Richmond father completes 4,300-mile cross-country bike ride, raises over $240K for type 1 diabetes

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RICHMOND, Va. — A Richmond father will complete a more than 4,300-mile cross-country bicycle journey Sunday, arriving in Virginia Beach to conclude a fundraising ride for Type 1 diabetes research and advocacy.

Pat McAleer rode from Washington state to Virginia Beach for Breakthrough T1D, an organization that funds research focused on the cure, prevention, and treatment of Type 1 diabetes. The ride has raised over $240,000 toward a goal of $250,000.

Pat and his wife, Molly, personally covered all costs associated with the trip, ensuring every dollar donated goes directly to Breakthrough T1D.

"I feel great," Pat said at a stop in Richmond on Thursday. "It's awesome going 4300 miles across the United States ... met all kinds of great people, but most importantly, had a mission in mind the whole way across."

Watch: Richmond father to bike 5,000 miles for Type 1 diabetes research

The journey was inspired by Pat's daughter, Mary-Kate McAleer, who was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in 2009.

"He always wanted to do something, I guess, insane for type 1 diabetes," Mary-Kate said. "I don't know anybody else who has a dad like that."

Pat said he maintained a daily ritual to keep the mission front of mind throughout the ride. Each morning, he wrote the name of someone living with type 1 diabetes on a piece of duct tape and sent a private video to that person or their family.

"Every day I start my day with an intention. Take out a piece of duct tape, tear it off, put it on here, and write someone's name. It's the name of someone who lives with type 1 diabetes. I make a quick video. I send it off to them, or if it's a kid, I send it to their parents. I never mention it on social media. It's a private disease," Pat said.

"So then at the end of the day, I pulled it off and the first day it was Mary-Kate, my daughter, stuck it on the bag, and then every day it just kind of rolled from there," Pat said. "It's been a way to keep this mission front of mind each and every day as I come across the country."

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Jimmy English, a friend of Pat's, said the cause is particularly meaningful for his family.

"My wife has type 1 diabetes. She's had it since she was 15, so it's near and dear to our heart. And when he said he was doing this, we were all in support, and I think it was nice for Pat when we met him up there not to have to think about where he was sleeping, what he was eating, where he was going," English said.

One of Pat's most memorable encounters of the journey came during a rest stop at the edge of a cornfield, where he met a man named Joe.

"When I stopped to take a break, I was at the edge of a cornfield, and a guy rolls up in a blue pickup truck and it seemed like it might be a situation like that, you know, 'what are you doing here?' kind of thing, and I said 'I'm sorry, I'm just taking a break in the shade here. I'm a charity rider, and it's Breakthrough T1D for type 1 diabetes,'" Pat said. "And the conversation turned in an instant. Then he told me that his wife had passed from complications, and I was stunned ... and I just asked him to tell me more, and we spent the next few minutes, he told me that she had had diabetes as a child. They went to do some major surgery on her legs, and she was unable to survive. And that conversation in that cornfield with Joe ... really brought it home as to why I'm doing what I'm doing."

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Pat stopped in Richmond on Thursday to visit friends before making the final push to Virginia Beach. At the heart of the ride, he said, is his love for his daughter.

"Just to remind my daughter Mary Kate how much she means to me, how much I love her, and I just wish all the best for her, and we're with her 100% on this, and we won't stop until we have a cure for her and everyone else that lives with this disease," Pat said.

For Mary-Kate, watching her father complete thousands of miles on her behalf is difficult to put into words.

"To have him do it because it's something I deal with, it's beyond touching. I don't have words for it," Mary-Kate said.

Donations can be made at ridepatride.org, and all contributions go directly to Breakthrough T1D.

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