Joe Barr set to Race Across America

Joe is undertaking the task to enter the Race Across America (RAAM), which starts off in California and finishes up in Maryland, to raise funds for a cancer charity.

His efforts are being tracked by Donegal TV (donegaltv.ie), whose video is reproduced here with their permission.

Cyclists will go through 12 states, 88 counties and 350 communities, and with these 3,000 miles and climbs of more than 170,000 vertical feet, it makes it 30% longer than the Tour de France. It has been an annual event for 31 years, raising a lot of money for charitable causes. Riders can qualify and go solo, or team up and go in groups of two, four or eight.

In 2012, Joe Barr entered his first RAAM race but was not able to complete it due to altitude sickness. He has since competed in the prestigious Le Mans 24 Hours Race in France and is determined to finish the gruelling event this month.

Joe Barr and his team are competing to raise money for the Northern Ireland Cancer Fund for Children as well as for the new branch of Hopecam in Northern Ireland.

“All our team are volunteers - no one is getting paid. Any money we raise from this will go directly to Hopecam - but we realised we needed people to come in behind us to cover our costs,” he recently said.

The answer to this came close to home when Johnston Press Group Editor William Allen and Donegal TV’s Shane Wallace made contact with Derry man Tony Culley-Foster - from Today’s Ireland in the US.

Tony went into action and secured funding from the SODEXO corporation.

Look up Team Joe on facebook.com/TeamJoeBarr or go to their website teamjoebarr.com

Donegal TV’s videos can also be found on Youtube as well as on donegaltv.ie