Tour de Cure - C'est Fini!

That's me in the exact middle - white shirt showing through lime green top. This was taken at the first rest stop about 6-1/2 miles in to the 3o mile ride.

I was diagnosed with Type 1 (insulin dependent) diabetes about six years ago. At the time my MIL was getting in to biking & had done the Trek Across Maine twice. That is a three day ride across the state of Maine to raise money for the American Lung Association. I mentioned that they did a ride for diabetes as well - the Tour de Cure. She said she'd do it with me.

My first year I was naive. I used my MIL's old bike & rode about 10 miles TOTAL before doing the ride. I was going to be doing the 25K with a family friend. We were riding the Carriage Trails at Acadia National Park in Bar Harbor which (I didn't know then!) meant A LOT of hills. ugh Somehow I also thought that 25K meant about 8-10 miles. I thought I could do it without issue. Hah! I was so wrong! LOL

I did manage to finish the ride. I found out at the first rest area that it was 15 miles & not 8-10. The first rest stop came at the 8.2 mile marker. It was raining. I had no real gear. But I did it. I vowed to get in to shape.

The next year we changed venues & did the Kennbunk/Biddeford ride & upped it to the 50K ride. I knew going in to it that it was about 30 miles. I trained a bit more but still not enough. It was a warm day. I wasn't in good enough shape. I ended up riding the SAG vehicle back to the end.

Last year I managed to complete the 50K. That was an awesome feeling. It was a raining/drizzly type day so that seemed to help some. I trained some more. However, I was really tired at the end.

This year I trained a lot more. I took more shorter rides at night. I took two longer rides (one was 12-1/2 & the other was about 15). My shorter rides are about six miles. I bought a new bike. I did many walking videos. I felt good. I did pretty good during the ride & managed to stay awake on the ride home (about 2 hours) until we were on our road. I was happy with my progress & I'm actually looking forward to next year.