2020 Ride Season has begun

16 years ago I was on the board of the West Michigan chapter of JDRF. Our Executive Director walked into a board meeting one day and said "I'm riding in Death Valley this year. Who's riding with me?" And with that the West Michigan (now Michigan) Team was born.

Mary and Tom at the start of the 2019 JDRF Ride in Saratoga Springs

Since 2005, our team has raised over $2,500,000 for type 1 diabetes research. This year we are very excited because the Ride to Cure Diabetes is coming to Grand Rapids. On July 25 over 700 riders decked out in JDRF blue will pedal through some of the most beautiful parts of West Michigan as we raise funds to find a cure for T1D.

Our son Jake was diagnosed with T1D 22 years ago when he was only six years old. We have seen great strides in the treatment of disease, thanks in no small part to the efforts of JDRF. But there still is no cure and that's why we keep riding.