Tour de Cure July 28, 2012

[DarcyInOregon]

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.

[DarcyInOregon]

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.

[DarcyInOregon]

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.

[DarcyInOregon]

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.

[DarcyInOregon]

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.

[DarcyInOregon]

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."