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The Grace & Grit Enduro Fund
- dvtrvicepres
- Aug 14, 2025
- 4 min read
Updated: Aug 19, 2025
Ladies, sign up by August 23rd!
IN HONOR OF
CHRISTINE RAPPLEYEA
WE PRESENT THE
GRACE AND GRIT ENDURO FUND
The Delaware Valley Trail Riders are honored to carry on Christine Rappleyea's legacy with the Grace and Grit Enduro Fund. This fund was established to encourage women riders to push their limits and ride the Michaux Enduro, which was not only Christine Rappleaya's favorite event but also her greatest challenge on the bike.
The Grace and Grit Enduro fund will automatically cover the entry fee for any female competitor, regardless of class, entering the Michaux Enduro. By signing up through Grace and Grit, you also have access to experienced rider knowledge and other great women to race alongside at Michaux! The club will be registering Grace and Grit women's rows together for you once sign-up opens on the ECEA website. We do recommend that you are comfortable riding PA terrain, i.e., the rocks will be there. You will be placed in the last rows and can expect to ride at your own pace. We will also place experienced riders/volunteers in the rows to race with you and offer support as needed, such as picking up bikes and helping with timekeeping. You do not have to race with the Grace and Grit rows to have your entry fee covered. We do ask that if you sign up for a slot, you fully commit to coming out and giving it a try.
Christine was passionate about safely introducing women to the sport of off-road riding. The Grace and Grit Enduro Fund was her dream before she passed to carry on that passion and inspire women to ride outside of their comfort zone in a safe and supportive environment. She may no longer be with us, but her influence and her love will continue to impact and uplift others. Let's carry her legacy together with the grace and grit to see us through this challenge. In this, we keep Christine’s memory very much alive.
Links and Important info:
The Enduro is in Biglerville, PA, on September 7th with a key time of 9 AM.
Full Event Flyer: See below
You will need an ECEA membership:
https://www.moto-tally.com/ECEA/Enduro/SeriesRegistration.aspx
You will need an AMA number:
To sign up and be placed on the Grace and Grit Enduro rows, (must have ECEA & AMA membership number ready) DO NOT sign up on the ECEA site. Please follow this link to the Google Sheets doc. The club will then register you together on rows through Mototally on August 25th: https://docs.google.com/.../1ZRQTQZDugoG0nOPjEfsxijb.../edit
To sign up for the race in your own row. You can register for the Enduro through the ECEA website by August 25th, as you usually would. You will not be charged the registration fee.
Sign-up closes 10 PM on August 23rd to give us time to organize properly. We will then enter everyone through the ECEA site when Michaux registration opens on the 25th.
This is a closed course race, which means you DO NOT need a plated bike, headlight, tailight, etc.
There will be an optional Zoom the first week of September to prep for the event, including a light intro to timekeeping specific to this event. Stay tuned for dates.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the club or Erin Doherty (Via Facebook DM 'Erin Christine': https://www.facebook.com/IskyPiskers)
Grace and Grit Raffle Prizes:
Every lady rider who makes it to the lunch stop without houring out will be eligible to add their name to the raffle. Once again, one of our incredible club members made a gorgeous quilt in Christine’s memory. She has generously donated this labor of love to be raffled off at the event. Evo Industries East (evoeast.com) has also generously donated a fork or shock rebuild service to be raffled.
A special thank you to KTune Suspension (https://www.facebook.com/KTuneSuspension), which donated to the fund to cover four of the entries.
A Story of Grace and Grit
At the age of 27, Christine Rappleyea was diagnosed with Stage 4 Metastatic Breast Cancer.
Not long afterwards, she discovered her love for dirt bikes, joined the DelVal Trail Riders, and graced us all with her kindness, compassion, and tenacity. She was gentle and she was fierce, and we soon learned she was not to be underestimated.
A true study in courage and resiliency, Christine pushed herself beyond her limits time and time again. She was a champion of the lady riders, always encouraging them to do the very same, even when her health kept her off the bike - live your life, push your limits, take the chance while you have the time. Not everyone is so fortunate as to have the luxury of waiting.
On September 11th, 2022, on a rainy Sunday, and brand new to enduros, Christine was one of three women who lined up to take on the challenge of Michaux. She finished the race, houring out in the last section.
A year later, on September 10th, 2023, as her health continued to fail, Christine lined up once again amongst a field of nine lady riders who were mainly there due to Christine’s encouragement. She finished in time with tears in her eyes and a smile on her face. This was the last enduro she would ever race.
Less than ten weeks later, on November 20th, 2023, Christine felt she had fought long enough and decided to rest.
"I see so many people, loved ones, friends, strangers, living life unhappy and/or unhealthy. Spending so much time and energy on emotions or situations that truly don’t matter in the end. I wish that just for a day, I could give my loved ones the experience of knowing what it’s like to live like you’re dying, just for a day. So many perspectives change, and the meaning for so many things change so drastically. It doesn’t matter if your house is a little messy; take the weekend to go do something fun with someone you love. Cut the grass after work one night, or leave it for the next week, and go see that cousin you haven’t seen in a while.
At the end of this wild ride called life, I can promise the only thing that matters is… are you ready for it?? The secret to life?? The only thing that truly and actually matters??
It is love and those people that love you back."
- Christine Rappleyea
Quote credit Over and Out Moto - Full Interview can be found here: https://www.overandoutmoto.com/blog/in-memory-of-christine-rappleyea
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