83-year-old Fort Myers man loses 70 pounds, reverses diabetes risk

FORT MYERS, Fla. (WINK) — An 83-year-old Fort Myers man is sharing his inspiring health journey after receiving alarming news from his doctor.

Don Sholley started riding his recumbent bike after his doctor told him he was at risk for diabetes and was overweight. On the BMI charts, he was classified as morbidly obese.

That news hit hard, and he knew it was time to make a change. So he gave himself a goal: ride enough miles to cross the country.

"I've logged 3,368 miles on this, and that got me coast to coast, from Bar Harbor, Maine, to San Francisco," Sholley said. "I've lost 70 pounds, non-diabetic now."

Sholley has ridden an 11-mile route 306 times in the last 16 months. Every morning, he clips in, gets set and heads out with his favorite music.

"I'm set up for my tunes on my phone here with Pandora, and the three guys I ride with are Neil Diamond, Bob Seger and Roy Orbison," Sholley said.

After blowing past his coast-to-coast goal, Sholley has kept the momentum rolling, inspiring others to join him on the road. His neighbor, Lou Mazzola, was one of those people.

"He basically recruited me. He twisted my arm," Mazzola said. "Yeah, I think exercise is something I've always done, but never really too intensely. This is pretty easy."

For Sholley, it was never about one ride. It was about taking back control of his health, one mile at a time, and he's not done yet.

"I'm not intending to quit," Sholley said. "My son lives in Honolulu. I'm 2,400 miles to Honolulu, and I am planning to do that within the next year."