The Tour de Cure 2014 was a great success! Things that were improved upon from last year are: Nine people on my team! Woohoo! Lowering my basal rate, riding with my husband, brother, sister and friends (missed my Dad though - but don't worry I made beeping noises to help us remember his heart monitor), cloud cover, less wind and a better route.
My team raised over $2,000 dollars! Thanks to them for fundraising and to all who donated! Here we are at the start line: Ryan Wheeler, Loni Watson, Mark Astling, Lisa Astling, Casey Smith, Jackie Smith, Eric Smith, Kim Barton and Matt Barton. I think I only listed to my ipod 3 times because we had so much fun talking with each other.
I don't get concentrated sibling talk time very often, so it was fun to have that on our ride.
Here's the man that helped pushed me to get in better shape this year, he pushed me to ride faster and longer.
It was such a beautiful ride out to the wild bird conservation area and through farmlands. The weather was a little chilly, but the sun finally came out toward the end.
My awesome friend Kim who didn't end up training very much, but rode the whole 55 miles anyway because she is Wonder Woman.
This picture was taken specifically for Matt Watson. He had fun with it. A few of the stops had themes, a Hawaiian one (with a lady handing out Hawaiian lei necklaces, yelling "Hey did you get lied?" haha), and a super hero one. The Beaver was at the super hero/Wells Fargo stop, but I couldn't figure out why they needed a Beaver for a mascot.
I really didn't think I would cry at the finish line because I did that once already. But, I did. It's a great feeling to know you've got the love and support from friends and family.
When we got home, we were greeted with this sign and black, red and white balloons. Thank you to the mysterious person who made me feel even more love and support. This mysterious person put signs and balloons on all of my rider friend's homes as well. Also, thank you to Granna for getting to our house at 6:30 AM to stay with the boys, take them to flag football and nourishing them!
Some things I learned on this ride: I started with lower blood sugar than I wanted to. Usually after I eat breakfast and just sit (riding in the car to the race) my blood sugar runs a little higher, which would be good to start the race. But instead it went low, for whatever reason, so right before we started I ate a Cliff bar without giving insulin since I was low and was about to exercise for a long time. Throughout the first 15 miles I remained consistently at 90 mg, which was fine and at the first rest stop it was about that, so I ate a 1/4 sandwich and a 1/2 banana and a little Gatorade, again not giving insulin because I was in the low range. I guess the sandwich and banana in combination with the Cliff Bar and only my basal rate insulin and exercise, was not enough to keep my blood sugar down, so it jump up higher than I expected. I was feeling sluggish so I had to make an unexpected stop to check my blood sugar and give 1.5 units of insulin and then .5 more units after the next 7 miles. After that I was in my sweet zone to ride well, though I didn't eat much after the first snack stop and sadly was not able to eat Red Vines this year. Maybe next year. Always something to learn.
Some other things I learned were: Ryan told me about a low-blood sugar episode when we were young that I didn't remember, when he found me convulsing in my bedroom with low blood sugar and he ran to get Mom and Dad. Thanks Ryan for helping me then and now! I rode with Eric Smith, whose Dad is Type I Diabetic and he told me stories about his Dad with diabetes. Along the race, people who pass me and others riding a red jersey, yell "Go Red Rider!" Ryan asked me if I got sick of that. I told him I love it because at a ride like this, there is a sense of empathy and camaraderie. I know when someone yells "Go Red Rider!" that they understand in detail what I have to do everyday, where the general public are only aware of they scary headlines and news stories. When I say "Go Red Rider!" to someone else, I wonder: Do they get up at 2:30 am every night to check my blood sugar like I do? Or do they have to eat at about the same times every day, like I have to plan for? Or are you going to check your blood sugar at the next stop like me? I suppose there are some that might wonder why I even do a ride like this if it's so much trouble. Because I can. Because the mental, emotional and physical benefits far outweigh the extra work it takes to figure out how to do it. Because I've been blessed to live in a time where it only takes 5 seconds to check my blood sugar level and give my insulin with a push of a button. Doing a ride like this is completely worth the effort.
Three other people have already requested to ride with me next year. Hooray!
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