As a fan of Team Type 1 - sanofi-aventis and a Red Rider training for my second Tour de Cure, Memorial Day weekend is the weekend to show my colors and come out to cheer on the team that is (or should be) close to the hearts and minds of everyone with diabetes: it's the one weekend each year that I can be certain the team will be "in town", the weekend it races in title sponsor Sanofi-Aventis' Tour of Somerville series, which takes place within cycling distance of my home. Saturday's road race's closest approach to chez moi predetermines that day's training ride: over the highway to part of the route that comes nearest to my home, backwards along the route until I run into the race's road closure, stop to cheer the team on, take the shortest route to cheer at the finish, meet up with the team, and then ride home. The planned route was about 28 miles and while it wasn't entirely flat, it wasn't nearly as hilly as the 50-mile course I'm signed up to ride next week.

The first part of my route was pretty routine, after encountering a training partner at a stop light (she was on her morning run). About four or five miles up the road, I came alongside a pair of joggers who had absolutely no idea that the Tour of Somerville included a Saturday road race that ran right through their jogging path (albeit on the other side of the street). As I continued on without encountering the race, I became unsure of the point at which the race veered off from my planned route and stopped to check my smartphone. As often happens when one cyclist sees another at the side of the road, I was asked if I had run into a problem and needed assistance. I told the young man I had stopped to check the race route... It was a race of which he, like the joggers, was unfamiliar. Whilst explaining that I was also training for the Tour de Cure and letting him know of that and a number of other charity rides in our area, who should come up beside us but another rider wearing a Tour de Cure jersey -- as it turns out, someone on the committee. We had a bit more conversation about the Tour de Cure and the Tour of Somerville, just as the police precursor vehicle came through asking all cars to pull to the right of the road.

In short order after that, the usual pre-race procession of vehicles came through -- a much smaller procession than I'm used to from the New York City Marathon -- and then the racers. In this manner, three fans (ok, one fan and two, er, escorts?) cheered on what appeared to be about fifty lads in lycra before each of us continued on our way. I'm not sure any of the racers heard us, but it was great to be able to cheer from the road.

Even with the race running slower than expected through the point at which our paths intersected, I managed to miss the finish -- and Team Type 1 - sanofi-aventis rider Joey Rosskopf's second-place finish. The team was there when I did finally arrive, so I got to say "hi" before Saturday's event broke up and everyone headed for hotels (the team) or home (me) until Sunday's criterium. That's still a bit better than last year, when I managed to just miss the race coming close to home as well as missing the finish. Well, there are still the Sunday and Monday races in the series, so you know how I'll be spending the rest of Memorial Day weekend -- the last weekend before my Tour de Cure ride.