WORDS: JASON DELGADO | PHOTOS BY: NELSON QUERALTA JR | ADDITIONAL PHOTOS PROVIDED BY: MATT ROY

South Florida and cycling are two things commonly mixed with dentists, right? Cycling in Miami still very much a couture/blue collar scene. But, most of us are not dentists and started off on fixed gear bikes or maybe a free style street BMX bike. Don’t act like you weren’t pushing that GT in the mid-90s! Or maybe you got into bikes by pushing that cheap fixie to the Miami Bike Scene’s monthly Critical Mass ride. Whatever your personal experience was, once you do it you’re hooked and begin to love it.

Here at Morning Ride Cycle Club, we have some friends that took this love and passion for cycling to the next level by filling an uncommon void. These friends are Randy Caraballo and Fabian Garcia who together started a pretty rad bicycle courier company called RUSH. Contrary to common belief this idea was brilliant, the Greater City of Miami has become dense and in some areas traffic is so bad the fastest way to get around is, you guessed it, on a bike. A bicycle is the most efficient form of travel, it’s that simple.

One day at their office, Ivan, who’s an employee and personal friend of both Randy and Fabian, said “we’re already on the bike (most of the time), we should race” and that’s how Rush Racing was born.

Rush Racing is a grassroots team, they have been successful in anything associated with cycling. From grungy alley cat races to late night fixed gear take overs and some pretty fire criterium races crossing state lines. They even have some track and off-road events under their belts. These guys are all about the bike. If you’re in Miami and you love cycling culture look for that dope blue and yellow kit, and you’ll encounter some of our coolest locals.

THE TEAM

Unfortunately, not all the members of Rush Racing were able to join us on the day these photos were taken, but they are a diverse and dynamic bunch. They all come from different walks of life.

Let’s start with Alex, who’s an engineer and an avid beer collector. Pictured below crushing it at a local crit race.

ANDREW 

A cycling power house knows as “el pelu”, Andrew is from Miami but lives in Colorado where he works for our friends at Stages Cycling. Pictured below rocking some mean helmet hair.

RENAN

A former heavy skater boy, pictured below flexing some sprint muscles.

MAX

Max loves fishing you might catch him on the side of the Key Biscayne bridge reeling them in, seen below scaling some walls with another awesome character.

LUCAS BRUNELLE 

You might know Lucas, he’s the man behind the camera of some of the coolest bicycle messenger videos which he documents on his Line of Sight series. He also came out on CNN riding his bike through Hurricane Irma. Pictured below doing what he does best, thrashing about.

A former police officer, Reynaldo, so in case you have some questions about the local bike laws, he’s the best person to ask. A lego collector known as James.

MATT ROY

One of Miami’s best photographers, check out his Instagram here. He was kind enough to let us use some of his photos for this article, thank you Matt! <3 Pictured below crushing it at a local crit.

RANE

Rane, who’s an organic produce farmer. Pictured below crushing it at this year’s Fawaki race .

GEORGE

George who’s a Simpson’s toy collector, seen here passionately looking into somebody’s eyes.

MICHAEL LUM 

Our favorite MRCC model  Seen here attempting a breakaway or closing a gap. Either or, this guy takes risks.

Ignacio, who owned a liquor shop in Venezuela, those must have been good times. Christian, who’s a construction worker. Lugo, who’s a car guy and can fix anything.

FABIAN GARCIA 

Co-founder or Rush Couriers, Fabian can whistle with mouth closed and loves Japanese cars and culture. Pictured below posing next to the team’s new Cinelli frames.

RANDY CARABALLO

Co-founder of Rush Couriers, Randy was heavy in the restaurant scene, he thought about servicing restaurants in Coral Gables before Uber Eats had a stake in the game, by using bikes of course since the Coral Gables area in Miami is heavily congested.

Like we mentioned, they’re a dynamic bunch and they embody the joy of cycling in South Florida. These guys know how to have fun and they’re support systems love them just the way they are. They want to give Miami a good name, shake things up and pump some life back into the racing scene by encouraging other cyclists to race.

THE TEAM WILL LIKE TO THANK THEIR SPONSORS FOR 2019

Original Article: 

https://morningride.cc/rush-racing-team/