DTC Coaching & Fitness Team

Joe is the co-founder of Team Type 1 (now Team Novo Nordisk). In 2005, Joe and a T1D cyclist friend from Auburn U decided to assemble a small group of athletes with diabetes called Team Type 1 to compete in the grueling “Race Across America,” a 3,000 mile cross-country competition dubbed “America’s Toughest Bike Race” to demonstrate on a national stage that athletes with diabetes can do anything. Within two years, Team Type 1 had not only won the fabled race, but went on to claim the title three more times and set the race record for the fastest trans-continental crossing at 5 days, 9 hours, and 3 minutes. Joe continued to compete as a professional cyclist for eight years and in 2012 became the U.S. Track national champion with Team Pursuit.

Since childhood, Eldridge dreamed of being a pro athlete. His father encouraged him to play sports, but Eldridge never anticipated his success would be in cycling. Diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at the age of 10, he played several high school sports at the top level and only rode a bike as a way to manage his diabetes. While at Auburn University, he started riding with a group of cyclists, and riding quickly led to racing. After graduating, Eldridge competed against the best cyclist in the world while managing his diabetes.