Gearing up for YEAR 45
Cary is registered and ready to ride in ADEC’s 2019 Ride-A-Bike. He’s hoping for sunshine this year, although rain nor snow has never stopped him in the past.
Cary is collecting donations for his Ride-A-Bike campaign, with 100 percent going to provide choice and possibility for the individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities ADEC serves.
Now approaching its 47th year, ADEC’s Ride-A-Bike is the longest-running bike ride in Elkhart County and the second oldest in the state of Indiana.
There have been many changes during those 47 years, from the location to the routes and entertainment. But there is one thing you can count on to be the same almost every year: Cary Kelsey will be there with his bicycle.
Cary, who retired from ADEC in 2017 after 47 years of serving individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, has only missed two Ride-A-Bikes since the event started in 1970.
Cary is now gearing up to ride in his 45th Ride-A-Bike on May 18 at Northridge High School.
“It’s really the people that we serve that have kept me coming back year after year, the relationships that I’ve made with clients and families over the years, and helping people to accomplish dreams,” Cary said.
Even when Cary was 4,000 miles away on the day of the event, he made sure to collect pledges and fit in a 20-mile bicycle ride while on vacation in the Netherlands.
Although Cary is now retired from ADEC (well, sort of — he is now serving as a member of ADEC’s Board of Directors), he is still passionate about the mission of his longtime employer.
“One of ADEC’s tag lines is ‘Choice and Possibility’, and I think that kind of summarizes it. We’re about helping individuals that might have challenges to identify ways that they can achieve things that they would like to do, and equip them to make choices and to create possibilities for their own lives.”
