The Dine’ Bike Project is a rez-wide project to promote biking and community wellness on the Navajo Nation.
The Dine’ Bike Project was created with the goal of encouraging fitness and family togetherness through biking. There are several aspects of the Dine’ Bike Project:
Our Bike Exchange Program is a program wherein we restore donated used bikes and make them available to families, groups and families across the Navajo Nation, in exchange for some type of community service.
Dine’ Bike Projects receives donated used bikes throughout the year, and our team and volunteers work to restore these bikes to good form. Bikes are then shared in communities, families and schools/dorms across the Navajo Nation. During the COVID pandemic, bikes were
donated to families and youth in Chilchinbeto, Monument Valley, Navajo Mountain, Tohali,
Beclabito/T’iis Nazbas, Kayenta, Crownpoint, Black Mesa and Shonto, bringing a glimmer of hope and joy during these troubling times. The project will continue to share the fun on two wheels across the reservation.
Donations of bikes, parts/supplies, bike gear/jerseys and helmets, along with volunteer time (in restoring and distributing bikes) is valuable, so please let us know if you have an interest in support the cause.
It all started with the Tour de Rez in 1991, an epic multi-sport adventure for youth around the Nation. Over the past 30+ years, TDR has evolved into the Tour de Rez Cup, which is a series of bike rides/races across the rez throughout the year.
The Tour de Rez Cup Series includes the following events across the reservation.
The Beclabito Bike Race is a race on semi-technical singletrack, which is part of the Beclabito Community Trail System. This super friendly community is located on Hwy 64 between Shiprock and T’iis Nazbas.
The Chuska Challenge is our largest bike event, bringing bike enthusiasts to the Chuska Mountains each fall. There are races, tour options, kids activities, live music and awesome camping and food all weekend.
Hashkeniinii was a Dine’ legend during the Long Walk era, and the grueling, long-distance Hashkeniinii Bike Race at Navajo Mountain honors his legacy on an alternating road and dirt courses.
The Monument Valley Bike Race offers a short (13-mile) fast dirt road race through the tribal park during a summer evening in June.
The Asaayi Bike Race is a new road race in the southern Chuska in late summer, offering riders a fast flat ride through scenic red rock country before the climax: a 2000-foot vertical ascent of Narbona Pass.
The Dine’ Bike Project has been a driving force in bringing the national Cycle Kids program to schools on the Navajo Nation. Cycle Kids is a school-based program that offers a curriculum designed to promote skills and safety on bikes among elementary students, while also promoting overall healthy living and good nutrition. You can find out more about Cycle Kids at www.cyclekids.org. The NavajoYES team helps to facilitate Cycle Kids across the reservation, and works with schools and dorms across the Nation.
Currently, there are Cycle Kids sites on the Navajo Nation at the following schools:
- Shonto Prep School
- Chinle Elementary School
- T’iis Nazbas Community School
- Kaibeto Boarding School
- Red Rock Day School (Red Valley)
- Lukachukai Community School
- Tsebinidzgai Elementary School (Monument Valley)
- Tohali Community School
- Naatsisaan Community School (Navajo Mountain)
- Red Mesa Elementary
Competitive youth mountain biking has come to the Navajo Nation, as students from several Dine’ communities are taking part in the Arizona Interscholastic Cycling League through NICA-sanctioned, rez-based teams. These efforts are the dream of Dine’ bike advocate Cloudia Jackson, retired pro cyclist Scott Nydam, and Hopi master mechanic/coach Manny Chavarria, who have collaboratively promoted these efforts. Youth take part in races across Arizona throughout the fall season, and many compete in TDR Cup events in the spring and summer months.