance and continues to surprise herself that she can actually ride for 30+ hours at a time. She’s looking forward to Unbound XL 350, Rockstar 250, and if she can get off the waitlist, the Badlands 750k. Cynthia also loves to help young folks get into cycling; she coaches the Virginia Military Institute triathlon team, a local middle and high school mountain bike league, and helps run Velocio // Exploro.
Instagram: @watt_wagon
Regina Legge
Regina was born on Cape Cod and now resides in southern New Hampshire. She is a former D1 collegiate athlete in field hockey and spent quite a bit of time hiking the White Mountains after college, including completing the New Hampshire 48 4,000 footers in a single winter season! She picked up bike racing back in 2014 starting out with cyclocross and mountain biking, which turned into road and crit racing, and now gravel! Regina still loves a good criterium, but really enjoys the community and scenery that comes with gravel. While not riding outside, she spends her winters on Zwift and XC skis and summers trying to keep a vegetable garden alive (she can grow eggplant like it’s going out style!). Regina works full-time in the field of technical accounting and external reporting at a medical device company. Lastly, she appreciates good coffee, a delicious beer, and walks with her cat and husband to the lake by their house.
Instagram: @leggerm4
Rachel Wills
Rachel is a northern MN born, Cali-bred cyclist, currently residing in the PNW. After fourteen years of racing many different disciplines, she’s found her home on gravel. Her experience has brought finishes at Unbound XL, 2x Unbound 200, 2x Ironman, Leadville 100 MTB, MidSouth, Barry Roubaix 100, and many more. 2022 marks her fourth season with the team, and she’s looking forward to welcoming more individuals into the sport at home and on the road. She’s passionate about helping cyclists improve comfort and efficiency as a professional bike fitter at Cascade Bicycle Studio in Seattle, WA. She loves good coffee, cuddling with her cats, and yes her husband Kyle too.
Instagram: @rachelawills
Caro Poole
Caro started off her cycling career in 2014 racing fixed gear in Montreal, Quebec Canada. Soon after she transitioned to road racing and moved to the U.S. She took the opportunity to kick off racing full time at the national-level. Caro has raced the USA Crits series, UCI road races, and the Pro Road Tour calendar, She landed on a few podiums along the way, including a few State Championship titles across road and CX. Caro currently lives in Bentonville, Arkansas with her husband and their Corgi, Puck. In 2021, Caro decided she wanted a new challenge and started racing gravel. With a few races under her belt, she was hooked! This year, Caro will be taking on an extra challenge! Her and her husband are expecting their first kiddo in July. She is continuing to train and race within her limits leading up to the big day. Caro will also be learning to juggle the ropes of parenthood and racing for the second half of the season after delivery. She is excited to connect with the gravel community in this new season of life.
Instagram: @carp_piscine
Taneika Duhaney
Taneika’s passion for cycling developed later in life. In 2015, after having her second child, she began spinning and took up road cycling. Just last year she was introduced to gravel and fell in love with riding the less beaten path. She finds strength in challenging endurance events, that provide emotional, mental and physical therapy. Born and raised in Montego Bay, Jamaica, Taneika moved to New York as a pre-teen and now resides in Northern Virginia with her children and miniature poodle, Bolt. She is excited about checking out UnBound, Mid South, and some bike packing adventures in 2022. When Taneika is not traversing gravel routes, she is a sailor working on health care policy for the Navy and advocating for older adults. She loves ginger beer and tea.
Instagram: @msadventurer1
Meghan Owens
Hailing from the greater Burlington, Vermont area, Meghan’s passion for cycling started as a spectator watching her brothers race competitively. It wasn’t until 2012 when she decided to give it a try and jumped into a small, local mountain bike race. Sliding around on the mud and roots, Meghan doesn’t remember the race result, but the camaraderie and hype for more women in the sport were fond memories from that day. Meghan was hooked and has been racing cyclocross, mountain, and gravel since then. She is excited to be continuing with the team for a third year!
Instagram: @meghan__owens
Katie Kantzes
Born in Texas, raised in Delaware, but got back to Texas as soon as she could. Katie resides in Austin with her partner Paul and has been racing bikes since 2013. She loves being in the mountains, riding at sunrise, steep climbs, and sharing breathtaking views (only reached by bike) with friends. She fell in love with gravel in 2019 and cannot wait to check out Crusher in the Tushar, as well as be back on the start line at MidSouth and Unbound. When not cycling, Katie runs a cancer prevention and screening program at the University of Texas Dell Medical School, and started her own beer and coffee themed bakery in 2021.
Instagram: @katekansas
Jen Luebke
Originally from Montana, Jen now lives in Bend, Oregon. She started her cycling career as a triathlete and morphed into a cyclist 6 years ago, focusing mainly on stage races. She’s had success primarily in time trials and GC but managed to win a day of Tulsa Tough in 2018. Now she's a gravel racer and looking forward to gravel stage races like Transroyale in British Columbia and Oregon Trail Gravel Grinder in Central Oregon. Her other bike love is mountain biking and she’s looking forward to using her new PMBIA certification to coach mountain biking over the summer. Outside of pedaling, Jen is in school to get a Masters in Teaching for high school mathematics, works for two small businesses in the outdoor and fitness industry, and coaches a few athletes. She’s OBSESSED with her dog, Waylon, coffee, and trying not to kill her plants.
Instagram: @jenluebke
