Logo Design Brief for the Bridge the Gap Bike Tour

Logo for Bridge the Gap Bike Tour
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The Bridge the Gap Bike Tour is a charity fundraiser in the form of a five-day road bicycling tour. 2009 will be its third year. In 2008, there were 11 riders; in 2009, we are anticipating between 30 and 50 riders, so we want to improve our marketing, the information we provide to the riders and sponsors, and general image.
Each year the tour raises money for one charity. The money is used to initiate one single, special project. For instance, in 2008 the ride raised money for Genesis World Mission, specifically for the creation of a dental clinic in Kenya. The “Bridge the Gap” name is meant to convey our goal of helping a worthy organization take on an ambitious project that they would otherwise not be able to fund.
The ride itself is 300 miles cycled over five days. Accommodations are typically outdoor camping, with meals and support provided.

The goal of the new logo design is to help the ride appear more professional and reputable, and to establish an identity.
We want to communicate professionalism and a focus on riding for a meaningful cause.
There are many charity bike rides in our geographic area; most do a good job of overall promotion but a poor job of providing detailed information to riders. We would like to be the best organized ride with the most resources for our riders.
The ride is promoted by a local Christian radio station, which helps a lot with getting the word out.

There are two primary markets:

Riders: 80% of participating riders are male, most being enthusiastic recreational cyclists (people who enjoy biking but are not racers). The target age group is 30-45 years old, Christian or socially conscious, and working middle-class income.
Sponsors: most sponsors are individuals who know the participating riders, with similar demographics (with the exception of being cyclists).

The logo will be used in all marketing, including the web, printed fliers, and on apparel. In particular, it will be used on cycling jerseys and t-shirts, so it’s important that the aspect ratio is not too horizontal.
The logo will be used in color on the website and apparel, but may be reproduced in black-and-white on some promotional material.
The logo should be delivered in vector format.

Our ideal logo “mood” is colorful/vibrant, and modern, without being too formal (after all, we’ll be camping ). We’re open to something a little grungy to convey the adventurous part of the ride, but it’s not required.
We are open to your interpretation for colors.
It would make sense to have a bike in the design, and possibly a bridge, but they can be pretty abstract if that is a better fit.
We would like to avoid overtly Christian symbols so that we don’t alienate potentially interested people who might not share our worldview but still want to help.