Hudsonites join JettRide team for first leg of cross-country ride
The JettRide team, a group of thirteen teens and three adults, is bicycling its way across the country to raise awareness and money for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD).By: By Jordan Willi, Hudson Star-Observer
- Adam, front left, and Gillian Yoerg, front middle, lead the pack of riders
- The JettRide team cyclists
- Map of JettRide tours
Making the journey across the country is a great accomplishment for anyone, let alone a group of teenagers riding for a good cause.
The JettRide team, a group of thirteen teens and three adults, is bicycling its way across the country to raise awareness and money for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD). This marks the third year (2007, 2010, 2011) a team has been put together to make the cross-country ride.
Duchenne is the most common and deadly childhood genetic disorder in the world and affects one in every 3,500 male births.
The JettRide tour is run through the Jett Foundation, an organization set up by Christine and Stephen McSherry in 2001 when they found out their five-year-old son, Jett, had DMD. The foundation is dedicated to finding and raising money for DMD research in the hopes of curing the disease.
“Almost every child on the tour has someone they are close to or know someone with Duchenne,” Arlen Hall, group leader for all three JettRide tours, said. “All the kids come with a bond and know what it is like for a brother or cousin or friend to go through living with this disorder.”
This year the team started its journey last Wednesday at the Mall of America. On the first day, the teens, ranging in age from 12 to 18 years, rode 48 miles to Hudson where they stopped for the night at the home of Caroline Wooten, and her children Gillian and Adam Yoerg. Both siblings participated in previous JettRide tours, in 2007 and 2010 respectively.
“I found out about the ride online and got connected with the group. Finishing the tour was like tying off a bundle of experiences. You feel so alive and it feels so good to be tired,” Gillian Yoerg, 21, said. “This year, I wanted to welcome the kids and make them feel at home. They are really young; a lot younger than me when I rode the first time.”
Each member of the team raised a set amount of money to be donated to the Jett Foundation. Once they reached their goal, they were provided with a bicycle by the foundation. The group started training for the ride in April once the snow had melted and the roads and trails were clear.
“We are riding from the Mall of America to Point Pleasant, N.J. That is 1,454 miles all together and will take us over a month to get there,” Hall said.
During the trip, the kids do all the work, from unloading the trailer to cooking the team’s meals every day. Doing all the chores, according to Hall, is a way for the teens to develop leadership skills, team work and to learn about nutrition.
“I always tell the parents to say goodbye to their child, because they will be young adults when they come back,” Hall said.
For Adam Yoerg and others who have been on the tour, riding became a part of life. Time ceased to matter, because the group would get where they were going when they got there.
“I was daunted at first, but you train yourself as you go,” Adam Yoerg said. “The first week is tough but you get used to it. You make friends with people on the ride that you wouldn’t have become friends with unless you were stuck on a bike with them for so long.”
Colby Chase, 14, and John Fontes, 15, are both on this year’s tour, but their reasons for riding are not the same.
“My mom is good friends with Jett’s mom and that is how I heard about the JettRide,” Chase, who is on his first tour, said. “It is for a good cause and is a really fun challenge. It is like we are giving our legs for the kids who can’t ride.”
Fontes is on his second tour riding for his twin cousins who have both have DMD.
“My cousins told me about it and I wanted to help them out,” Fontes said. “When we meet kids with Duchenne, they get really happy and they have a lot of fun when we play with them.”
The tour goes from July 6 to Aug. 5 when the team is scheduled to arrive in Point Pleasant, N.J. The team will make stops in different cities along the way to raise awareness and meet children with DMD.
For more information on the Jett Foundation and DMD, go to www.jettfoundation.org.
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