Riding For Derek — And Digger

TigerBlog pulled into the parking lot at Penn Park around 6:20 Saturday.

That's 6:20 am, by the way. If you got to Penn at 6:20, you know you were up early. What could get TB out of bed so early on a Saturday morning?

It's more of a who than a what. It's Digger.

Steve DiGregorio, the former Princeton assistant football coach, passed away nearly two years ago now, and yet TB could still hear him as the alarm went off at 4:45. "Get up. It's for a good cause."

And yes, it is. And so yes, TB did.

The occasion was the 10th Million Dollar Bike Ride, an event that raises money for Orphan Disease research. One of those orphan diseases is Ataxia-Telangietasia, an awful disease that attacks the nervous system and the immune system.

Like all orphan diseases, A-T is very rare. It's so rare that anytime TigerBlog has mentioned it to anyone, that person has never heard of it.

Unfortunately, it's one that long ago made its way into the DiGregorio family, back to the day that Steve and Nadia's middle son Derek was diagnosed with it when he was around 10 or so. Today Derek is closing in on his 26th birthday, and his fighting spirit is the defining quality of this entire effort to combat the disease.

How could you not get up early to ride a bike to try to help?

The DiGregorios, from Day 1, dove into this fight. They have drawn on the extended Princeton family, including Jason Garrett, Howard Levy, Steve Verbit, John Thompson III and any number of others who have given their time, their resources, their support and their love.

It wasn't until Year 2 of the bike ride that they heard about it, and since then it's been a regular part of the fundraising efforts. For the past three years, the ride has taken place at the home of Princeton's former head of athletic training, Charlie Thompson, as the event was remote. 

This year, the group was sent back to Philadelphia by a combination of three facts: 1) that the event organizers insisted on having it done in person, 2) Charlie and his wife Sandy retired and moved to Newport and 3) nobody asked the people who bought Charlie's house if it would be okay.

The ride begins and ends near Penn Park on the Penn campus. The riders were sent off to the sounds of the theme from "Rocky," which of course is perfect for Philadelphia. 

Several roads are closed that help the riders get through to the Philadelphia Zoo and then out onto Kelly Drive before swinging around and coming back. TigerBlog rode with Levy and Andy Golden, another longtime supporter of the DiGregorio's cause and the chief investor of the Princeton endowment. They did a little more than 13 miles, which made for some pretty good conversations and a lot of humor.

Derek's brothers Zack and Aaron rode, as did Levy's three kids, Lior, Mia and Noa. Nadia and Derek stayed back under the tent at the start/finish line. 

All that was missing was Digger. TB thought back to the first time he rode in one of these events, the first time he got up before 5 am to get down to Philadelphia in time for the check in and the ride.

When he got there, the first two people he saw were Digger and Zack. He joked with them that this would have been the perfect practical joke — be there at 6:15 or so on a Saturday morning for a charity bike ride, only to get there and have nobody be there. 

Yes, it would have been perfect. It would also have been perfect to have Digger there once again, in body. He was certainly there in spirit.

He was there when TB got himself out of bed. He was there when he got to Philly. He was there during the ride. He was at the table after the ride, when everyone was relaxing and joking around.

It's impossible to be a part of this and not think of him at all times. Even from another world, his fingerprints are still all over the efforts to help his son. It's tragic that he's no longer here, but knowing who he was and how he was does take some of the sting away.

Eventually, it was time to take off. As he was leaving, TB said his goodbyes, the last one to Derek. 

"Be good," TB said.

"I don't want to be," Derek said.

Yeah, that's Derek.

From his wheelchair he spews sarcasm and humor, aimed at pretty much anyone who crosses his path. He's a DiGregorio through and through. 

He's also the strongest, bravest and most inspirational person TB has ever met.