Category Archives: diabetes

100 Miles for a Cure

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This weekend I rode in the Tour de Cure as a fundraiser for the American Diabetes Association to help stop diabetes.

The ride was on Sunday, but we went out to Napa on Friday night to enjoy some extra time with friends, and to go wine tasting on Saturday.

 {Grabbed a tasty cupcake at Sift on Friday night}

{Enjoying wine tasting with friends on Saturday}

Sunday morning we were up before the sun to make sure we were packed up and ready in time. There is so much gear when you have to bring bikes!

Since this wasn’t a race, just a ride to go the distance, we didn’t have an exact time to start. Just were supposed to get our there sometime between 6:45-7:15am. It seemed like most people riding 100 miles started right at 6:45am, but we weren’t quite ready. (Too busy enjoying our breakfast burritos!) I think we took off a few minutes after 7am. The weather was overcast and a little cooler, so I ended up wearing my sleeves the whole day.

The Tour de Cure has a number of rest stops to refill water bottles and grab some food. We decided to skip the first one since it was only 10 miles in. We were all excited and started really quick!! After a few miles though we got into a better rhythm and lead rotation.

{Me and Ryan ready to ride!}

Before making it to our first rest stop, there was one hill. Nothing too crazy, but the biggest incline of the day. I had remembered it being tough and struggling to get over it the last couple years (this was  our 4th Tour de Cure). But this year, it seemed like I made it to the top so quickly!! Must be the few hilly training rides.

 {Elevation along our 100 mile route}

We decided to take our first rest stop at mile 35. The volunteers were awesome, and had peanut butter and jelly, trail mix, nuts, fruit, and cookies out. We tried to keep out breaks brief, and grabbed some snacks, filled water bottles, and used the bathroom before rolling out again.

From here, we had a 20-mile loop before returning to the same rest station. We got rained on a little bit during this loop of the ride, but it never got too bad. We then headed back over the hill, and crossed over to the Silverado Trail to continue the ride. We made one final rest stop at mile 70. When we rode over the hills, we sometimes spread out a little, but then we got everyone back together into our pace line when we were back on the flats.

I always feel like riding the Silverado Trail is quicker (note the general downhill in the elevation chart), but there are a few rolling hills to go over. Enough to make your legs burn pretty good after riding 75 miles. At one point I started getting frustrated that I wasn’t keeping up well enough after one of these little hills. But luckily I realized I probably needed some more calories, so I ate a couple bloks and felt better pretty quickly. It’s sometimes amazing to me how much food is necessary during a bike ride!

The last 15-20 miles or so were pretty uneventful. We were all ready to be off our bikes, but were enjoying the scenery… beautiful vineyards everywhere. We finished in 5 hours 23 minutes. Our average pace was 18.6 miles/hour. This was faster than last year! It is fun to see an improvement year to year on the ride.

After the ride we hung out for a post ride beer and food with other friends who rode various distances, and caught up on the days events. The Napa Valley Tour de Cure is the largest in the country with nearly 2800 riders across all the distances. This was a great event and was very well organized.

{A few of the friends who joined in the Tour de Cure with us this year}

Thank you to anyone who donated to the cause. As I have said before, helping people better understand this disease and its treatment, as well as finding a cure are important to me. The continued support of friends and family is amazing, and I am so thankful.

Have you ever done a century bike ride? This was my 3rd 100-mile ride!

100 Miles

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A week or so ago, I mentioned that Ryan has type I diabetes. To help raise money for this cause and for research to find a cure, we will be riding in the Tour de Cure. 

The tour de cure is a bike ride to bring awareness of the disease and fundraise for the American Diabetes Association. There are rides all across the country. Each location has a few different distances to allow for people to push their limits but also ride something that they are capable of. 
This year will be the fourth year Ryan and I have participated in the Tour de Cure in Napa Valley. This year it will be taking place on May 5, 2013. We will be riding the 100-mile route! A bunch of our friends will be joining us on the tour, riding one of the various distances (10, 25, 50, 80 or 100 miles). Funds raised through these events are used to fund research for a cure, information to help prevent diabetes, advocacy for those affected by diabetes and public awareness activities.
We have had an absolute blast participating in the Tour de Cure. The Napa Valley tour has stunning scenery, and is simply such a great route. The other nice thing about it is they have a bunch of rest stops to refill your water bottles and get some food. Besides the ride, we like to make a whole weekend out of it by going to Napa on Friday and enjoying the area Saturday before the ride on Sunday.

One of the other awesome things about this event, is people who ride and have diabetes (either type I or type II) are celebrated as a Red Rider. This promotes a community among those with the disease, and is nice to see who you are really riding for! Red Riders wear a special red jersey with this logo to be recognized.
So, this is our next big event to train for! Last weekend we did a tough and hilly 45-mile training ride with our friend Josh. Most weekends for the next month, we will be getting out on some longer rides. I will also be trying to bike one day per week to campus to get some extra miles in the saddle.
To find a tour in your area, check out: http://tour.diabetes.org
If you are interested in donating to the cause and supporting my efforts to stop diabetes, please visit http://main.diabetes.org/goto/klipscomb and click on “Donate to Kristen” to make a donation in my name.

Have you ever done a charity walk, run or bike ride? Before the Tour de Cure, I had also done a few walks for Multiple Sclerosis and Relay for Life.

On Diabetes

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I’ve never talked about this before on the blog, but I wanted to mention that Ryan has Type I diabetes.

Diabetes is a condition in which the body does not produce or does not properly use insulin. Because of this, food cannot be processed correctly to form the energy you need to function. Insulin is a hormone produced by the pancreas. The role of insulin is to allow glucose (or sugar) from the food we eat, which has entered our bloodstream to enter our cells for use. When a person doesn’t have enough insulin (or it doesn’t work right), their blood sugar is abnormally high. Sustained periods of high blood sugar can be detrimental to your health, leading to serious health complications.

Type I and Type II diabetes cause high blood sugar in for different reasons, both connected to how the body utilizes insulin. In Type I diabetes, beta-cells found in the pancreas are destroyed, causing the pancreas to not produce enough (or any) insulin. Patients with type I diabetes require daily injections of insulin to maintain a regular blood glucose level. Type I diabetes accounts for 5-10% of all diabetes cases, and is sometimes linked to genetics. Although this type can develop in people of any age, it is often diagnosed in children.

In Type II diabetes, for some reason the insulin produced by the pancreas does not function properly. Often patients with type II diabetes are overweight, or physically inactive, and often older. However, today with the rise of childhood obesity, many children are also being diagnosed with this form. Type II diabetes can sometimes be controlled by an increase in physical activity, diet control, and/or daily oral medications. In some cases, insulin injections may also be required if diet or other medications don’t work. This type of diabetes accounts for 90-95% of all diabetes cases, and what most people think of when you hear about the disease.

Ryan was diagnosed with type I diabetes in December 2008 at the age of 23. He does not have any family history of the disease so it was a big shock! Ryan treats the disease with two types of daily insulin: one that brings his baseline levels to normal, and one to offset any carbohydrates eaten during meals. It is important for him to check his blood glucose levels a several times a day to make sure they are not too high or too low.

Our focus on exercise and healthy diet helps to keep his levels a little more stable, but sometimes it can also make it more difficult. During vigorous activity, his blood glucose level can drop quickly. Low blood glucose can also be dangerous. Because of this, it is especially important for him to carry carbohydrates to eat while training/exercising to keep his blood sugar at a normal level.

I hope to write a bit more here about how we deal with diabetes during our training and our daily lives. 

Some resources:
American Dibetes Association – http://www.diabetes.org/
Mayo Clinic (on diabetes) – http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/diabetes/DS01121

Do you know anyone with diabetes?
Anyone have questions about diabetes or living with this disease?