Like many cyclists who ride for a cause, Victor DeRubeis found inspiration in a relative facing adversity.
His impetus was the declining health of his mother-in-law, Doreen Moul, who was dealing with Alzheimer’s disease.
“I first wanted to ride in 2004,” said DeRubeis, an Everett native who is the music director at the East Weymouth Congregational Church.
“Doreen had deteriorated to the point where her husband, Paul, could no longer care for her and she had been a resident of Pope Nursing Home in Weymouth for more than a year,” he said. “While she received excellent care, it angered me that the disease had robbed my three children of knowing their grandmother.”
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DeRubeis sat out 2004 because of sciatica, but was determined to ride the following year, and chose a two-day, 150-mile event from Brattleboro, Vt., to Boston.
“I did another two-day in 2006, and continued when the event switched to a one-day, 100-mile event in 2007,” he said.
On July 18, the 58-year-old DeRubeis will participate in the Ride to End Alzheimer’s (www.alzmass.org/ride), his 11th pedal for the cause.
“While I am the only rider in my family, I like that it’s a family cause and has been so for us since 2007,” he said.
His wife, Diane, and their children, Paul, Emma, and Sarah, volunteer at one of the six pit stops along the route, which starts in the Devens community off Route 2, and wends through Central Massachusetts and into New Hampshire before returning to Devens.
“There’s also a kind of morbid-yet-positive camaraderie, hearing the stories of parents, grandparents, brothers and sisters, aunt and uncles who have had their brains destroyed by Alzheimer’s,” he said. “It’s the anger at the disease, and the urgency of the need, that drives us. But I’m also extremely grateful to have good health, and this is a way of expressing that thanks.”
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That’s a familiar refrain among charity cyclists.
After her daughter, Lauren, was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at age 6, Moira Stanford took up the cause, pedaling to benefit research into juvenile diabetes.
“I got on a bike for the first time in 25 years back in the spring of 2012, when I started training for the JDRF Ride to Cure Diabetes in Death Valley,” said Stanford, a Plymouth resident.
“I mean, why start small? . . . We had a walk team for years. Now, with her grown, I needed to find a new way to raise funds for research. So I decided to try riding.”
Now Stanford finds an annual ride to support her daughter, and the cause.
There are hundreds of local cyclists with similar stories.
“I started riding in memory of my sister-in-law, Susan Abbott DeIulis, who passed away over 10 years ago from metastatic melanoma,” said Thomas J. Kelly Jr. , a 42-year-old Hamilton resident.
“I love the common purpose of the charity ride. Everyone involved has a singular purpose leading up to and during the event itself. It is very humbling.”
Eastern Massachusetts is home to dozens of charity bike rides from May through late October, combining great routes with great causes.
Two of the biggest are the Best Buddies Challenge (www.bestbuddieschallenge.org), which benefits people with developmental disabilities, in early June, and the juggernaut Pan-Mass. Challenge (www.pmc.org) in early August, to aid the Jimmy Fund’s efforts in cancer research and treatment.
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“I love the fact that even though I am not a doctor, a professional fund-raiser, or Olympic athlete, I can get out there, raise money to battle cancer, be a small part of something that has such a huge positive impact on other people,” said Deborah Logan, a 52-year-old from Ipswich who rides in the PMC.
“There are many terrific rides that support important causes, and they are all doable for just about anyone.”
The PMC, which started in 1980 as a two-day ride from Sturbridge to Provincetown on the tip of Cape Cod, now offers a variety of shorter routes to allow more riders to get involved.
Three other upcoming rides of note:
■ The Pain in the Mass Tour (www.paininthemass.org) to help children with epilepsy, Aug. 22-23, from Bolton to Mount Greylock.
■ The Ride for Angels to benefit Angel Flight Northeast on Sept. 13 in North Andover.
■ The Rodman Ride for Kids (www.rodmanforkids.org) in Foxborough on Sept. 26.
“The rides give the opportunity to meet others with the same goals,” said Beverly’s Edgar de León, 59, who rides in the annual North Shore Tour de Cure for diabetes. “They create the framework for sharing experiences and to practice your favorite sport. Charity rides aren’t for racing or personal glory.”
The rides vary in size and financial commitment, allowing almost any cyclist to find the right fit. Most charity rides also offer a mix of routes and distances, from 15 to 200 miles. While some of those distances might seem daunting for cycling neophytes, a modicum of training and dedicated support staffs make them feasible.
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“The PMC came up with a great slogan a few years back: ‘Commit — You’ll figure it out,’ ” said Logan. “I think that pretty much sums it up.”
Looking for a charity ride ? Visit www.charitybicycleride.com for a listing of events in Massachusetts and across New England.
Brion O’Connor can be reached at brionoc@verizon.net.