Let the experiment begin...

Today is 6/24/2007
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Suspending Reality

Each day I turn on the TV, I try to figure out if I have gotten anything of use from it. I keep coming to the same conclusion... No.

This morning, it seemed like every show was completely out of touch with reality. Then, the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back...

I see a commercial for "zwinky.com". The entire commercial was a total barrage of all the things you could do on their website.

I guess I just don't get it.

It seems that everything in the world today is designed or intended to remove us from reality.

2007 Tour de Cure: The tradition continues...

OK, So just a little over a century…

My goal for this year’s American Diabetes Association’s Tour de Cure ride was simple: Make it back to Reston before the entire event was packed up. You see, this was my second time doing the Tour de Cure. Last year during a road ride, my friend Andy told me about the Tour de Cure. I really didn’t have to think too hard about it… Cycling has brought me a lot of joy over the past several years; it only seemed natural to use cycling to raise money for such a worthy cause. On top of that, the cause was also personal. Several years ago, my Dad presented in the ER with a blood sugar over 900. He said that the ER doc told him that usually people are comatose when their blood sugar is that high.

Well, a few years later and many pounds lighter, my Dad was not only insulin-free, but at times had issues with low blood sugar! Since my Dad faced his challenge so successfully, I figured that I would challenge myself and sign up for the full century. I had every intention of actually training for the ride, but life somehow seems to get in the way of things when you least expect it. So, I ended up going into my first full century road ride having only gotten in maybe two or three 30+ mile rides, and one metric century. If there was one thing that I did know I had, that was the support of friends and family. I still remember while I was on that metric century training ride, a good friend telling me how I needed to keep at it and continue to do the things I enjoy. It was this same friend that told me of how his cycling friends provided the most encouragement when he too needed it.

So with that, I started the 2006 Tour de Cure century ride. About 30 miles into the ride, my rear wheel started rubbing the brakes. Hmmm… That’s odd. When I found the broken spoke, I realized that my wheel was out of true. The TdC support crew transported me to the next rest stop where an awesome mechanic managed to get my wheel relatively true. He told me not to ride very fast, and warned me that more spokes may begin to pop. Now I could definitely oblige him on that slow thing… Between the broken spoke, and being REALLY out of shape for a century ride, it took me a little longer than I expected to finish. Now, here is where I have to explain my goal I stated at the beginning of the story. My Mom, Dad and son had come to Reston with me as my cheering crew. As I pulled back into Reston Town Center at the end of the ride, there they were cheering me on. Of course, pretty much everyone else was gone. The band was packed up, the tables and chairs were put away, and only a few folks were still milling around. But hey! It was a ride, not a race, and I finished. So, now you can see where my goal to “finish while everyone was still around” came from.

Fast forward to 2007. Well, actually, I registered for the 2007 ride as soon as online registration was available late in 2006. Now, as if having one family member dealing with diabetes wasn’t enough, my older brother decided that he would one-up Pap Pap. When my brother PJ started developing vision problems, he visited the doctor and was subsequently diagnosed with diabetes. So, as I had stated on my TdC page, the ride was now twice as personal.

As usual, I had planned on trying to get in regular training rides… And, as usual, they were few and far between. However, I can definitely say that my training schedule was full of quality, not quantity. You see, most of my training rides were with my friends Steve and Michele. All that I can say is that their positive attitudes have meant and done a lot for me. In fact, Steve and I did the inaugural Lake Chesdin Tri-County Metric Century a couple of weeks before the TdC. When I felt that good at the end of 64 miles, I knew that I could make the 100.

Unfortunately, this year I couldn’t bring my cheering crew along with me. But again, good friends help out in any and every way they can. My smallest cheering crew member stayed with my friend Connie while I headed up to Reston. The evening before, I had an enjoyable and relaxing dinner with a friend.

The only thing that I can say is that I went into the ride with an incredibly positive attitude. All that I had on my mind was all of the positive support I had received from my friends since the last ride.

Overall, this year’s ride went very smoothly, and didn’t have any of the drama of last year’s. The only mishap this year was the wrong turn that added 4 miles onto my overall ride.

However, there is one thing that stuck out in my mind. Somewhere between the first rest stop and the 32 mile mark, I thought to myself, “There is one thing missing…” I realized what it was. All that I could think of was how much fun I had doing the training rides with Steve and Michele. It brought a big smile to my face. They were there with me, and I didn’t even realize it at first. That smile made me think of dinner, where I was so impressed with my friend’s positive outlook on life, and no-fear attitude.

Now, I had said that my goal was to finish the ride before everything was packed up. As I pulled into Reston Town Center, I heard the band playing. There weren’t a lot of folks there, but a few were still hanging out. So, I reached my goal, and had an awesome time doing it.
Channy told me that next year, he wants to do the 12 mile family ride, so I think that we will do that one at the Hampton Road ride. Of course, I will still do the Reston Century… How could I not continue such a great tradition?