Ride4Gabe: Cycling for Duchenne

Nine states, 2,200 miles, 11 days — and all on a bike. 

This is what Michael Staley, Wes Bates and Payne Griffin will undertake to raise awareness for Duchenne muscular dystrophy during the third annual Ride4Gabe. 

In 2008, at just 3 years old, Gabe Griffin was diagnosed with Duchenne, and since then his family has done everything they can to find a cure. Duchenne is genetic disorder that slowly weakens and kills muscles, and most of those who are diagnosed are restricted to a wheelchair before they leave their teens. 

The Griffin family first met Staley, who was at the time chief of staff for Rep. Spencer Bachus, when they went to Washington, D.C. seeking help in getting FDA approval of a drug. The family had come in to see Bachus, but he was out of the office, and the family met with Staley instead. After listening to the Griffins tell their story, Staley said he decided to join their cause and soon became a leading voice in the fight for Gabe’s cure. 

“I fell into the cause,” Staley said. “I wanted to help them understand the law and the FDA and be a part of what they were trying to do.”

Staley helped start Ride4Gabe, now an annual bike ride, as a way to raise awareness for Duchenne and for Gabe. Staley already had a love for cycling and decided that combining cycling with Gabe’s fight was the perfect way to contribute. However, Staley could not make this enormous trip by himself, which is why he recruited Wes Bates for the 2014 ride. Staley said that he was able to find Bates on Facebook and then the two were able to pull together a few more people to act as the crew. 

The ride successfully captured people’s attention across the country as Staley and Bates made their way through 11 states in 2014. 

This year’s ride will go through nine states, but the ride itself will be much more challenging, Staley said. The route will run from Maine to Mobile so that the cyclists can end in their home state. While just the three men have officially decided to ride the total 2,200 miles, other cyclists are encouraged to join for segments of the trip anywhere along the route.

“We chose the bicycle ride to get people’s attention,” Staley said. “It’s not every day that somebody chooses to ride the Tour de France in half the number of days.” 

This ride requires an immense amount of training, planning and sheer willpower, Staley said, but at the end of the day it serves its purpose. Any new attention toward the Hope for Gabe Foundation is well worth the effort. 

“When it hurts or when I’m tired, I think about Gabe and all of the people who can’t ride bikes or who will never be able to ride a bike,” Staley said. “That is my motivation.”

Ride4Gabe is meant bring awareness to the Hope for Gabe Foundation, a nonprofit that was founded in 2010. The foundation is working to make a change for future children who will be diagnosed with Duchenne, and hopefully eradicate it altogether. As of right now, Duchenne is a terminal diagnosis, but access to proper medicine could change that in the future. 

Just this year, the foundation was able to see the Alabama legislature pass the Gabe Griffin Right to Try Act. In short, the state will now allow access to drugs that could possibly help patients facing terminal cases, as long as the doctor, patient and the drug company all agree that it is the best option.

“We wanted to send a message to Washington,” Staley said. “Dying patients should have access to drugs that could save their life, and [we] don’t believe that the FDA should be the only barrier to getting those drugs.” 

While this was a big step in the right direction, Staley said there is still so much more to be done in the fight to end Duchenne. 

“Our mission will never be a success until we have done every single possible thing we can do to get Gabe a treatment for Duchenne,” Staley says. 

Eradicating a genetic disorder is no easy feat, and the Hope for Gabe Foundation will need the continued support of the community and nation to be able to accomplish their mission, Staley said. This can be done through monetary donations, as well as dedicated time, especially to help coordinate and organize Ride4Gabe. 

To see what you can do to help eradicate Duchenne, visit ride4gabe.com or hopeforgabe.org and join the cause, or donate at gofundme.com/Ride4Gabe.