This year my team of Los Angeles riders will be participating in the JDRF Ride to Cure Diabetes in Whitefish, Montana. More than 100 miles over the Rockies. We will travel these miles to help fund research to find a cure for all types of diabetes. My updated personal goal is to raise $7,000, twice the minimum.

This journey began in 1983, when I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. I've been living with it ever since. As of today there is no end of the road, as it will never go away.

You may not know it, but diabetes will kill more Americans this year than AIDS, cancer, or emphysema. It will leave thousands of others blind, on dialysis, or in wheelchairs. It will rob some of the joy of childhood from millions of young people who are afflicted with this terrible disease.

JDRF is a champion fighter against diabetes in all its forms. Since 1970 it has given over $1 trillion to diabetes research — more than any other nongovernmental health agency in the world. Its contributions have funded important medical breakthroughs that have improved the lives of people with diabetes everywhere.

We are getting closer, but there is much more to be done. Someday, we hope to find a cure for diabetes. With the money we raise in the JDRF Ride to Cure Diabetes we hope to reach the end of our journey a little sooner.