DATELINE: Suffolk VA, April 21, 2012 7:30 AM. Several hundred cyclists have gathered at the starting point to this Tour de Cure event to support the American Diabetes Association. Each rider has raised at least $175 for the privilege of riding in this event. The Norfolk Southern Company amassed a team of over 125 riders of all ability levels to support this worthy cause. My Team Type 2 teammate John Anderson and I are in the middle of this crowd waiting for the starting whistle to blow. Speeches are made, the Star Spangle Banner is sung and finally were told to start our ride.
There are several different planned routes ranging in distance from a 10 mile long route all the way up through a 100 mile “Century” route. I’ve chosen to ride the 65 mile (“Metric Century” or 100k) route today so I could spend some time smoozing with other riders and spreading the word that anyone with diabetes can do anything he/she wants. We start out slowly en-mass and after a short period of time I find my comfortable cadence. I’m talking to a lot of riders some of whom are living with diabetes like I am and some of whom are supporting family members who are living with diabetes. These are interesting conversations about how we take care of ourselves and how we take care of our loved ones.
About 5 miles into the event I team up with a group of six other guys from the Norfolk Southern team. We form a paceline and ride at an average speed of about 18 1/2 mph until we reached the first rest stop at mile 27. It’s interesting how a somewhat experienced cyclist like myself can fall into a paceline with other somewhat experienced cyclists and we become one. You can hear the hum of the bicycles as we roll along the Virginia countryside. It’s an amazing experience.
At the rest stop I refill my water bottles, recycle some previously ingested liquids and eat a banana. I’m talking to other riders and some volunteers and a notice that my new-found friends have taken off with their group. No problem — there are others so I get back on the road. I’m riding alone for a few minutes when another group of eight riders pass me so I accelerate to join their group. This is a slightly faster group and the average speed for the next 20 miles or so was about 19 1/2 mph.
As I mentioned earlier there are several planned routes at the Tour de Cure. Each route is marked with different colored arrows, for example, the 100 mile route is marked with orange arrows and the 65 mile route that I was doing is marked with yellow arrows. The two follow the same route for about 45 miles then the 100 mile route turns right and the 65 mile route turns left. Well there I was with probably a dozen or so other riders and everybody was turning right and I turned right with them. About 1/2 mile down the road I noticed there was only an orange arrow marking the route. “Oh crap!” So I did a quick U-turn, went back to the turn off and found the yellow arrows. I really had to laugh about that to myself. Unfortunately I was the only one around who was riding the 65 mile route so there I was rolling along this beautiful Virginia country — just me and my trusty steed “Pegasus”. It was actually quite serene and I felt wonderful as my legs were turning the pedals at a comfortable 85 RPM cadence. Since this was pretty much an out and back route I was soon passing people coming from the start line and having some quick conversations with them: “Enjoy the ride!, Keep up the good work!, It’s a gorgeous day just have fun!, Ride safe!” Lot’s of thumbs up signals too.
Me with rest stop volunteers
Eventually I came back to the same rest stop and talked to a lot more riders all of whom were just 27 miles into the their 65 mile ride. I talked with some of the volunteers and get to know them a little bit — they even agreed to a photo with my sweaty self — great people!!
After a while I got back on “Pegasus” eventually merging and talking with a number of riders who were doing the 10 or 30 mile routes. It’s kind of funny thinking back to when 30 miles or even 10 miles was a fairly long ride for me. I remember the first 30 mile ride I did. I thought I was doing okay but near the end when I came to a stop light and put my leg down it collapsed out from underneath me and I fell to the ground because my muscles were too exhausted to hold me up. These people were struggling with their 10 or 30 mile rides much more than I was struggling with my 65 mile ride or even would have struggled with a 100 mile ride. I admire them. I admire their tenacity. I admire their will to control their diabetes.
Reaching the finish line is always a celebration. People are cheering, ringing cowbells and blowing horns and there is music playing — this really a great feeling!
My next Tour de Cure Ride is in two weeks in Sacramento California. I’m planning to do the 100 mile “Century” ride with 5,000 feet of climbing. I’ll be with my teammate Becky Furuta and I’m really looking forward to having a blast!!! Come back and read about it.
