Help cure type-1 diabetes.

On May 6, I’m going to ride my bike 105 miles through Death Valley. My cause is the same as the last time I attempted this feat: to raise money for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. I’m asking for your help.

Forget biking through the desert: Type-1 diabetes is the ultimate test of endurance.

Sometimes, it’s hard for me to comprehend that I’ve had this disease for more than three years now. On some days, it feels like I was diagnosed yesterday. On other days, it feels like ages, and it seems as if I can barely remember a time before the myriad of strange duties that occupy me now: never leaving the house without my glucometer, checking my blood 12 times a day or more, never being far from a ready source of glucose, never forgetting the insulin pump that my life depends on.

In a way, I’m lucky. I can remember eating a simple bowl of ice cream without having to analyze its carbohydrate content. Almost all type-1 diabetics are diagnosed in childhood — a child can be in kindergarten one day and wake up in the hospital the next, as the consequences of weeks of untreated, sky-high blood sugar catch up with her. As a result, many diabetic children don’t have memories of a time like that. (Some think it’s better that way; I’m not so sure.)

Anyway, if I’ve learned anything in the past three years, it’s that living with diabetes is a marathon, not a sprint. You’re not going to prevail over diabetes alone — you just have to endure. And hope for a cure.

The JDRF’s mission.

That’s where the JDRF comes in. The JDRF is a constant source of hope for the more than 1 million Americans suffering from juvenile diabetes. It funds the research that may one day lead to a cure. Since its inception, JDRF has provided more than $680 million to diabetes research worldwide. And the JDRF is renowned for its efficient operations, spending more than 80 cents of every dollar directly on diabetes research and earning an "A" rating for efficiency from the American Institute of Philanthropy.

Recently, this has resulted in some promising developments: transplants of islet cells (which produce insulin) have meant that a few type-1 diabetics have been able to stop taking insulin via syringe or pump. Unfortunately, for the rest of their lives, the transplant recipients must take powerful drugs to suppress their immune systems (which would otherwise destroy the transplanted cells), and those drugs have their own serious risks. Still, it’s a beginning. And stem-cell research may solve this problem by allowing type-1 diabetics to grow their own, genetically compatible islet cells.

How you can help.

My goal is to raise at least $6,000 for the JDRF with my pedaling. Please help me by donating on-line at www.ride.jdrf.org/donate. It takes only a few seconds. All contributions are tax-deductible.

My dream is that a cure for diabetes will be found within my lifetime — but each day counts, for me and for the others who suffer from this disease. With your help, the JDRF can make that dream happen sooner rather than later. Thank you for supporting me and the JDRF in the fight against diabetes.

Matt McHale