Hi, my name is Joe Dean. I plan to raise money for several charities during 2016 and 2017 by racing all over the United States!

My name doesn’t mean much in the world of cycling; I’m not part of a team, I have no pedigree of racing wins that I could refer you to. I have only ever competed in unsanctioned, underground races. I consider myself an outsider to the spandex-clad world of cycling.

But as an outsider, I have been training and racing for four years now, biking thousands of miles unsupported through the wilderness. In 2015 I did The Tour Divide, an unsupported, one-stage, off-road mountain bike race; 2745 miles (4418km) long, from Banff, Canada, to Antelope Wells, New Mexico. Through that amazing experience, of relying on yourself to cross the Continental Divide, I gained a lot of knowledge and experience of how to persevere and adapt, through whatever the world throws at you. For many, The Tour Divide is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. But I don’t plan to stop there…



I decided to take the majority of 2016 to train and hone my skills even further. Thousands of miles on the bike, hundreds of workouts in the gym, days in the wilderness and weather. There are a myriad of races around the world I wish to compete in over the course of 2017 and 2018. But to compete, and complete these races, I need your help. Seeing as the majority of these races are “self-supported” (meaning, there is no multi-million dollar crew in a van following me around, taking care of everything for me), there is an incredible amount of logistics involved: shipping food, gear & parts to Post Offices along routes, travel to/from the start/finish points of races with my bike and equipment, maybe even occasional lodging (hey, I might need to take a shower every now and then). Occasionally equipment wears out, and needs to be repaired or replaced along the way. And all the myriad of other little day-to-day things that crop up and need to be taken care of…

But I don’t want to make it just about races, and my journey. I want to raise money for charities as well.  Although I see many beautiful people and places on these journeys, I also see a lot of poverty, neglect, and natural habitat that has been damaged. If I, and we, can do our small part and contribute to change things, so much the better.

I plan on taking several cameras with me to film my progress, and the progress of other racers, as well as all the nature and beauty I come across.
I plan on taking all the video I shoot and making a documentary of my journeys.

Here is a list of the races I wish to compete in, and the charities involved:

ROUTE 66 BIKE RACE - A 2500 mile bike race along Route 66, From Chicago to LA! (http://www.route66bikerace.com/) - For this race, I will be raising money for Dreambikes (http://www.dream-bikes.org/), a non-profit community based bikeshop that works with the Boys and Girls Club and other community organizations to provide employment to area kids, and bikes to the community.

These next three races, The Tuscobia, Arrowhead, and Iditarod races, are all winter 'fat bike' events in the snow!

TUSCOBIA 80/160 -  (https://tuscobia.wordpress.com/)
Charity: Dreambikes - (http://www.dream-bikes.org/)

ARROWHEAD 135 - (http://www.arrowheadultra.com/index.php)
Charities:
Dreambikes (http://www.dream-bikes.org/) and (http://specialops.org/).

IDITAROD 350/1000 - (http://iditarodtrailinvitational.com/) 
Charities:
Dreambikes (http://www.dream-bikes.org/) and The 'Rookie Challenge', which is to raise funds for a local shelter for women in Nome, Alaska
 (http://iditarodtrailinvitational.com/rookie_challenge_2014.php).


TRANSAM TRAIL RACE - (https://www.facebook.com/transamtrailrace/about/?entry_point=page_nav_about_item&tab=page_info) - 2017 will be the inaugural running of this off-road mountain bike event, from North Carolina to Oregon! Charity: (Dreambikes - http://www.dream-bikes.org/).

 


Thank you for taking the time to read this, and if you hit the ‘Donate Now’ button, welcome to my team! I promise to do my best not to let you down!