STORIES

Team Captain and Coach

I had been serving on the local JDRF Board of Directors helping with developing the Walk to Cure, golf tournaments, government relations and community outreach. I was already sold on the idea that JDRF is the most effective path toward a cure. Then I met David Nestvold, another board member, who has type 1 diabetes himself and had built his life and health around the benefits of cycling. I wasn't a rider at all then. In fact, I was intimidated with the thought of riding 100 miles in one day so I said I'd commit to 33 miles. By the time David was through coaching us that year our entire team rode 100 miles each! With that kind of dedication David now goes by the name "Fearless Leader" and he's still enthusiastically coaching 5 years later. I'd have to say, without David, I'd have never gotten involved. (Read more)

Our Stories...

 · A teenage son who has had to call 911 for his father

 · An eight year old girl with diabetes who loves to ride her bike

 · A friend who rides in support of the JDRF cause and in hope of a cure

 · A teenage boy who rides for his friend’s father

 · A businessman who uses cycling as a healthy way to cope with diabetes

 · A husband who received an islet transplant

 · A father who rides for his son

 · A sister who rides for her brother

 · A mother who watches her daughter get through yet another seizure

What we do…

 · Social and training rides

 · Fundraising for the JDRF

 · Social events

 · Participation in JDRF events

 · Shop nights

 · Bicycle fit and repair clinics

 · Coaching

As JDRF ride program leader, his responsibilities include community outreach family oriented rides and coaching riders in preparation for their first century rides.  In 2005 he was recognized by Boeing for his community volunteer activities.  He has participated on Cascade Bicycle Club (CBC) commuter challenge teams and various CBC rides, and (finally) became a CBC ride leader in 2004 and leads rides ranging from the Easy "Riding with Diabetes" to the Strenuous "Killer Hills of Newcastle" (David is rumored to actually like hills).  In 2005 he and his 15 year old son Lucas finished the CBC's Seattle to Portland (STP) bicycle ride.  This year David worked with the CBC to establish JDRF participation in the CBC Pedal Power program (so now you can ride the STP and raise funds for the JDRF!).  For 2006 in addition to leading CBC rides and coaching JDRF riders, David plans a US trans-con fund raising ride for the JDRF.  David lives with his wife Abigail and three children, Lucas, Jacob and Emma in Bellevue. 

Eric Gabrielson (cont.)

Fundraising

At first glance, the fundraising goals for each rider seemed scary. I remember being frightened to commit before my first ride, but then I thought of my son. He was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at age 13 and he had told me many times he'd lost his carefree childhood to diabetes. Raising dollars for a great cause immediately seemed much easier than my son suffering a lifetime with this nasty disease.

From the beginning, my fundraising has centered on my "Ride with Me" shirt. For a minimum donation I print the name of each donor's honoree on the shirt that I proudly wear throughout the Ride. "Ride with Me" has been very successful and I derive more than fundraising from doing this. Every shirt remains an emotional monument to everyone honored on them.

What the Ride means to me

At each Ride I meet so many like-minded folk so willing to share their many challenges with diabetes that I know my time and efforts preparing for each Ride are a great investment. The payoff is much more than funding cutting edge diabetes research. Here are some of the benefits I firmly believe each rider receives:

* Staying in excellent shape and health

* Sharing in a physical challenge brings team members closer

* Learning that fundraising for the cure is honorable. For every "no" you'll likely find an enthusiastic "YES!"

* Your family and team will rally around you

Riding for a cure has changed my life for the better and I want many others to have a similar experience - I promise you'll never forget it!

By Emma Nestvold

Sometimes I wish God would give me super powers. Escaping from a handful of chariots loaded with angry warriors by crossing the bottom of the ocean would be cool. Even just making the end of the day go a little faster would be helpful. In fact, there have been several times when I question that God even exists, but that's not a problem now. What God gave me today was better than $1,000,000,000.

In aisle 6, as we looked at the cat food, there was a funny look in my dad's eyes. He was looking at the cat food, but it was as if he were far, far away. Like deep in thought. "Dad, this one's a pretty good deal. And we don't need too big of a package—just enough to fill up the bin.”

"Yeah, sure." His eyes stopped concentrating. "DAD!" His head flopped over. He began to lose balance. I caught him but his weight was more than I could hold. His empty body fell to the ground. The crack hurt. A lot.

I ran to the front desk. "911", "He's type 1 diabetic." My mind got scrambled but I knew what to do. A larger lady picked up a phone. I went back to aisle 6. Three people were already around him. "I need to call my mom." One of the ladies stood up. "There's no reception here, take it outside." She handed me a flip phone. . . ."mom . . ." Mom told me she'd find someone to come be with me. I looked around. "Who gave me this phone?," I thought to myself. I hadn't even looked at the lady. I ran outside; someone was already there, waiting for the ambulance, holding her son close to her. The sound of it got louder. We led them right in the store. As I walked past the check-out a boy a little older than me said, "Is that your dad?" "Yeah". I went back to the commotion. I gave the men my dad's bag with his license and medical stuff. Then, I waited.

The packaged blue soap stared at me. I stared right back, until a lady came up to, me asking for her phone. She rubbed my back and left. I waited for a while until Margaret arrived. She gave me a big hug. I felt like crying, but her glasses went into my face with the tight hug and it distracted me.

We waited some more, "so can you tell me your name?" They began to question my dad . . .

Lucas finally showed up. With him there, my heart lifted. He called mom just to ask where the "good" jelly beans were. I followed him around after that. We left at last. Dad was put into the ambulance. I watched as he was laid onto the bed. The bikes were in the van and we were ready to go home. Margaret followed us. We didn't unpack the bikes, just went inside.