Stories From the Road: Saratoga Success!

1,850 Registered Cyclists
Over $820,000 Raised for Diabetes Research

Has it really been over a month since the Saratoga Springs Tour de Cure??
What a great day it was!

The day started at 4:30am with many of our volunteers showing up at the high school to help with setup. The breakfast was prepared including coffee from Saratoga Springs Dunkin Donuts, Chobani Yogurt, fruit from Carioto Fruit, bagels and more.      

As the indoor volunteers were getting the facility ready, our volunteers outside were getting the routes and the start line ready. Our routes were being marked and safety cones were being set up at dawn by our logistics committee members.  Our logistics team coordinates all the support vehicles and route logistics.  Some behind the scenes information – we have a large number of HAM radios that volunteer every year to monitor our ride. This team, led by Lee Palmer, is the backbone of our communication plan on the day of Tour. They track riders and send out our support vehicles to those in need. Did you have a flat tire? The HAM radio operator most likely called for help for you.

Once the set up is complete it is time for Tour to begin! Our starts are staggered throughout the morning. We begin with the century riders who not only ride 100 miles but check in at 6:30am! The weather was absolutely perfect for every start this year. For those of you who rode last year this was a welcomed change from last year’s deluge of rain.

Our starting line send off is inspiring. First and foremost this ride is about diabetes and raising money for a cure. All the riders riding with diabetes are called to the front of the starting line. At this moment one of our Red Riders, Kaleigh Moore and Larry Lowe, Team Red captains, spoke about what it is like to be a Red Rider and be a part of Tour. Kaleigh has said that Tour day is her favorite day of the year - better than Christmas. The experience of riding with almost 2,000 cyclists all supporting her and others with diabetes is overwhelming and uplifting. Kaleigh is great at coaching the field to support the Red Riders on the routes by telling them to say “Go, Red Rider, Go!” when they see a Red Rider.  With the music going each group at the start line pedals its way down the route and hopefully to a cure. As Bill Arnold from Team Type 2 said, “It is my hope that more Red Riders get involved with Tour and our numbers increase, but then the number of Red Riders reducing down to zero because there is a cure.”

Tour de Cure Red Riders and cheerleaders.

Being out on the route is so much fun! You ride with so many people who are happy to be out on the road with their family friends and coworkers. Every rest stop is filled with refreshments and volunteers who love to help you with your ride. I always loved the signs towards the end of the ride stating – 3 miles to go until a massage by Back in Balance, 2 miles to go before lunch from Glen Sanders or 1 mile to go until ice cream from Friendly’s! Tour day really is one of the best days of the year.

We have so many riders who ride with such passion for the mission of the American Diabetes Association: to prevent and cure diabetes and to improve the lives of all people affected by diabetes.  Here are a few stories from riders I would like to share with you:

From Claire Ziamandanis Team Gore/Wildman and blogger at the Times Union – Vinoteca:

One morning in March of last year, as I leafed through the Times Union, an obituary stopped me cold, coffee mug half way to my mouth.  It was for a recent former student, a young man who I had come to know very well.  He had started as a freshman in my Advanced Spanish Grammar and Composition class, a somewhat round boy, but engaging – thoroughly engaging.  He was one of those students whose name you remembered after the first day of class.  He was funny, too – and I knew I could count on him to be my go to guy; when things were in a lull he would find humor in anything, even in the subjunctive mode.
After that semester, I found out that my student had left Saint Rose.  He returned several semesters later, much thinner, a bit less apt to laugh.  He had been diagnosed diabetic.  He continued on with us, and at one point signed up to travel on a study tour I was leading to Argentina.  Initially I was concerned, but in the end, once again, this student was the pivotal, laugh-producing element in our group.  His body was weakened from the disease, but he participated in each and every cultural and linguistic activity.  He excelled and took full advantage of every speaking opportunity that presented itself.

Eventually the diabetes took his body and his laughter.  As a young man, he did not make good choices about how to best treat his disease.  Poor choices for most kids his age would mean maybe a write up by the Judicial Board on campus.  Poor choices for this student would have long term effects on his body’s ability to survive.

Part of Team More Gore/Wildman line up for a training ride from Prime at Saratoga National. Angelo Mazzone is donating money from every bottle of wine in his numerous operations sold by Frederick Wildman. Thank you, Angelo!

I will be riding the Tour de Cure for my former student.  I just visited his facebook page, and his friends and family members are still posting, missing the vibrant young man stolen by a horrible disease.  He liked to sing.  He loved poetry.  He really liked women.  He was one great young man, who should be here with us today.

Here’s to you, James…

 Tour Riders, Chris and Kerri Culkin, from Team Creaky Crankers wrote a letter to their friends about the Tour:

It is hard for us to believe, but on June 8th, it will be seven years since Carly was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. It is difficult for us to even think about that day.  The journey our family took was very much a grieving process. At first, we were in shock, not really accepting her diagnosis. We didn’t think it was possible that this could happen to our perfectly healthy little girl. Then we were filled with sadness and guilt, thinking that we could have done something to keep it from happening. Then came the anger – why did our child have to have this awful disease? The next phase was exhaustion. Taking care of her diabetes was overwhelming.  Every day, we were checking her blood sugar 5-10 times, counting carbohydrates for every meal, drawing up insulin and injecting her multiple times.  Back then, we weren’t sure how we would ever manage it all.  But we did.  And very slowly, what used to seem overwhelming became our new normal. Amazingly, Carly adjusted quickly to her disease, and rarely complained about any of it. 

    Carly has grown from a resilient three year old to a strong-minded ten year old. She switched from injections to a purple insulin pump. She loves music and dancing and already thinks her parents are hopelessly unfashionable. She has no memory of a time in her life when she didn’t have diabetes. Her friends that have been with her since kindergarten know all about her disease. They look out for her at school. They ask her if she feels low, and walk her to the nurse if she does. With effort, she has incorporated the disease into her childhood.

   But recently, she has been questioning the routines that diabetes forces on her.  She doesn’t like having her mom stay at birthday parties when everyone else’s mom leaves. She doesn’t like having to call home to give carbohydrate counts when eating over a friend’s house.  She is annoyed by the plastic tube from her pump that is forever getting caught on things. And she can’t stand getting stuck with the needle when the site of her insulin pump has to be changed every three days. She has been asking more and more questions about diabetes lately. She wants to know if there will be a cure soon. She wants to know why there isn’t one now. Unfortunately, we have no answers to give her. There is no cure for Type 1 Diabetes. 

    We felt it was time to engage in a fundraising effort to support Carly in her hope for a cure. Even though living with a child with diabetes feels normal to us now, we cannot forget that diabetes is a serious disease. Extreme low or high blood sugar can be very dangerous. We know that even though she is doing well now, she will most likely face health problems as she gets older. Many of you supported us seven years ago when we did the Walk to Cure Diabetes.  Today we are again asking for your support as we bike in the 2011 Tour de Cure in Saratoga Springs, NY.  We will be riding 25+ miles on our bikes to raise money for research to cure Type 1 Diabetes. Carly is very excited to be old enough to be riding with us.

From the Bike Blog in the Times Union. Blogger Jay Holick joined the Tour and wrote:

So, those of you who participated in the 2011 Tour de Cure, what did everyone think of the century, metric century, 50 mile, 25 mile, and 10 mile courses?

My Tour de Cure began, like many of the other cyclists, from the back of their cars making sure everything was ready and willing to go.

First, I would like to thank the many, many volunteers and support staff that assisted in every way possible. Without you folks, the cyclists would have been lost, malnourished, and probably dehydrated. I know every cyclist who participated in the Tour de Cure feels the same way, so thank you very much! And to those husbands and wives who supported their partner during the ride, thank you! Included in this group is my wife, who stopped at the 50, 72, and 84 mile rest area and became my support person as I pedaled by her because if I knew if I stopped, I was dead in the water, and done. 

As for the course, it was well marked with very few problems with traffic issues because the volunteers who were out manning those turns did a great job. Thank you!

On the way to the start line.  The Start!           

The start of the “ride” was a nice tribute to those cyclists who deal with diabetes on a daily basis.                               

I rode the century with a hundred other cyclists and thought the course was a great. I have not ridden a century in a couple of years because life kept getting in the way, but I was happy to so on Sunday for the American Diabetes Association. The group I rode with was not fast paced but averaged 17 miles per hour, in some very rural areas. I saw parts of Warren County I must have missed growing up, that were very beautiful, and the hills were steep enough to make you wonder, “Why the heck am I doing this on a Sunday morning?!?”



"A beautiful day to ride 100 miles, don't you think?"

As the century progressed, so did the pace and the faster groups became obvious. A “race to the finish” began to brew 1 hour and 10 minutes into the ride with the first hill upon us at 1 hour and 18 minutes, and the groups began to splinter from fast paced, medium pace, to those who preferred to enjoy their ride.

As the century cyclists rode through the rural Warren and Saratoga County area, I rode over a reservoir I did not know existed and rode alongside a very tranquil river almost made me want to stop, and put my feet in. In the Hadley, Luzerne, Corinth area, it seemed as though there was hill after hill, and challenge after challenge. At the metric century, I found out what most cyclists who race already know, the mind begins to play games with itself. Conversations with your alter-ego(or the devil) begin to happen as you look for ways to curb the pain. Briefly, I asked myself once, “Do I stop and say I did the century (albeit a metric), or go on?” I finished the race so I prevailed in that argument. 

As the cyclists began to descend on Route 9N into the Saratoga Springs area, all I could say to myself was it was about time. At mile 85 just outside of Greenfield, I had had it with the small gradient rises and small steep hills that were enough to dampen anyone’s enthusiasm, and then at mile 95 I experienced mechanical failure. At that point, I was going to push my bike over the finish line.

As I neared the finish line, I looked down at my front and rear derailleur and thought, “Thank you for staying together long enough for me to cross the line!”

To all of the cyclists who took the time to raise money for this wonderful charity, and then rode the century, metric century, 50 miles, 25 miles, 10 miles… my hat is off to you! Thank you for a great “ride”. 

A Shout Out to everyone who rode in the Tour de Cure!

Cycle On!

 A first time Tour rider, Jessie Brooks wanted to ride in honor of her grandmother. Her father, Chuck, wrote:

 To everyone who donated to Jessie’s  Tour de Cure -  a heartfelt thank you for making the fundraising portion  of this event such an easy task.  She needed to raise $150 to be allowed to ride, but my secret hope was that she’d reach $500 in donations so she could get the Tour de Cure cycling jersey.  She didn’t have a jersey, and I thought one she worked for would mean a lot more than one I’d bought for her.  She ended up raising $710 to go towards fighting diabetes.  So not only did she make enough to garner the Jersey, but she was also able to “spot” me the minimum so that I could ride along with her…making it an event we’d both remember.

As far as the day goes, it could not have been better.  The weather was perfect.  Sunny but not hot, and not windy.   I’m not sure how many riders were in the 25 mile event, but it was the largest of the day’s venues, several hundred at least with Jessie among the youngest.  There were a couple quick addresses before they let us go, about the significance of the Red Rider Jerseys –  these were the riders who themselves were fighting Diabetes, and every time we passed one, Jessie gave them a  congratulatory, “nice job!”.  I had to try to reign her in at the start and keep reminding her that it wasn’t a race, and that it was going to be a long day.  Still, it’s hard not to get caught up in such a large pack start…and we did end up going out a little too fast.

Sure enough, there was a price to pay, and when we turned and started heading up toward Lake Desolation, things started to get a little hot and a little ugly.  By mile twelve it started to look much more like work than fun, and I was beginning to think, “…boy this is going to be a long second half”.  But I have to hand it to the tour organizers, because that was exactly when the aid station came.  We got off the bikes and took in plenty of fluids and a few too many of Jessie’s newfound favorite race fuel – Chocolate Brownie Cliff Bars.  It was really crowded at the rest stop giving her the sense that she was right in the thick of it all, and not just trailing along.  Between that and the added boost from hydrating, resting and eating, she was a new person, and it never stopped being fun again.  .   She was surprised every time I told her another mile had ticked away already, and she even had enough left to “pull away from me” and turn in a nice sprint for the finish. 

 A Big Thank You!

Thank you to all our Tour riders and volunteers who made the 2011 Tour de Cure one of the best in the country! The ADA staff and volunteers work on this event throughout the year. 

Thank you to all our Volunteers in particular our planning committee which meets throughout the year: Carmine Costanzo, John Debrita, Brian Dwyer, Kristin Farina, Kathy Gormley, Jackie Hill, Jerry Jurczynski, Linda Kibby, Larry Lowe, Jim Masi, Anne Moore, Linda Mossop, Brent Pierce, Nancy Toleno and Al Vollmer

This year’s underlying feeling of hope and inspiration has uplifted all of us. Every rider I had the honor of speaking with had a great day – even those who had bike issues – they still loved the day.

The Tour is much more than a party with a purpose for us. It is a day of getting to know each of our riders, their families and their stories. It is a day to celebrate all the people living with diabetes every day. It is a day to cycle, laugh, hug and sometimes cry. It is a day to raise money for research to find a cure for this terrible disease.

We at the American Diabetes Association are so appreciative of all the riders who took time out of their weekend to come together in one place at one time to say “I am riding to Stop Diabetes.” Won’t you join us in 2012?