By Popular Demand: The Tour de Cure

When I was living in LA (well, Pasadena) in 2000, I remember my dad calling and saying, "I'm thinking of getting a bike." Umm . . . okay, dad sure. he started looking but was shocked at the price of bikes. Keep in mind that he hadn't bought a bike since the early 1970s. Last year after I started this whole triathlon thing he was interested in bikes again. Then, when I bought my new bike this spring he was caught up in the bike buying frenzy and got one for himself. Also, this spring he was diagnosed with Type II Diabetes and knew he need to do something for his health.

He recruited Sara, Cabe, and I to ride with him as a team in the American Diabetes Association's Tour de Cure. The tour is a ride (not a race) to raise money and awareness about diabetes. At first, Dad was interested in doing the 25K (~12 mile) ride. Sara and I got together and nagged until we signed up for the 50K (~30 mile) ride. We did a few training rides together, including part of the Tour de Cure course two weeks before the ride. I was a nice ride, but there were more hills than expected. Apparently, I need to learn how to read elevations.

Sunday, June 14th was the day of the big ride! Ready or not, the Red Hot Johnsons were ready to roll. We got to the start area with Mom as our SAG wagon. Perfect timing! We had time to pick up our packets, Dad got his "Red Rider" jersey which identified him as a rider with diabetes, make a pit stop, and line up at the start.

I was a little nervous at the start, I could just see a big crash with the start. But we made it through and headed out on our big adventure. The first few miles are a gradual climb and the team did a great job! We even passed some people. :-) Unfortunately, no one brought a camera, so we don't have any shots of our beautiful ride through Palo Alto, Woodside, and some other towns on the Peninsula. We enjoyed the snacks at the rest stop. But I was very sad when I dropped some of my trail mix. Then we were off for the trek to the turn around. I absolutely loved riding on Portola. The road was smooth and I felt comfortable flying up and down the rolling hills. We all just kept pedaling and pedaling. I couldn't believe how good I was feeling even up the hills. There was a group heading the opposite direction, they saw dad's jersey and yelled out, "Go Red Rider!!" (I think we have a new alter ego for dad.)

The last push to the turn-around was long and I was really happy to turn in to the aid station. I got off my bike and took of my left shoe because the top of my foot was hurting. But that's okay, there were cookies! I got a few cookies, a banana, and some trail mix. And, what happened? I dropped my trail mix. :-( Anyway, we had our snacks and then it was time to head back. It was all downhill, from here, right?

Well, almost. We had a good ride back, mostly down hill but a few up hills. As we were hitting stoplights with other riders things got a little backed up, but we all found our own pace. At one of the last lights before the end another rider was getting tired and turned to dad and said, "I'm doing this for you, you know." :-) I told dad, our team captain, to lead us in to the finish. It was so great to have people cheering at the finish and mom was right there to take our picture!



50 K in 3:34 hours. We had a great time and thank everyone who made a donation to American Diabetes Association.