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SOMERS, N.Y. Lincolndales Bruce Reisdorf will shuffle off to Buffalo in a few weeks to bicycle in the American Diabetes Associations fundraising Tour de Cure.
Reisdorf said, This is my seventh consecutive year in the event. I go to Buffalo because I grew up in the area and I do the ride in memory of my mother, who died of diabetes in 2006, and my aunt and uncle, who both died in 2010.
Reisdorf describes himself as not the average-sized guy. Most cyclists are skinny. Im 6-2 and over 200 pounds. Its a little harder when youre bigger.
The Buffalo ride covers 62 miles, but he has done tours as long as 100 miles.
Its very flat up there, he said, so it can be boring. But its very pretty through the wine country and around Lake Ontario. Growing up in the farm area, Reisdorfs only means of transportation was a bicycle, so he has been riding all his life.
Around here, Reisdorf rides with the Westchester Cycle Club. He tries to get out on his bike three times a week.
I love the freedom of planning my own route. And I love the feeling of the wind in my face. In my line of work, its therapy on two wheels, Reisdorf said.
Reisdorf is the manager of the Clark Associates Funeral Home on Woods Bridge Road in Katonah.
I got involved in the business when I got a summer job while I was in school. I started out running errands and the funeral director began to ask me to do more and more. One day he said, Could you put a suit on? Reisdorf recalled.
The young man found he was not only good at the job, it was gratifying knowing that Im able to help a grieving family in the worst part of their lives.
He studied at the Simmons Institute of Funeral Service and earned an AAS degree in mortuary science.
Reisdorf pointed out that diabetes is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States, killing more people than AIDS and breast cancer combined. Last year he raised nearly $6,000 in his Tour de Cure ride. To donate go to www.diabetes.org/tour, click Donate and enter his name. The deadline is May 27.
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