ABOUT US.

TODAY Dawgpatch Bandits Inc. is a certified 501(c)3 nonprofit organization promoting fitness to support mental health. While we have a specific focus on promoting fitness as a tool to support substance abuse and mental health recovery, we maintain the belief that the promotion of outdoor health and fitness for everyone is essential to creating a healthy community.

Why are you called the Dawgpatch Bandits?

In 2018 we set off on bicycles from San Diego, CA to Sag Harbor, NY to raise awareness about the opioid epidemic plaguing this country and honor two great friends, Mike Semkus and Anthony Grasso. When we were gearing up for this 3,300 mile ride we knew we needed a name to fly upon the banner of our cause. In thinking on what this name should be we reflected on a bicycle journey we had completed in 2017 from Santa Barbara, CA to Dogpatch, San Francisco. It was on this trip that peers unofficially dubbed our crew the Cycle Bandits.

What inspired the original Dawgpatch logo?

Thomas Stevens (1854-1935) was the first person to complete a transcontinental bicycle ride across America in 1884. He rode a large-wheeled Ordinary, known as the Penny-Farthing from San Francisco to Boston setting out with only a spare shirt, a raincoat that doubled as a tent and bedroll, and a pocket revolver. He reached Boston after 3,700 miles of wagon trails, railways, canal towpaths and public roads, and over 100 days on the road. He did it to Raise Awareness.