Pre-Packet Pickup
The Early Bird Check-In Party (as it was called for the SoCal Tour de Cure) was not something that I got to attend. It was the Wednesday before the ride and we weren’t arriving in CA until Thursday night. For the Longmont, CO Tour de Cure, there were originally two dates scheduled for Pre-Packet Pickup. The Wednesday before the ride was one of those times as was the Friday before the ride. The Wednesday date got canceled and I’m glad that it was the Wednesday date instead of the Friday date.
We got into Longmont, CO with plenty of time to go to the pre-packet pickup event for the Tour de Cure. It was awesome to get to get checked-in the night before the ride. I didn’t have to deal with any lines the morning of the ride.
They had a line going on with multiple people handing out our packets. All I had to do was tell them what team I was on (because that’s how they had us organized) They asked us for our emergency form and our fundraising envelope and they gave me my envelope and I was on my way.
They were very nice and friendly and they had their acts together. Our packets contained a map of the fairgrounds so we knew where everything was located, maps of our routes, our bibs with our numbers on them. It was all very well organized (something I couldn’t say for the check-in the morning of the SoCal Tour de Cure but I also don’t know how their Early Bird Check-In Party went as I couldn’t attend.) But CO even had the packets if you didn’t pick them up early, so they still 1-up’d CA in that respect.
The Pre-Packet Pickup was at the Radisson in Longmont CO where the people that raised $1k or more were going to have dinner with Greg Lemond. Even though I had the funds to take me to 1k I decided not to do it because grandma was with me and for her to have dinner with me while I was having dinner with Greg Lemond was going to cost another 1k (which I thought was a bummer because Gram’s wasn’t even riding.) In not giving my extra $500 (which is going towards my next ride instead) I also forfeited my opportunity to meet him on ride day and I also forfeited my entrance into the VIP tent and my membership in the Trail Blazers Club. I was kindof bummed but I didn’t let Gram’s know because she was so excited to be there with me and be spending time with me and that was important to her (plus, she now gets to accompany me on another ride this year because I have the cash for sponsorship).
The coolest thing to me about the Pre-Packet Pickup was when I walked in there was this lady (these poor people, I just don’t remember their names) said hi and asked if I was a RED Rider. I said I believe I am and told her that I was supposed to be switched to that team earlier in the week. Another lady, who happened to be Mari Ruddy (the brains behind the RED Riders) asked me my name and when I told her she said “yes, you most definately are a RED Rider” They told me to get my packet first and then come back to their table because they had a jersey, t-shirt, and water bottle for me.
Lisa was who I had the fortunate of talking to when picking up my packet. I had had several conversations with her prior to me registering for the ride when I was wanting to get information. She seemed like a really nice lady and sent me everything I needed and she was just as nice when I met her, CO has some great people working for the ADA and just meeting them and seeing the things that they had done to make the ride easier for us really just made me want to make the Longmont, CO Tour de Cure an annual event.
When I went back to talk to Mari she gave me the shirt and jersey and water bottle, tried to give me a One Touch Ultra Mini blood glucose monitoring machine (they wanted to make sure that all diabetics were testing their blood along the ride). She told me about the RED Riders tent and how a couple of the riders from Team Type 1 were going to be there. Mari was so nice and so excited, it was incredibly encouraging. She told Gram’s that she could help out if she wanted (which was good for Gram’s because I really didn’t want her to sit around for 2.5-3 hrs bored out of her mind).
Even thought I was only at the Pre-Packet Pickup for maybe 10 minutes it was awesome and it really set the stage for a great ride the next day 
Riding with the RED Riders
I got a phone call from a guy (who’s name escapes me) from the ADA headquarters in Longmont, CO to talk to me about the Tour de Cure. This is the usual, “hey you’re a team captain” call. (At least I think that’s what it is. I mean, that’s what I think it is, I did get the same type of call from a guy in CA about a week before that ride.) I told him that my team had fallen apart and that I was riding solo. He said he was sorry and I said that’s ok, “is it ok if I switch to the RED riders?” He said sure, are you a diabetic and I told him the story: I’m a diabetic I was diagnosed when I was 11. I decided this year that I was going to be proactive about having diabetes and trying to get rid of it and thus I was going to ride in a Tour de Cure in every state. He said that was cool, that he’d get me switched to the RED Riders and that he’d see me at the ride.
I have to take a moment to explain the RED Riders to you, it’s monumental to me. I saw the team when I registered and thought that it was way cool, but I also thought I had a team so I registered with my own team. I digress, back to the RED Riders we go.
Mari Ruddy came up with the idea of RED riders, and I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a better idea when it comes to battling diabetes, I don’t know her personally, I’ve never met her, she’s in CO and I’m here in NM, I’ve not talked to her, but I’m on her team, because she’s onto something BIG!!! and I want to be part of it.
This is what Mari had to say about it on her TdC page:
“I decided to walk my talk, or rather in the case of the Tour de Cure, to ride my talk. This year I’m on the organizing committee and my area is diabetic rider recognition!!! Plus, I want to have the BIGGEST family and friends team… so come one, come all, join the Red Riders…
What does Red Riders mean? Well…
R=riders
E=eliminating/eradicating/evicting
D=diabetes
Or, like superheros, together we are wearing our red capes as we sail on our bikes to celebrate the courage it takes to live every day as an athlete or person with diabetes.
And, well, I just like the color red, and as luck would have it, it’s the diabetes “color” much like pink is the breast cancer color. ”
Just as Mari decided to “ride” her talk in the case of the Tour de Cure, I’m following suit. I’m following suit, because yeah, I can ride to help fund the the search for a cure to my disease, but people don’t know when I’m riding that I actually have what we’re all riding for.
Mari told us “If you are a person surviving diabetes, I implore you to ride this year and do everything you can to declare your status, so others on the course and in the wider community have the opportunity to celebrate and be inspired by you… This year, and from here on out, we must be visible and proud. You did not ask for your membership into the diabetic fellowship, but here you are and how you activate your membership is up to you. I ask you to get on your bike and ride strong and sure. The ride itself is the affirmation of your courage and perseverance.“
I’m riding and I will show that I can ride with diabetes and be strong and live life to the fullest. That’s what riding means to me, that meaning is strengthened as I ride as a RED Rider on August 25th in the Longmont, CO Tour de Cure.
Photohunt raises sponsorship to 30%
There was a photo scavenger hunt over on </dream.in.code> and I thought I’d go ahead and participate. I really didn’t think that I’d win but I was going to put forth my best effort because the prize money was set at $100 (and I was going to apply it to the CO Ride if I won). I had one hour for lunch and 9 pictures to take (when I got in my car to go get my pictures I already had three that I had taken while in the office). The hardest one for me on the list was going to be the sombrero (or so I thought). It turned out that none of them were exactly hard. It took me a while to think about where to find a sign that had “DIC” in it. After walking the block where I work and looking for “DIC” on a sign a co-worker suggested I go to the phone book. That worked great. I found where I needed to go and from there I mapped where I needed to go to get the rest of my items.
Within an hour, I had my nine pictures and had gotten back to work. I quickly mailed the photos from my phone, to my email, where I downloaded them, so that I could then turn around and upload them to my flickr account. And I got this done just in the nick of time too. There were other people on the hunt, of course. But while I was out there was a conversation about how Chris doubted that anyone would get the pictures the same day of the hunt announcement and if someone did he’d double the $100 that was initially set for prize money.
I got my pictures posted on </dic> just barely before another guy and Chris asked how I wanted the cash. I asked him if he wouldn’t mind donating it to my CO Ride. And of course, he did. So, thanks to </Dream.In.Code>, I’m at 30% of my fundraising goal for the Co Tour de Cure.
DreamInCode.net takes me to 10%
I get an IM today from my friend Chris who I hear from, from time to time, mostly we talk about DreamInCode (his baby) or work or life in general. And today didn’t begin any differently we spent a decent amount of time talking about DreamInCode but then he asks me how my new site is coming along. Now mind you, I hadn’t told him about this site (RidetoRemedy), so I was completely caught off guard. Our buddy Markus had apparently mentioned it to him (which was good because I wasn’t ready to reveal it, but what Chris revealed to me in our conversation will help me immensely).
Chris verified after viewing it that it was diabetes related and of course I confirmed it and we get into this conversation about other diabetics on the web and the amazing things that they were doing with their websites (diabetes related or not) to help support diabetics and diabetes in general. It gave me a stepping stone because I now I have people that I can talk to for tips and whatnot in getting this site off the ground. We talked a lot of geeky stuff, SEO, keywords and the like. But of course, the most important things are content and networking (which he gave me a lift on).
But when the conversation was all said and done, he said “I still owe you a donation, let me know when your next ride is” I told him about CO and he generously gave 10% of my goal.
Thank You Chris and DreamInCode.net
Co Tour de Cure Maps Finally Here
So, I registered for the CO Tour de Cure 3 days ago because I just couldn’t wait any longer for the maps, I wanted to get registered and know that I was riding for sure.
My concern with not having the maps was that I needed to verify the base elevation and the hills and make sure that I could handle it. I was thankful to see that the elevation is about the same as here in NM where I’ve been training and that the hills for the 30 mile ride aren’t too bad. I’m fairly sure that I can handle the ride.
What I really appreciate about the maps provided for the CO Tour de Cure is that there were also elevation and grade graphs provided. This is different from the SoCal Tour de Cure where we only had the route maps provided.
If you’re curious to see what route I’ll be riding, you can check it out at the Colorado Tour de Cure site. If you’re confused by the 50k, don’t be, it’s approximately 30 miles. Nothing I can’t handle ;P
Next Stop, CO
It’s been almost a month since my ride in the SoCal Tour de Cure and I’ve been carefully mulling over my next ride. Every so often, almost every day sometimes I’ve been going to the CO Tour de Cure website and checking in to see if maps of the routes have been posted yet. But, I couldn’t wait any longer, I had some conversations with some of the coordinators for the ride and they said maps would be up soon but that was like two weeks ago or so, maybe less, like maybe a week and a half. After perusing the various registration pages for rides across the US I saw that I may have to get accustomed to there not being maps for the routes prior to the ride (which scares me seems I’m coming from out of state and I am unfamiliar with the area and terrain).
Despite my fears, I’ve gone ahead and registered for the CO Tour de Cure and my personal page where people can sponsor me is up. I had a little harder time writing my introduction and I didn’t pass this one through my friend for review so it may not be as good as the first one, but this is what I settled on:
Riding State 2 State
When I rode in the Tour de Cure in Southern California in May it was to show that I could be just as athletic as I once was even with my diabetes. To show that I was done being controlled by a disease that I should’ve been controlling long ago. My ride in CA went so well that I decided I want to complete a ride in all 50 states. CO is the second stop in reaching that goal. However, even with this goal set, I would like it to be a goal I never reach, I’d love it if I get stopped in a few years because a cure has been found.
The cure for diabetes is the primary reason I ride, my goals are only secondary to the cure. I ride for myself, I ride for all my friends with diabetes, I ride for those with diabetes that I don’t know, I ride for those that will be saved from the torment of diabetes when a cure is found. And I will continue to ride until that cure is found, whether it be before I’ve ridden in all 50 states or long afterwards.
I think it outlines my intentions and what I’m trying to do and it says that I’m going to persevere until a cure is found. So, if you’re up to it, and you feel so inclined because someone you love or know is a diabetic and you want to help them out, please sponsor me in my ride in the CO Tour de Cure. It’s a great cause and as a bonus, it’s tax deductible ;P (shameless plug, I know).