The Web Warren

It's September and the weather has cooled down enough for the Usual Suspects to hold their Fall Fun(d)raising Features. The festivities have already started: the weekend before Labor Day, Allison of Lemonade Life rode a rather rainy JDRF Ride to Cure Diabetes until she was sidelined by a passing van's rear-view mirror. As usual, Carey's got his Charlie's Angels JDRF walk group going at the end of October, while my STARFLEET Regional group will participate in the JDRF Seaside Heights walk on the first weekend in October. (My fund-raising page is here.) Since I don't have a group of colleagues at work I can hit up, raising the suggested minimum is going to be a challenge.

Meanwhile, I've been trying to get out on the bicycle as much as possible -- as much for my physical and mental health as to get errands done. There are occasional challenges, including weather and necessary repairs to the apartment, that keep me indoors when I'd rather be on the road -- but in the seven weeks since I've had the Dolce I've gone over 240 miles. I'd like to be able to put on 50 miles a week (or maybe more?) as long as the weather holds. (The degree to which Life gets in the way of that is another issue.)

There's another reason to get back on the road.

Several of us on another diabetes community have been talking about Red Riders. On the American Diabetes Association's Tour de Cure cycling events, "Red Riders" are participating cyclists who have diabetes and "Team Red" includes both Red Riders and those family and friends riding to support them. The page suggests that the Red Riders are the "inspiration" for everyone else riding that day. Interesting thought so far. Then I started searching for the next Tour de Cure ride in my area. It turns out that my local 2010 Tour de Cure ride is scheduled for my 50th birthday, June 13th.

Now, I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm at that point in life where I want my birthdays to mean something -- which means doing something meaningful on that day. Cycling in a Tour de Cure would be something meaningful. While the ADA has gotten some flak from some of us, the folk there have developed a number of outreach programs for ethnic communities at-risk. Education and awareness are my particular interests in diabetes advocacy, and I live in an area where at-risk communities run rampant. Type 2 diabetes has affected several members of my own family, as well as running large swaths through The Other Half's kith and kin. The ADA is the primary advocacy agency for those of us with T2DM.

Not to mention that there's something to be said about doing the "diabetes poster child" thing on a day known mostly for eating the sorts of things some (uninformed) folk would insist contribute to developing Type 2 diabetes. I mentioned this to my Other Half, and he laid down the challenge: to ride the 50 mile Tour de Cure on my 50th birthday. It's too poetic a combination to pass up.

Some would say that making plans for June is a bit long-range. I agree -- especially when I'm not sure what will be next month. But training up from 20 miles on the flat to 50 miles over hilly terrain, and raising enough money to be allowed to participate, both require some planning. And while there's "many a slip between cup and lip", if I don't try to raise the cup, I won't get to drink its contents.

Will I get the opportunity to be a Red Rider? Will I be able to complete the 50 mile course? Only time, and my body, will tell. But for now, the gauntlet is in hand.