Tour De Cure

Yesterday was the Tour de Cure ride to raise money for the American Diabetes Association. The event was down in Brigham City, Utah.


Melissa and Barbara planned to ride the 65 mile course and I planned on the 100 mile course. Katie came along as a supporter.


Because we had an early start the morning of the ride, we went down the night before and stayed at Heather's house which is only 20 minutes from the course. It was a windy, rainy drive down to Utah, and the forecast for the day of the ride looked grim. 50% chance of rain with a consistent wind of 20-30 mph. We stopped at Heather's store that she manages. We had a good talk with her. Somehow she managed to find some time to prepare us a pasta dinner, a cyclist's preferred "day-before" meal. By the time we made it to Heather's house we were exhausted and the 5:30 am wakeup call seemed WAY early.


Before we knew it, it was 5:30 and the alarms woke us up. But no one seemed too eager to get ready and we talked for a little while, trying to wake up.


We got to the course a little later than I wanted to. The 100 mile riders started at 7:30 am and the 65 mile riders left at 9:00 am. At the starting, it was overcast and windy, but not rainy. We wore our neon, lightweight rain jackets in case. I started at the front of the group. Since I didn't know anyone at the race, I just picked a group of people and stuck with them. For the first 20 miles it was fast in a large group that extended across the whole lane in the road for as far back as I could see. The front group and I zoomed past the first rest stop. I turned around shortly after to discover that most of the group was no longer behind us. They must have stopped at the rest stop. At the next rest stop, I stopped along with all but 10 of the lead riders.

The rest stops were stocked with food. There were all kinds of fruits, nuts, chips, candy, water, sports drinks, and PBJ. One time I slammed down a banana and some PB crackers. Another time I devoured the Oranges. When you plan to burn 4000-5000 calories you have to make sure you eat and drink well on the trip.

At one point in the trip we formed an echelon because of the wind. That is where a group of riders form a diagonal line to draft off each other. For everyone but the lead rider, it saves a lot of energy, especially when there is so much wind. However for some reason some of the riders thought it was ok to form the diagonal line across the oncoming lane of traffic (this was not a closed course). The diagonal line started at the white line of one lane of traffic and ended on the white line of the other lane. This is Very Illegal and dangerous. The cops came and got mad at some of the riders.


And then there was the hill. The map says a 7% grade down the hill. Now that I think about it, I don't mind how steep it is going down the hill. What I wish they had put on the map was how steep it was UP the hill. I didn't have a clue what to expect and when I did get to the hill I was stunned. I know it was at least a 13% grade. That is steeper than anything I have done before. I was pushing the peddles as hard as I could and still barely moving up the hill. The group in front of me made it up the hill faster than I could and I was left wondering if I was going to make it up. I thought about walking up the hill, but I just couldn't do it. Trust me, I wasn't the only one who had a hard time making it up that hill. Luckily there was a rest stop at the bottom of the hill and I was able to catch up to the group.

At the lunch spot, I quickly ate a few snacks and hurried to catch a group of about 7 others, including The Doctor, Fish-net, Skin, and Ashton. We rode into the wind at a quick pace.

Then the accident…


After 6 miles or so, Fish-net was getting a drink of water and somehow his front wheel crossed my rear tire. He didn't have his hands on the brakes so his tire rubbed mine for a while before he went down hard on the ground. I didn't know what was going on so I quickly unclipped my shoes and stopped. Fish-net was on the ground with a gashed up knee. A lady in a truck stopped and after a few minutes she took us around the corner to her house to fix his knee. Luckily The Doctor was riding with us. He carefully cleaned out Fish-net's knee and bandaged it up. At about that time I discovered that during the accident, my cleat had been ripped off my shoe. Without a cleat, I couldn't ride. So there I was…"toasted"… unable to complete the first 100 mile "century" ride. The lady in the truck dropped us back at the rest stop where I waited for a shuttle ride back to the finish line. At the time I stopped, I had completed 66 miles at a bit over 18 mph.

At the rest stop, I saw Melissa and Barbara. They were just about to head off for the last 25 miles of their ride. They were looking good and energetic. I told them I would cheer them on when I reached the finish line. And there I waited for the shuttle. At least an hour before I finally crossed the finish line with a big DNF (did not finish). There was no clapping or cheering for me as I crossed the finish line in the shuttle.

Katie was there at the finish line and her and I cheered Melissa on as she crossed the finish line having completed all 65 miles. Ten minutes later Barbara rolled in and we all gave her a big cheer as well. I was so proud of them! They had finished. And to top it off, the winds were INSANE, especially at the end. Also at the end, it started to rain. They beat the weather and made it in.

It was a great trip, and altogether the ride raised over $450,000 towards diabetes. So no matter what the outcome, we were all winners. Thanks again for all of you who donated to make this happen.


Brian