Steve's No Direction Home Page

Thursday, May 08, 2003

The Tour de Cure

Last year I had planned on riding in the American Diabetes Association's Tour De Cure bike ride in the Napa Valley for 25 miles, but wimped out at the last minute for one reason or another. This year I decided not to wimp out, and did myself one better: instead of doing 25 miles, I rode 50 miles last Sunday morning. This beats my previous distance record by about 17 miles, and is a fitting way to celebrate the pending end of my 50th year. I had loads of fun; there were hundreds of riders but the route was long enough that we spread out enough so that sometimes it felt like I was riding alone. The sky was cloudy but not rainy, there was a slight breeze blowing, and the wildflowers -- lots of poppies and vetch and others -- were beautiful. Those last 7 or 8 miles, though, were tough; it seemed like the wind kicked up and I got passed more than I had been the rest of the trip. (There's a map of the route at http://www.diabetes.org/tour03/napa/50mi-rev.gif.)

I didn't do this just for my health (though that was a big part of it). The Tour De Cure is the American Diabetes Association's biggest fund raiser. I know that the stand way this is done is to ask for sponsorship before you ride, but I guess I still thought I might wimp out. So I'm posting this now. If you read the news you know that diabetes is a bigger and bigger problem all the time. I know this, and know that it's possible to manage it well with exercise and diet. Not everyone does this, and many of us get the message too late. The American Diabetes Association is doing a lot of good work in research, education, etc. So if you can, go here and make a contribution. Using this link gives me credit for the thing, and if we contribute enough, I get some neat swag. (I already got the t-shirt.) I appreciate any help you can give, and a big thanks to Jeremy, Michael Jackson, John, Denise, and Suzette who have kicked in; I really appreciate it; it may do all of us some good some day.

And one last note: I really had a great time on this trip. If you get the opportunity to do anything like this, I recommend it. I'm probably going to pay the price in stiff legs tomorrow and the next day, but I'll remember this ride for a while. I know that I've already forgotten why I wimped out next year.

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