Our History
LED Riding CO is a clothing company founded by Lisa Whiteman, the first and only female rider to ride in and successfully complete The 1000 Mile Challenge in New Brunswick. On March 3rd to 4th 2023, Lisa and her partner Jeffrey O'Donnell rode 1015 miles straight in twenty-seven hours with an hour and thirty-three minutes of total stop time. They did this through a blinding twelve and a half hour snowstorm, fighting poor trail conditions, fatigue and moose encounters to contribute to the raising of over $150,000 used to send underprivileged children to summer camp in Canada.
Lisa, an Ontario local, grew up in a hard working family, who at times, struggled to make ends meet creating a modest lifestyle. Lisa watched her parents work very hard however understood financial struggle at a very young age. No stranger to fresh starts, Lisa relocated with her family several times during her childhood straining her ability to maintain friendships sadly becoming the target of bullying during elementary high school grades. Like so many adolescents Lisa struggled to find her voice and passions in the world, suffering through broken friendships and broken relationships pressuring her self-esteem and self-worth. Difficulties and struggle proved to evolve Lisa into kind adult never robbing her of the desire to better the lives of others. She developed a philosophy for life during these times, regardless of how little you have there is always a way you can give back.
Finally at the age of seventeen in a small Ontario town, Lisa rode a snowmobile for the first time and learned very quickly she found something she was good at, immediately falling in love. Snowmobiling soon became something she excelled at, going from lake riding, to private trails and off trail riding and finally landing on trail riding, where some of the boys struggled to keep up. A passion was born and from that day forward Lisa was an avid snowmobiler filled with confidence. In October of 2022 attending The Toronto Snowmobile and ATV Show, Lisa discovered The 1000 Mile Challenge with the format of two teams riding opposite directions around the province of New Brunswick to achieve 1000 GPS trail miles in twenty-four hours. Without hesitation her application was submitted and on March 3rd at 5pm Lisa Whiteman and Jeffrey O'Donnell and Myles Darrow and Justin Young left The Ramada Hotel in Fredericton during a blinding snowstorm to lay their miles down.
We watched Lisa cry, we watched her crawl and we watched her struggle. We watched as she started breaking down on each fuel stop, laying on the ground telling us she could not do any more, but we did not watch her quit. We all watched in amazement as she stood back up, strapped her helmet on and said to us "Women, we were built to do hard things". We watched her drive away, telling us to let er dangle and that is exactly what she did. She showed us all that day what happens when you underestimate the underdog and judge someone weaker who you feel is less capable. Summoning every bit of grit, heart and determination she had built up from years of being bullied and dismissed and treated like she wasn't good enough, forced her to keep going and prove every person that doubted her wrong. She showed up, she did what she came to do and with the sales of LED Riding Co gear this legacy will live on and help more kids every summer have experiences only possible with our help.
To learn more about The 1000 Mile Challenge visit www.1000milechallenge.ca