Tour de Cure 2009

Riding to cure diabetes is something I have been doing for 5 years now.

It started with a conversation I was having over breakfast with my own version of "The Breakfast Club". "TBC" would meet at a local joint (since burned down)after a morning speedskating training workout. We had the core three or four that would go each week; my coach, my dear friend, me and another skater (or two). It was something I always looked forward to. We shared many things: vacations, family, cancer diagnosis, building a dream house and of course speedskating.

The speedskating competitive season takes place September/October thru March. Unless it is an Olympic year, then it usually begins in August/September and runs through March/April. The training goes year-round really. We take a rest period at the end of the season and start up the summer program with skate-specific exercises called "dryland", cycling and inline skating.

At one of our "TBC" mornings, we were talking about bike routes and long rides that my coach used to do with skaters in the past. My dear friend had mentioned a ride that he had been doing for a while. He said how fun it was and what great folks there were that joined together to help support the cure for diabetes: The Tour de Cure.

We decided it was a great idea and cause to add to our training program and I have been participating ever since. I've pulled in different riders with me, including my husband, but I was thrilled this year when our daughter joined the masses and took on her first organized ride. My husband and I log in 100's of miles each summer, but I have to say this was the best 10 miles I have ever pedaled.

The little fella above was having the best time! There were so many riders at this year's event that each distance (100, 62, 50, 25 or 10 miles) had 3 separate waves of starts. Each time riders would come to the start line the announcer would count down from 5 to 1 and yell "Go!". This guy would take off from one end of the sidewalk to the other and wait to hear go again.

It felt like a full-circle kind of moment. We all start with the training wheels and we all take them off eventually. It's the roads we choose that make life interesting. I'm glad I chose to try speedskating, for had I not, I would not have made the lovely friends I have, I would not have been part of this event for so many years and I would have missed out on the best 10 miles spent on a Sunday afternoon.