Tour de Cure Colorado, American Diabetes Assn

Hey Ladies,

My sister Sara was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes at age 11, 14 years ago now. On August 25th Sara and I will be riding our bikes 100 miles to benefit the American Diabetes Association.

A mere century ago Sara would not have lived to see age 12; now her doctors rate her chance of developing any diabetes-related complications in her lifetime at less than 5%. So we made the decision to ride a century to celebrate an amazing century of medical advances and to support future advances and hopefully, one day, a cure.

While the goal of the ride is to raise money for the research and
educational efforts of the American Diabetes Association, the most
important support you can give us is to join us on our ride. The 100-mile ride starts in Longmont and heads up to beautiful Estes Park. But no, you
don't have to ride 100 miles, there are rides as short (and flat) as 12
miles. Your friends are welcome to join our team too, whether or not we
know them. Or if you can't make the ride, please get on your bike and put in a few miles for us, or find a ride local to you; Type 2 diabetes is reaching epidemic proportions in the United States and the best way to prevent it is by eating well and exercising regularly.

And of course if you would like to donate to the ADA, we'd appreciate that too. Sara set up a team for us, and we'd appreciate it if anyone choosing to donate would look at the list of our team members and help those that have not met the $150 minimum donation to meet that; our goal is to help as many people ride as possible. Plus, they have some pretty amazing stories and reasons for riding too. One of our teammates weighed > 300 lbs and was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. He is now in perfect health, no sign of diabetes, and rides some of Colorado's most challenging rides. Bikes are such simple tools that let us do amazing things.

To join our team or go to:
http://main.diabetes.org/site/TR?pg=...team_id=222698

To donate, click one of the rider names from the team page.

Route maps are available at
www.tourdecurecolorado.com

Many thanks,

Anne

Hey there. We did the metric century last year. We are not participating this year since I'm not riding as much these days, being pregnant and all. You're doing the century route? Wow, the ride up through Glenhaven scares me. Those are some serious switch backs. Two friends are doing that route this year, and three more are doing the metric. We have donated to their fundraising efforts. I think that is great that you and your sister are doing the ride together, have fun, it will be a beautiful ride! :)

Anne

Good Luck on your ride!!

Unfortunately my cousin is not going to make it here to support me (emotionally) through my 100 miler but I will have her in spirit I know! It is so difficult for her to get here with the 2 little ones (and her hubby is out of town that weekend as well) So I suggested that next year I plan to do the Tour de Cure so my little second cousin (who has the juvenile diabetes (7 yrs old)) can plan ahead for that and ride part of the way with me...and we can JOIN YOU!!! (if you for got what I am talking about see link: http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showthread.php?t=17030 )

So put me on your mailing list for next year and hopefully I will be able to make it!!! It is not JDRF which what my cousin is involved in but it is a goal for the same results...

Happy Pedaling!!!

Hi HappyAnika,

Yea, we're doing the century route and the switchbacks scare me too! I've never ridden them but have heard stories of vomiting and cursing on them. A (strong) guy we've been training with calls it 'the oh &*^%#(&* hill, where there are multiple (and sometimes simultaneous) substitutions for &*^%#(&*. I have a hunch I'm going to wish for lower gearing :eek: but I'm still kind of excited to climb them in some sick way. That's great that your friends are doing the ride & thanks for supporting the ADA. I hope your pregnancy is going well...you must be so excited! :)

Anne

How was the ride? My friends said the canyon was for the most pat gentle, just those switchbacks were the only tough part. At least the weather was nice. Last year it was chilly and rainy, the only rainy day we had all summer, and I had no clothing for such weather. Had to ride in my hiking rain jacket!

I didn't pay attention to the first names, but were you and your sister the ones featured in the article on the Tour de Cure web site?

Hey Ladies,

Laurie, just realized that I either didn't submit my reply to you or ??? but I would *love* to have you ride with us next year!! We'll definitely keep you updated on plans.

HappyAnika,

Thanks for asking... the ride was great! My sister had bad blood sugar problems at the start so we got off to a late/bad start but really enjoyed the ride on the whole. I was really scared about those switchbacks, so much so that they didn't seem as scary once I finally got to them. My sister & I put up a full account of our ride here (and yep, we were the ones on the Tour de Cure website.) The recognition for diabetic riders was *so* great, it was a really special way to ride our first century.

Anne