Sticky Fingers: Cruelty-Free Bakery First, Women's Racing Always

by Gus Grissom, Combat Correspondent

If you ever wondered about the real relationship between small business owners and the amateur cycling teams they are often asked to sponsor, you need ask none other that Doron Petersan, owner of Sticky Fingers Bakery.  “I spent years working for a non-profit group before I became a small business owner.  That’s when I realized that the two jobs are practically the same: cash is always tight and you have to come up with creative ways to get people involved, purchase your product, believe in your mission, and believe in what you are doing.”  This is how Petersan describes her love affair with the food service industry and nutrition science, and the passion that brought these two topics together in the form of her own business, Sticky Fingers Bakery.  This love affair, fortunately for MABRA, is now yielding another source of inspiration for her other passion, cycling, as the bakery begins to sponsor its own women’s cycling team, Team Sticky Fingers. 

Petersan, herself an active racer, was approached by several women from various local teams with whom she rides and races.  When asked if she would be interested in putting together and sponsoring a new women’s team, her initial response was “start a team?  No way.  No how.  Not ever and definitely not now.  I’ve got a business to run.”  As time passed, however, she said that she started to realize that this would be one more way to support women’s cycling in a tangible, positive way while helping to grow her own business.  She said “the bakery has always supported as many races and teams as we could across the district by donating prizes, mostly gift certificates, for various races.”  But the opportunity to represent her own business by putting it right into the women’s peloton seemed to her a new and exciting way of looking at the dynamic between small business and local athletes.  “I realized that it would be interesting to put together a small group of dedicated racers who could represent the ideals of my business in a specific way, a group that would know what our philosophy is all about and put that philosophy into action by competing and winning across this very active region.”   

That philosophy, of course, comes from Petersan’s long history as an animal activist and vegan with a discerning sweet tooth who decided to do something about the lack of rich and satisfying desserts for those who eschew animal products and are concerned about animal suffering, the environment, and human health.  So this team, comprised of a small group of competitive women will not only sport the bakery’s logo along with other local and charity sponsors, they will be actively promoting the business and their sponsors by living up to its philosophical ideals and outlook on the quest for a better world.  In short, the bakery will support the racers who will, in turn, serve as ambassadors for the bakery and the prevention of cruelty to animals.  It is a break from the traditional amateur cycling model where a local bike shop gives racers 10% off of their tubes and gels in exchange for the ability to put a bunch of rolling billboards out on local trails.  Sticky Fingers Racing intends to put a product out there, a solid racing team, that will showcase the image of the sponsor and its important causes.

Petersan remarks that the challenges to this venture have already been significant but the group she has assembled has found a way to prepare for the inevitable personal conflicts associated with trying to force a group of highly motivated athletes into a cohesive unit.  “We all came from other teams and have experienced things we loved and hated about those teams.  So we pooled our experiences and established very clear rules and guidelines to guide our actions.”  One of these rules, according to Petersan, is that they must “drink together.  A lot.”  So much so, in fact, that the team will also be sponsored by a local hangout, Breadsoda.  “It was important for us to associate the bakery and team with  Breadsoda because, at its heart, this sport and team are about having fun and being social, in a competitive way, with friends.  So we like to get together and drink to relax and talk about all the trials, tribulations, and successes racing brings to our daily lives.”

When asked about the team goals for the year, Petersan is realistic and admits that they do not plan on assaulting the BAR Standings or trying to grow their team into one of the more populated regional squads.  Instead, she states that “we are going to be a closed team, for now, composed of seven invitation-only ladies who have shown a dedication to racing, the ideals of the team/bakery and potential for the future.”  Where some women racers have bemoaned the fact that so many of their events are “Women’s Open,” spanning the categories from four to one, Team Sticky Fingers plans on capitalizing on this situation.  Petersan notes that “this team has racers from practically every category, all of whom are experienced and savvy in their abilities and tactics.  So we are looking forward to any and all opportunities to race together in the ‘Open’ events which will allow us to learn from each other, support each other, and help each other advance in the sport unlike more specialized events where perhaps our Cat 4’s would have to segregate themselves from our more experienced racers.  The ‘Open’ events are what will really define our team and allow us to do what we want to do: race and win together.”

For the women of MABRA, this means that there will be a new force in town for every event on the calender.  For the promoters, this means you can count on seeing the women of Sticky Fingers lining up for your events and lining up afterwards to take your prize money (which will also be going to support their charity sponsors: Pinups for Pitbulls and the Global Animal Partnership).  So, when you are out in riding this winter and into next season, be on the lookout for a well organized, well led and well fed group of women on your favorite training routes.  They are now officially in the hunt (so to speak for a group against animal cruelty!) and plan to continue developing the competitive nature of women’s cycling in our region.  And we all know the old saying: if you can’t beat ‘em, eat their delicious cruelty-free baked goods and share a drink with them after the race.  It’s what they will be doing...  

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Gus Grissom races for Team GamJams Racing, teaches Greek and Latin at DeMatha Catholic High School, and writes a dissertation in his spare time.  He contributes to GamJams strictly for fortune and glory.