JOE BARR
Meet 4-year old Joe on his very first bike. At 60 he’s still riding and still learning from one of the toughest teachers, the never-ending road.
Joe’s life behind bars is a rich and colourful story. It is bold and brave because he is bold and brave. It is full of passion and drive. There is failure and defeat. Most of all there is unwavering self-belief. And now, there is a team to share the laughs and the struggles with.
MEET JOE BARR
“CAN SOMEONE SHOW ME WHERE FRANCE IS?”
That’s 17-year- old Joe. He had one bike, one bag, £265 and a scribbled name on a rough piece of paper.
Joe didn’t follow a traditional club or federation route into professional cycling. Traditional and Joe just don’t belong in the same sentence. Instead he followed his own instinct. Still does. The most important thing to Joe is that he goes where his road leads him and that has resulted in a pretty enviable career.
WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH, THE TOUGH GET INTO ENDURANCE
Joe entered his first endurance race in 2009, and quickly learned that the further you go things often go pear shaped. With 300+ miles left in the race he broke a bone in his foot in a freak accident. He was in first place with the current world champion breathing down his neck.
Joe has an innate ability to fight back when the race bites and he had extra motivation in this race. He was riding to raise funds for children with cancer because he had spent the previous number of years sitting by his young son’s bedside as he successfully fought his battle. His son couldn’t get ‘off the bike’ when things were hard so Joe found a way to dig deep into previously untapped resources to manage the pain and stay focused on the goal.
Joe won that race and a world-class endurance racer began to emerge.
