Tredyffrin Engineer Plans Long Ride for Diabetes Research

Berwyn resident Stephen Burgo has been riding his bike a lot lately. His rides are getting progressively longer—30 miles, 40, 50—as he gears up for the big one on July 17.

That's when he'll ride 100 miles through Vermont for the 2013 Burlington Ride to Cure Diabetes. He's raised more than $5,000 for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Fund, which is organizing the ride, and he's hoping to raise more.

Burgo, who works as Tredyffrin Township's engineer, has been living with Type 1 diabetes for 17 years.

When it first began to affect him, he thought he was getting the flu. At the time, he was a 22-year-old grad student who had just returned from a service trip over winter break, and he felt run-down. He tried getting rest and drinking lots of fluids, but he still felt tired and thirsty.

Then, one day, he woke up and his perfect vision had turned blurry.

A few days and doctor visits later, he was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, a chronic disease in which his body does not produce insulin, a hormone needed to break down sugars.

Since then, he's had to wear an insulin pump at all times. He wears it as he bikes along the Schuylkill River Trail. He wore it April 21, as he biked 22 miles home from his Uncle Dave's 40th birthday party. And he wore it the first time he passed the 50-mile mark on May 4.

While other bicyclists might wonder if they have enough energy to climb the next hill, Burgo has to worry about his blood sugar crashing mid-ride.

"It's 365-24 hours a day; there's never time off," Burgo said. "You can't just take a pill. Even if you have the pump, you have to test your blood sugar and worry about what you're eating."

Every time he eats, he has to figure out exactly what the food will do to him—how many carbs, how much insulin he'll need to offset it, how active he'll be after the meal. He manages it quietly, as he says on his fundraising page:

T1D is sometimes silent, because I work hard to manage and stay on it, only those who really know me even realize it.

But he's spreading the word now—he has more than 80 donors and hopes to find more. He's even working on getting the dealership that sold him his Subaru to chip in.

"They're very customer-oriented. Every so often, they send me emails, 'We hope you're satisfied. If you have any questions, let us know. We value you as a customer,'" Burgo said.

More information:

• Stephen Burgo's JDRF fundraising site
• JDRF July 17 Burlington Ride website