This past month we gathered our Breakthrough T1D My Ride participants – the Metro Roadsters – to celebrate the impact they made last year during the Ride season. Their hard work, both on and off the bike, increased the amount of research Breakthrough T1D can fund and holds so much promise for kids and adults living with T1D.

During the annual Ride Celebration we presented well-deserved awards and reviewed some stats from this past Ride season.

2020 was a challenging year but it did not stop this team from staying on course! We had 97 total Metro Roadsters join us and 44 of them were new riders! 25 riders reached the goal of raising $2,020 for the year 2020 and collectively this team raised over $200,000 for T1D research! Now that is something amazing to celebrate!

And, it’s not a Ride Celebration without giving out some funny (and serious) awards! We enlisted the help of some Ride Champions and Coaches to present the awards to their fellow riders.

Breakthrough T1D Development Manager Maggie Ford kicked it off by handing out the first award – Top Recruiter – to Elaine Pearson.

Elaine reached out about Breakthrough T1D My Ride in August and took the initiative to rally 12 colleagues from Ascensia Diabetes Care to join her. She challenged the team to ride a collective 3,892 miles (representing the distance between their company’s Parsippany, NJ and Basel, Switzerland office). As a team they raised $3,348 AND surpassed their mileage goal riding a total of 4,021 miles throughout October. She did an amazing job recruiting and rallying her colleagues and so the award for Top Recruiter went to Elaine Pearson!

Next up, Jeanette Mackesy presented the “Never Without a Tomato” award to Brian Quinn. For those who don’t know, the jersey tomato is the official emblem of the Metro Roadsters. During the Ride weekend, our team proudly wears a plastic tomato on top of their helmet so we can easily spot our fellow teammates on the roads! Even though we did not all ride together this year, it did not stop Brian from making sure he brought a tomato along for his ride… this time is was a real tomato. And, since he couldn’t attach the real tomato to his helmet, he decided to do this instead. We awarded Brian a tomato bell to add to his bike so he’ll never be without a tomato again!

 

Steve Moldt presented the next hilarious award “Kind of a Big Dill”! Steve rode with teammate Kelly Jackson and Coach John Kramarz for their Ride this past year. During their 100 mile bike ride they had stopped at a 7-Eleven where Kelly stocked up on a bag of pickles (classic ride snack!) and offered to share the brine saying “if only we had some kind of shot glass”. They quickly got creative and used the top of their water bottle to take pickle juice shots in the 7-Eleven parking lot! Therefore, we gave Kelly Jackson the “Kind of a Big Dill” award with a pickle juice shot glass and pickle juice shooters for her next ride!

 

An award we hand out each year is the Top Fundraiser Award. This coveted shiny, and sometimes blinking, dollar sign necklace was presented by one of our Ride Champions and fellow Top Fundraiser award recipient a couple years ago, Jerry Keselman! As hard as Jerry tries, it always seemed that this particular Metro Roadster was one step ahead of him – or should we say dollars ahead of him – on the fundraiser leaderboard! Sometimes Jerry thought he had a shot at the lead, and then would get blown away by this rider’s effort. And, truthfully he probably doesn’t even realize Jerry is competing with him! This Roadster rides for his daughter Zoe who was diagnosed with T1D when she was just 3 years old. He has now participated in his 6th ride and is a relentless fundraiser. The Top Fundraiser award went to Jonas Landau for raising $10,140 to turn type one to type none!

 

Our Roadster Award – you guessed it – a trophy with a tomato on top – was awarded to Brian Donlin and presented by Ride Champion Steve Moldt. About halfway through the year, Brian found out he needed to wear a brace for 3 months because his vertebra had compressed which prevented him from getting in all the necessary training for his ride. However, we have to give it to him. This did not stop Brian from posting almost everyday on social media, sharing updates and continuously fundraising. And lets not forget how he broke doctors orders and went out for a little spin on his bike during Ride Day – because he had to ride with his team (even if it was from a far)! Brian rides for his nephew and his enthusiasm, commitment and passion for Ride combined with his spirit truly embodies the qualities of a Roadster so we were very happy to present him with the Metro Roadster Award!

Last but certainly not least was the “Gift of Gab” award which went to Joanna Southerland and was presented by Eve Goodnow and Coach John Kramarz. Joanna is feisty, passionate and relentless about educating others on T1D  and asking for donations to cure the disease. It doesn’t matter if she is on a ride or on social media, or in Italy, Joanna does not give up and neither does her lipstick! It’s a running joke at ride that every year she finishes her 100 mile bike ride with her lipstick looking fabulous and perfect. But this past year, Joanna didn’t just ride 100 miles she rode over 12,000 miles! 3800 miles for the 38 years her son has lived with T1D and 7100 miles for her age. Quite an amazing accomplishment! We presented Joanna with a mask which has bright red lips so everyone can still see her lipstick even when she is riding! We are so lucky to have her on this NJ team (even through she lives in Florida)!

We also thanked our amazing Breakthrough T1D Coaches and Champions! This year definitely looked different but our coaches and champions were still willing to help out wherever & whenever. They supported our riders, kept promoting Ride and led by example. A big thank you went out to our Breakthrough T1D Coaches: John Kramarz and Zach Orden & Breakthrough T1D Champions: Steve Moldt and Jerry Keselman.

Jeff Krietzman closed out our Ride Celebration by highlighting our new riders and thanking them for joining us this year. Its Jeff’s tradition to hug and welcome each new rider during Ride weekend and he missed doing that this past year! Jeff spoke about his first Ride experience and importance of their participation again in 2021. Watch Jeff’s recap here.

Shout out to this incredible chapter ride team, the Metro Roadsters for their commitment and determination in 2020. Together they rode 50,000 miles and raised over $200,000 to support breakthroughs that transform the lives of people living with T1D, until we find a cure. Thank you so much riders!

And…..we are so excited to have an even bigger and better 2021 Ride season! We hope you’ll join us!

Registration for the 2021 Breakthrough T1D Ride is NOW OPEN at ride.jdrf.org! This year, we plan to offer several options for those interested and comfortable participating in training rides and other in-person cycling events (once it’s safe to do so), in addition to having a presence on online platforms like Zwift and Peloton.

Throughout the season, we’ll offer ways for you to be part of the Breakthrough T1D community. From in–person activities and training rides to pop-up challenges and cycling forums, we’ll offer an evolving calendar of events that let you chart your own course and earn rewards for your fundraising success. No matter how you choose to ride this year, your registration is your doorway into a Breakthrough T1D Ride season full of new opportunities.

For questions about Breakthrough T1D Ride, please contact Development Manager Maggie Ford at mford@BreakthroughT1D.org.