Imagine a dream where Type 1 Diabetes is a Dragon, and you can slay it on a guillotine and end the disease forever!
That sounds a little crazy, but that’s just to throw you off guard for my next proposal:
We can end Type 1 Diabetes by riding our bicycles.
Full stop.
See? Now that sounds perfectly sane after the Dragon Concept.
I’m looking for up to 23 riders to join me in celebrating Revolutions this July, and raise funds for Breakthrough T1D! (Formerly JDRF)
We start in Frenchtown NJ on Bastille Day Weekend, July 11th at 9AM, and ride to the Trenton Battle Monument in Trenton, NJ, all on the crushed rock surface, with a round trip distance of 100 km. Part of me only wants to ONLY use metric (because of the French Revolution thing) but this is about 62 miles.
We’ll be riding on the canal path of the beautiful Delaware Raritan Canal Path.
We’ll be riding through the quaint River Towns of Frenchtown, Stockton, Lumberville PA, Lambertville, Washington Crossing, and Trenton itself.
Too much? That’s ok, the nice thing is that you can go as far as you want and turn back for a shorter ride.
If you “only” went to Lambertville and back to Frenchtown, that’s an incredible ride and has great coffee stops, cafes, restaurants and even an awesome homemade ice cream stop (with Vegan options and Gluten Free ice cream sandwiches!)
Doing the full Route from Frenchtown to Trenton Battle Monument is special though and has some deeper meaning.
We’re riding from Frenchtown on Bastille Day, and going to a monument in Trenton, the Trenton Battle Monument.
We’re celebrating REVOLUTIONS!
BUT not just Revolutions. We’re celebrating TURNING POINTS in those Revolutions, because we believe we are at a turning point in our battle to end Type 1 diabetes. We are close to a Breakthrough. We’re so close now that we changed the name of the organization!
JDRF got us to where we are, Breakthrough T1D will take us the rest of the way!
So how do you ‘sign up’ and join me on my Quixotic quest to Storm the Bastille and Turn Type One into Type None?
Four Steps are required for “Storm the Bastille!”
Here’s the overview:
–Sign up for a Breakthrough T1D! “MyRide”. It’s free and you get a fundraising web page where your friends and family can make donations to your ride.
You can do that here: https://www2.breakthrought1d.org/site/TR?fr_id=10667&pg=entry
-To come along on MY “MyRide” I call “Storm the Bastille!”, I will require a minimum of $100 for your fundraising. That gets you on “Storm the Bastille”.
The $100 gets you on the Ride, but there’s goodies along the way to encourage more fundraising!
–Fill in an entry form and email it to me. I just need to know who is coming, contact info, etc, and I need to limit the ride to 23 Riders, First to send in an entry form and raise $100 gets on the ride. I’m just looking for basic info, safety contacts, email address, any allergy information, etc.
– Pass a Test about Diabetes! This is a bit different, but the last thing I require is a short TEST on Type One Diabetes. Don’t panic! It’s not too difficult. The Answer Key itself contains a message!
“But WHY a TEST John??”.
Well, over time I have done several organized rides for charities, usually connected to a disease or illness. Some of these were great rides with great friends and memories. The MS 150 in Michigan comes to mind. I rode with my brother and some of his friends in the early 1990s. 75 miles to Lansing one day, then 75 miles back the next. Stayed at the state college dorms, they had a dance party and good food.
I think back to rides like that and realized I learned nothing about MS that weekend! So when I developed the idea for “Storm the Bastille!” I wanted to address this shortcoming. I might add, Diabetes Type 1 is a disease where there is much misunderstanding and in fact bullying and punch lines that punch people. I wanted an inexpensive entry level ride where there were likely going to be riders with no concept of what Type 1 Diabetes was. I had no idea myself until my daughter was diagnosed in 2006.
I started Riding for JDRF in 2012 and became a Coach in 2013. That means I lead Training Rides locally through the ride season. When you sign up for “MyRide”, you’re welcome to come on our training rides.
Here’s the Test:
After Ride Celebration!
We’re planning to have a buffet Ride Celebration meal at Artie’s Bar and Grill for an additional $20 per rider. https://www.artiesbarandgrill.com
Some suggestions:
After a mid-July ride on a crushed rock path, you’re probably going to feel a bit dusty and sweaty. I’d recommend bringing a few washcloths, a gallon of water, and a beach towel to allow a change out of sweaty bike clothes. Just enough to spruce up a bit when we go to Artie’s .
This will be a mildly supported Gravel Ride. As you travel down the Delaware canal path the towns offer much in terms of support with food and drink to stay hydrated and fueled up. But once you pass Lambertville, the coffee shops and restaurants dry up. My solution for this is having a ‘Mobile Rest Stop’ at Washington Crossing parking lot. My wife Karen will have her Saturn VUE parked at Washington Crossing State Park, right along the canal path. In the back will be a few coolers of water, drink mixes, bananas, peanut butter and jelly sammiches, fig bars…the usual suspects.
So now you can tank up at Washington Crossing, ride the 10 miles to Trenton, then 10 miles back to Washington Crossing, then tank up again if necessary.
She’ll have a list of everyone planning to do the full route to Trenton.
When all the riders going to Trenton are heading back to Frenchtown , the Mobile Rest Stop will drive up to the Pedestrian Bridge at Raven Rock, where you can tank up again for the final leg of the ride back into Frenchtown.
I’ll be posting more info and details and photos of the route after the Ride is officially launched.
Any Questions? You can contact me via email : StormTheBastille@icloud.com
Storm The Bastille! 