Tour de Cure July 28, 2012

The annual Tour de Cure, the charity bike ride event that raises money for the American Diabetes Association, is scheduled for Saturday, July 28, 2012. The rides start and end at the Hillsboro Stadium in Hillsboro, Oregon.

A cyclist can register online at http://www.diabetes.org/portlandtourdecure.

There are 5 routes: 5, 26, 45, 65 and 100 miles. The two shortest routes are mostly flat. The three longer routes have a few category 5 climbs, plus numerous rollers and small hills, thus more of a challenge. Each route has a different start time. There is a rest stop every 10-15 miles; a cyclist does not need to stop at each rest stop on the longer routes.

Tour de Cure has training rides for all levels of cyclists starting on March 3, the first Saturday in March, and each Saturday up through the third Saturday in July, with the exception of any holiday weekend. A cyclist DOES NOT have to be registered with Tour de Cure for the event ride to join in and participate in the training rides. As the cycling season evolves, the rides will get longer with more hills to climb, and sometimes a few category climbs. On the weekends of the Cookie Monster Metric, the Ride Around Clark County, and the Pioneer Century, the TDC training group will honor the local cycling clubs and participate in their event rides instead of a TDC training ride.

The TDC training group is now online at: http://www.meetup.com/Tourdecurepdxvan/ All of the training rides will be posted in advance of the day. Anyone can register and join in the training rides, and beginner cyclists are encouraged. There is a lot of volunteer support and SAG support when the routes increase in distance. The training groups are at individual paces, however for beginners there will always be a volunteer sweep there to provide assistance and for the more advanced riders there will always be someone faster to draft behind. A RSVP to the meetup posted training ride is appreciated.

Cyclists who are registered for the event ride and who participate in the training group rides will receive a Team in Training long-sleeve t-shirt. A diabetic cyclist registered for the event and participating in the training rides will receive a Red Rider cycling jersey in their size after the first $25 donation.

I hope to see you at a training ride! If so, please come up and introduce yourself. I am on the steering committee, the training group ride committee, a sometimes Ride Captain and a Co-Captain of Tommy's Team/Team Red. This is about health and fitness for everyone, including diabetics.

The first training ride on March 3 was a great success. Fifty-four cyclists showed up, and many cyclists were new to a bike. The more advanced cyclists did multiple loops of the route and focused on bike skills, like standing sprints, to keep up the heart rate. A few of the newer cyclists were able to ride more miles than they thought they were capable of, and were proud of their achievements. It was a good ride, no rain, and about 52 degrees on the bike. Food and water was provided before and after the ride, and between the laps if multiple laps were biked. The representative from Gleukos showed up and each rider was given a bottle of Gleukos, a type of drink designed to keep the blood sugars stable when cycling, and the bottle fits nicely into a bike's bottle cage.

The second training ride on March 10 was a lot of fun. It was an easy ride on Sauvie Island, which is flat terrain, and extremely scenic. 47 cyclists participated in the ride. Bike Gallery was there once again pre-ride to assist cyclists who had been letting their bikes collect dust for several years. It was a loop of 12.3 miles around the island, and many cyclists biked multiple loops. It didn't start raining until the first loop was almost completed. There was a strong headwind, but it made riding the side of the island with the tailwind extra fun because of the increased speeds.

Next week the training ride is a short ride on a trail out to Wintler Park in Vancouver, however quite a few of the training group will be adding some unofficial TDC miles by biking out to Frenchman's Bar also, all along the scenic Columbia River, making the total ride about 30 miles.

The third training ride for the Tour de Cure training group was another good ride, about 42 degrees on the bike, and only a bit of rain for those who biked the extended miles. We had many new cyclists join the group, and some who participated after learning about it on Team Estrogen. Forty cyclists attended, all dressed in winter clothing for protection against the cold and rain. One regular is a unicylist riding with type 1 diabetes. There was an 8-mile trail and street ride along the Columbia River in Vancouver, Washington, and after the ride a subgroup of 12 cyclists rode more miles through Vancouver and out to Frenchman's Bar, a sandbar along the river to the west of Vancouver.

The fourth training ride is out of Hillsboro on the farm roads, with a few small hills, and of course extended miles for the cyclists who need to bike more miles.

The fourth training ride was a lot of fun, 42 cyclists pedaling, plus volunteers in SAG vehicles and one volunteer on a motorcycle. There was a short route and a longer route to accommodate the different levels of cyclists. This was the first time on a road for many of the new cyclists, and their first time biking up and down moderate rollers. Many of the volunteers were kept busy in the back half assisting new cyclists.

The Tour de Cure is more than just about raising money for the American Diabetes Association via the charity bike ride event, it is about getting people onto bikes to promote and encouage increased fitness and health, and to hopefully help diabetics control blood sugars and to prevent others from getting diabetes. Exercise is part of the equation to obtaining improved health, and cycling is a way to exercise while having a lot of fun.

The ride on Saturday, March 31, was in a downpour of rain, but 23 hardy cyclists attended. The routes were borrowed from the Vancouver Bicycle Club, went along Salmon Creek and over quite a few rollers. Everyone had a lot of fun.

The weather for April 7 will be warmer and no rain. The routes will be around Hagg Lake, which is near Gaston, with a short route out of the park to accommodate newer cyclists who can't go up and down the hills yet. There is a route option that gives stronger cyclists a category 5 climb, along with more up and down terrain around the lake. Quite a few cyclists are responding with RSVPs, and the estimate for attendance is that there will be over 50 cyclists again.

For all of the volunteers who work so hard to put together these rides, it is real heartwarming to see people come out on their bikes for the first time, realizing that cycling will help them gain improved fitness and health, and to help themselves and others to find a way to cope with their diabetes. My team, Team Red Portland/Tommy's Team, is the team to which many of the Red Riders belong, cyclists who have type 1 or type 2 diabetes, and this year our Team Red jersey reads on the back, "I Ride to Stop Diabetes."

Amazing ride today, all sunshine, with various route options. Fifty-four cyclists signed in, but a head count indicates that the actual number of cyclists in attendance was around 65. The ride today was at Hagg Lake near Gaston in Oregon. The route around the lake in either direction is hilly, but two choices of direction. We had a flatter route that went out of the Hagg Lake Park out to Patton Valley, then back again, with one steep climb to get back into the park. Most cyclists did multiple loops of the lake, or a combination of the flatter route plus a loop or two around the lake. The scenery is gorgeous, lots of cyclists out today, not just Tour de Cure.

Our ride numbers are growing because we are trying to reach people who are diagnosed with diabetes and pre-diabetes, get them on a bike, and have them join the training group so that they can discover that cycling indeed brings down their HA1C and helps them control their blood sugars, to the delight of their doctors, and all while they are having fun cycling!

Saturday, April 14, was another great ride. Fifty-one cyclists rode with two different routes, a shorter route of 16 miles and a longer route of 38 miles. Volunteers acted as Ride Leaders and Ride Assists, making sure cyclists made the correct turns. There were two volunteer motorcylists and a SAG vehicle for the longer route. The ride was out of Champoeg State Park in the beautiful Willamette Valley, undulating terrain, and balmy sunshine with scattered clouds. The scenery was gorgeous. Everybody had a great time. It was great to make new friends and ride with old friends.

On April 21 the training ride is east of Portland, up the Historic Columbia River Hwy to Crown Point State Park, which includes one categroy-4 climb and one category-5 climb.

Your training rides sound fun. I signed up for the Tour De Cure here in NY but there are no training rides. You are lucky.

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Originally Posted by Savra

Your training rides sound fun. I signed up for the Tour De Cure here in NY but there are no training rides. You are lucky.

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Savra, I wish you could participate in training rides in your area. It takes a lot of volunteer effort. On your Tour de Cure event page, there should be a contact, someone like the Event Director, and you might email and ask why there are no regularly scheduled group training rides. Perhaps there are rides, and you are not getting notified, or maybe your TDC plans on starting training rides soon.

The training ride on April 21 was up the Historic Columbia River Highway, which entailed continuous miles of climbing, including one Category 4 climb and one Category 5 climb. This highway is a recreational road, winding into the heart of the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area. At the top, the views were spectacular. The descent was exhilerating. All levels of cyclists participated, and the beginner cyclists rode as far as they could, then turned around.

This Saturday the training group participates in the Salem Bicycle Club's first metric century of the year, though newer cyclists might opt to ride only half of the metric. Most of the members will be wearing a Tour de Cure jersey while riding. The cyclists with diabetes will be wearing either a Red Rider jersey or a team jersey. The non-diabetics will be wearing either a Tour de Cure jersey or a team jersey. If anyone sees a Team Red jersey on Saturday, that is my team!

The Tour de Cure resumed Saturday training rides after two Saturdays of biking in the local bike club event rides. Today 55 cyclists joined together to ride in Vancouver, Washington. The longer route biked quite a few hills, and the shorter route was an out-and-back along the Padden Bikeway. After the rides there was a congregation of most cyclists at the Event Director's house for a backyard picnic. I wasn't able to attend because a rail on my Brooks saddle snapped, I had to take a SAG ride back to the start, and I drove off to get to my LBS for a fix so I can ride again tomorrow. :-(

Over 60 cyclists showed up to ride the two routes on Saturday. This time we didn't have enough volunteers. Our Ride Director and Event Director were at the first Tour de Cure in Spokane, Washington, and some of the ride assists were missing. I volunteered to be the Ride Leader for the short ride of 14 miles. However on the 34-mile route there were not enough Ride Assists in the middle of the pack to stop and direct cyclists at the correct turns, and two packs of cyclists took wrong turns and ended up having some extra miles. The Ride Director will proably write an email memo on how to read cue sheets. :-)

It was a great day, in the low 60s on the bike, all sunshine, and no wind.

Next week is Memorial Day Weekend, so there isn't a training ride scheduled, and the following week is the Portland Century, and members of the training group have the option to ride one of the routes. There will be members who will put together rides though, and anyone can join, there just won't be any SAG or volunteer help.

The Tour de Cure training rides continue. There was a hiatus over Memorial Day Weekend of official TDC rides, but several individuals lead separate group rides with great success. On June 2, Tour de Cure members joined the Pioneer Century, a club event hosted by the Portland Wheelmen, with routes of varying distance and elevation gain. On June 9, the official training rides resumed, and 28 cyclists biked 25 miles of steep rollers in rural Yamhill County. On June 16, 55 group members biked the Banks-Vernonia Trail.

This coming Saturday the group training rides are out of Hillsboro. The 43-mile route goes into the Helvetia Hills and has two Category 5 climbs. The shorter 26-mile route provides cyclists an opportunity to focus on speed or slow down to enjoy the scenery, rather than exert themselves on the steep grades of the Helvetia Hills.

Here is a photo of one of our members at the start of the ride on June 16. He is a Red Rider on Team Red, meaning he rides with diabetes, posing with his new bike, a Trek road bike. A few weeks earlier he was out on a solo ride, a car hit him, and his prior bike was snapped in half. As you can see, he made a full recovery, and on Saturday he biked 44 miles with the Tour de Cure.

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Originally Posted by DarcyInOregon

Here is a photo of one of our members at the start of the ride on June 16. He is a Red Rider on Team Red, meaning he rides with diabetes, posing with his new bike, a Trek road bike. A few weeks earlier he was out on a solo ride, a car hit him, and his prior bike was snapped in half. As you can see, he made a full recovery, and on Saturday he biked 44 miles with the Tour de Cure.

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Wow! Glad he wasn't hurt bad. Hope said driver paid for the new bike.

You go Darcy!! :D Have fun on the ride.

Saturday's ride was pretty wet, a lot of rain yesterday. The two routes were two of the preview routes for the Event Rides on July 28. The shorter route of 26 miles is over gently rolling terrain; the longer route of 43 miles has two category 5 climbs with some steep grades over 10%. If a cyclist can bike the 43 miles, then they can bike the metric on July 28, and perhaps the full century.

We were not expecting too many cyclists to show up because of the heavy rain, but there were about 20 of us. I was the Ride Leader for the short route, the first time I rode this route, and I could tell through the rain that it is a scenic route. We didn't have enough volunteers for the shorter route to have a sweep too, so I let the faster cyclists go ahead, and I did regroups with the cyclists in the rear, just to make sure no one made a wrong turn and got lost; a regroup is basically making sure the cyclists knew how to read the cue sheet, told them where and when to turn because they really don't read the cue sheet, and at which turn I would wait for them; waiting was about 5-10 minutes each time. It was about 48 to 50 degrees on the bike for most of the ride, so wet and cold.

We put the rest of the volunteers into the hilly longer route as some cyclists were attempting category climbs for the first time and more assistance was needed in the middle and rear. There were two vehicles for SAG, food and water and picking up cyclists who had mechanical failures, plus a volunteer on a motorcyle to assist with the turns.

It was a really good ride on Saturday. Rain and thunder showers were in the forecast, however it didn't start to rain until I had completed the 40-mile route. There were 30-40 cyclists over two routes, 40 miles and 18 miles. I was the Ride Volunteer who mapped these two routes, and I chose undulating terrain, which the elite cyclists think of as flat since there are no category climbs. However undulating terrain is real fun to ride, the roads promise speed and one can get a real good cardio workout. I was a Ride Assist in the back stopping at the critical turns so that the cyclists in the rear didn't get lost or feel forgotten, so didn't get to partake of the speed; the front group on the 40 miles finished with a 16.7 mph average and the middle group finished with a 15.7 mph average.

The next ride is a repeat, where the group members do all climbing up the Old Columbia River Historic Hwy. I believe it is a category 5 and a category 4 climb just to get to the first possible turnaround point. Some cyclists will continue up Larch Mountain to the top, which is steep climbing ending with a category one climb. I prefer to ride to the Women's Forum, enjoy the view, then ride the long descent back to the state park, though this year I might bike up Larch Mt at least a little ways, until the grade starts going over 10%, then turn around.

We are seeing people turn up for the group rides who are finally getting on a bike to try to reverse or correct health issues. I talked with one nice lady pre-ride who is struggling with bad knees. She rides a step-through comfort bike and does the short routes. She told me that riding the bike has strengthened the muscles, tendons and ligaments around her knees with the result that she is now able to walk better and longer, without as much pain as she used to experience. I love hearing these stories, to confirm that it isn't just about raising money for the American Diabetes Association, but that we are actually helping people at all levels of fitness and on all types of bikes.

It is hard to believe that Event Day is almost here. The training season passed quickly and there are only two official training rides left. On July 14 there are two routes going out of Canby to bike the rollers of the farmland where the hops are grown; the longer route is 45 miles and the shorter route is 19 miles. On July 21 the training group bikes two routes out of Willamette Mission State Park and over the Wheatland Ferry to the Amity side of the Willamette River; the longer route of 37 miles entails several category climbs, whereas the shorter route of 24 miles bikes out to Grand Island, makes the loop and bikes back and the terrain is mostly flat to only mildly undulating.

Then it will be Event Day on July 28 and we can only hope that the registered cyclists trained hard for the route they will be riding.

After Event Day the training group members will continue to participate in group rides as individuals step forward to create and lead group rides, or to suggest other event rides. Members of the training group bonded as the season progressed, friendships were formed, and best of all, the training group did not get dominated by the elite power cyclists at the top, which happens too often to other bike groups. The volunteers worked hard to integrate new cyclists into the group who were just beginning on a bike, made the new cyclists feel comfortable with their skill and fitness levels and with delight we saw beginners transformed into distance cyclists.

My favorite success story of the season is one female cyclist, in her late 50s, she has MS and is legally blind in one eye, started the season biking less then 10 miles in distance with an average speed of less than 10 mph, and she now bikes over 40 miles that includes long climbs and with an average speed over 12 mph.

The last official training ride for Tour de Cure was on Saturday. The Event Ride is on July 28. Members will continue to create and post rides on the meetup site, which is a great way to continue to bike with others after the Event. However, it is nice to have a SAG vehicle with us, got all of the cyclists spoiled.

Saturday's two rides were incredible. There were about 35 of us for both routes. We congregated further south in the Willamette Valley at Willamette Mission State Park. Both routes went over the Wheatland Ferry, which is a lot of fun to ride. The shorter 24-mile route turned right at Hopewell and rode Webfoot Road for a few miles, then a right turn to bike the perimeter of Grand Island. It was a push for the cyclists riding cruiser bikes because cruiser bikes are not designed for distance, but quite a few cyclists on cruisers were able to do the ride. Grand Island is a special place, all farmland and one park, orchards of cherries and peaches, fields of raspberry vines, corn and truck farm crops. The longer route of 37 miles went climbing over the Eola Hills twice, for two category climbs, and rode the roads winding through the farmland southwest of the small town of Amity, all exceptionally scenic, and the climbs giving a bit of challenge but not so difficult as to be impossible to bike up.

Photo one is the shorter route posing for a group photo on Grand Island, including our SAG volunteer. Photo two shows cyclists for both routes walking onto the river ferry.