Is This Ride For Me?
I get this question more than any other. It comes in different forms, but the feeling behind it is always the same:
I'm too old. I'm too young. I'm not a cyclist. I'm not an athlete. I haven't been on a bike in years. I don't own a bike. I wouldn't know where to start. I'd slow everyone down.
If any of that sounds familiar, this post is for you.
Who Does This Ride?
Let me start with my own family, because it tells you everything you need to know about who this ride is for.
In my family, the Ride to Cure Diabetes is for: me, my wife Lindsay, my son Marlon, my dad, my sister, my father-in-law, and my brother-in-law. My mom and my daughter Luca volunteer. My mother-in-law Marilyn was part of this too. Three generations. Different ages, different fitness levels, different reasons for being there. All connected to the same ride.
When I was in my 20s, this ride was about going as fast as I could. I wanted to hammer every mile. In my 30s and 40s, it became about staying active with kids and riding alongside my family as they grew up around this event. The ride has meant something different to me in every chapter of my life, and it will mean something different to you too.
Never done a long ride. Might not even own a bike yet. Looking at this whole thing wondering if it's crazy.
Used to be active. Life happened. Looking for something to get back into, maybe something that actually matters.
Looking for adventure, a challenge, a story to tell. Wants to do something bigger than a 5K.
Kids are grown. Time has opened up. Wants a goal, a community, and a reason to get out of the house on Saturday mornings.
Already rides. Wants to put those miles toward something meaningful and ride with a team that cares about more than Strava segments.
Has a connection to Type 1 Diabetes. A child, a sibling, a parent, themselves. This ride is personal.
I have seen every one of these people on our rides. I have coached every one of them. And I can tell you that the ones who had the best experience were not the fastest or the fittest. They were the ones who decided to show up.
A Conversation I Had This Week
I was on the phone recently with someone who's thinking about joining us. He hasn't been on a bike in a long time. He's navigating some health challenges. He's at a point in his life where he's looking for something physical to commit to, something that could become his thing again, the way sports used to be when he was younger.
He had a lot of questions. What kind of bike do I need? How much should I spend? Do I need special shoes? Am I going to be the slowest person out there?
Here's what I told him: Don't overthink any of it.
You don't need a $5,000 bike. You need a bike that fits you. You don't need to be fast. You need to be consistent. Ride two or three times a week. Get some time in the saddle. Build gradually. The endurance will come.
I told him to visit a couple of local bike shops, test ride a few bikes, and find something comfortable in his budget. I told him to get a helmet, get good shorts, and get some flat-pedal cycling shoes. I told him he could figure the rest out as he goes.
And I told him the most important thing: bike riding gets better with the right people. This isn't a sport you have to do alone. The group makes it fun. The cause makes it meaningful. And the combination of those two things is what keeps people coming back year after year.
He asked me if he'd be ready by the ride. I told him to take a leap of faith. Show up. Decide if you like it. Everything else will follow.
What You Don't Need
You don't need to be a cyclist. You'll become one.
You don't need to be young. Some of our strongest riders are in their 50s and 60s. Cycling is a low-impact sport that is remarkably kind to aging bodies. It's one of the few endurance activities you can start later in life and genuinely excel at.
You don't need to be fast. Our training rides are not races. We ride together. We stop together. Nobody gets left behind.
You don't need expensive gear. You need a safe bike that fits, a helmet, and good shorts. That's it. Everything else, including the clipless pedals, the carbon wheels, and the matching kit, is optional and can come later. Or never. Nobody cares.
You don't need to have Type 1 Diabetes. Many of our riders do. Many don't. Some ride because T1D is in their family. Some ride because they believe in the cause. Some ride because a friend asked them to and they said yes before they could talk themselves out of it. All of those are good reasons.
What You Do Need
A willingness to try. That's it. That's the whole list.
Everything else, the training, the gear, the nutrition, the route knowledge, the group riding skills, that's what this blog exists for. That's what the training rides are for. That's what I'm here for.
I've been coaching this ride for over 20 years. I've helped people who hadn't been on a bike since childhood complete 100 miles. I've watched first-time riders become the people who recruit the next wave of first-time riders. The pattern is always the same: someone decides to show up, they discover they love it, and they can't believe they almost didn't do it.
People sign up for the ride because of the cause. They come back because of the people. There's something about training together over months, suffering up hills together, sharing water bottles and bad jokes at rest stops, and then crossing a finish line together that creates friendships you don't get anywhere else. This ride will surprise you.
So, Is This Ride For You?
If you've read this far, you already know the answer.
You're here because something about this caught your attention. Maybe it's the cause. Maybe it's the challenge. Maybe it's the idea of having something to train for, something bigger than yourself, something that gets you out the door on a Saturday morning with a sense of purpose.
I'm not going to tell you it's easy. Training for a long-distance ride takes commitment. There will be early mornings. There will be sore legs. There will be at least one ride where you wonder what you got yourself into.
But I will tell you this: it's worth it. Every single time.
Reach out to Coach Jon. Come to a training ride. Bring whatever bike you have. We'll figure the rest out together.
The only thing you'll regret is not signing up sooner.
Breakthrough T1D Ride to Cure Diabetes. Coach Jon has been riding since 2003, coaching since 2006, and waiting for you to show up since before you knew this ride existed.