Ride for Reading forms new mountain bike race team
Originally posted on February 15, 2013 at 12:01 pm
Dejay Birtch at the 2012 Trans-Sylvania Epic. Birtch will represent Ride for Reading in 2013.
Ride for Reading is teaming up with professional mountain biker Dejay Birtch to create an innovative, professional mountain bike team. Birtch will not only represent Ride for Reading through racing, he will serve as an ambassador of the organization by collecting books, visiting classrooms, and spreading Ride for Reading’s mission as he travels from race to race.
Ride for Reading is a Tennessee based non-profit organization with a mission to promote literacy and healthy living through the distribution of books via bicycle to children from low-income areas.
In 2008, Birtch and Ride for Reading’s founder Mathew Portell met while sitting around a campfire at the first ever “Dirt, Sweat and Gears” 12-hour bike race in Fayettville, Tennessee. Since then Birtch has supported Ride for Reading in a variety of ways, including raising funds for the organization through his 2011 “Tour Divide” finish.
Birtch will be wearing Ride for Reading’s colors as he races nationally and internationally. The team will not only focus on winning races but also informing the public of the need for books in the homes of children in low-income areas.
Great strides are anticipated with the new team coupled with the National Ride for Reading Week to be held from May 5-11, 2013. During this time Ride for Reading supporters around the country will be hosting a Ride for Reading book delivery in their city.
The team is being sponsored by Pivot Cycles, Maxxis, NoTubes, Fox Racing Shox, Crank Brothers, Ergon, Industrial Strength Marketing, KMC, Thomson, Devon Balet Photography, King Cage, Smith Optics, Krieg Cycling, Primal Wear, and Endless Bikes.