Riding Across the Desert to Cure Diabetes

Imagine riding your bike more than 100 miles through one of the hottest, driest places in America -- a place where temperatures often hover above 100 degrees and water is scarce. Now imagine doing this same ride with Type 1 Diabetes.
 
Katie Clark not only survived riding her bike across Death Valley National Park, but she’s done it six times. For her, it’s personal. The annual Death Valley bike ride raises money for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF). Clark was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) when she was two years old and her oldest daughter Ellie, now 12, was diagnosed at age four.

T1D, also called Juvenile Diabetes, is different than Type 2 Diabetes in that it has nothing to do with diet or lifestyle, and it’s often diagnosed at a young age. With T1D, the pancreas produces little or no insulin. People with T1D must inject insulin several times a day or wear a pump that continually feeds it into the body in order to stay alive. 
 
As a board member at the JDRF Michigan Great Lakes West Chapter, Clark is in charge of outreach and also supports the national chapter’s online communities. She helps with the local Walk to Cure and Ride to Cure events as well.   

Clark and her husband Steve participated in their first JDRF Ride to Cure Diabetes in 2006, but she didn’t actually finish the entire Death Valley route until the 2009 ride. She says the 11-hour, 103-mile bike ride in 108 degrees that year was “life altering.”

There are about 40-50 riders in West Michigan who get together regularly to bike. Each April, they start training with a “short ride” of 20 miles and work up to 70 miles or more by the end of the summer. 
 
“Once we find a cure for Type 1, I’m never riding my bike more than 20 miles at a time again,” Clark admits.

For now, she and her family will continue to find ways to raise money so JDRF can keep searching for a cure. Clark and her husband plan on riding the 100-mile Death Valley route again this fall and they’re considering riding another 72 miles in the Lake Tahoe Ride to Cure Diabetes, also in the fall. Ellie’s Elephants, a team named after their daughter, will gather in September for the annual Walk to Cure and each August, the family hosts a golf outing fundraiser. Clark estimates she and her family raise around $30,000 each year for JDRF, with approximately $200,000 raised since 2005.

If you want to help JDRF, you don’t have to ride your bike 100 miles across the desert. Here are some other ways you can support this organization:

-    Find out more about JDRF.
-    Volunteer for the Michigan Great Lakes West Chapter.
-    Play in the 8th annual JDRF Ellie Clark Charity Golf Outing on August 3 at the Old Channel Inn in Montague. Email Katie Clark for more information.
-    Walk 5k in the September 15 Walk to Cure at Ah-Nab-Awen Park.
-    Ride in one of the five Ride to Cure bike rides.
-    Like the Michigan Great Lakes West Chapter Bike Team on Facebook.

Source: Katie Clark, Outreach Committee, JDRF Michigan Great Lakes West Chapter
Writer: Heidi Stukkie, Do Good Editor