Rider Stories

May

2013

Karyn Brown

In March of 2009 I was scheduled to have my 3rd knee surgery on my right knee.   Convinced that this was because of the additional weight I was carrying (I was about 50lbs overweight) I joined Weight Watchers.   First thing they teach you is to 'get active'. I was recovering from knee surgery but the doctor said I could ride a bicycle. In late May 2009 I went out and bought a $20 bicycle (not sure that I would like cycling) on Craigslist. It needed new tubes and tires. I stopped by a local bikeshop on my way home from work one day and bought the needed tubes/tires. On my way out of the store I noticed a Tour de Cure brochure hidden among the rest of the ride advertisements. I picked it up, stuck in my shopping bag and went home.

I read the Tour brochure and found out about the Red Rider program! I also saw that they had a 'free training program' for all lengths of rides in Tour. I got ambitious and signed up for the 100k (62 miles) ride my first Tour.   I printed out that training schedule and stuck to it. My first ride was 3 miles. I stopped many times, sat on the curb and cried. My blood sugar was high, it was low, I needed to eat, I needed water, etc. It took me nearly an hour. I kept with it and Weight Watchers and by August I was 30 lbs lighter and could ride 40-50 miles - very slowly.   But I could do it. I bought a new bike right before Tour thanks to a surprise bonus at work - and I had fallen in love with bicycling. I completed that 100k ride, blew my tire (a Tour de Cure volunteer helped me get to the finish line on my own power by 'sealing' the hole with a $1 bill) and became a Champion for Diabetes (raising nearly $1500 that first year). When I returned to the Fairgrounds after my ride I was invited to be in the Red Rider photo. Well, duh, today is totally about ME - that is why I got that great jersey - so it's about US now (ALL of US in those red jerseys).

I sat next to Mari Ruddy (founder of the Red Rider program) in that photo. She asked me what length ride I rode that day.   She asked me if I swam or ran and I laughed.   No, why would you do those 'other' sports? I just discovered cycling!   She then invited me to be part of a relay team in a 1/2 Ironman. I said yes. It was 6 weeks away. In another state.   With karyn 1strr people I did not know. I did not know the bike distance of a 1/2 Ironman.   I went to Austin with Team WILD for their FIRST Triathlon event. I biked and I had fun.

karyn imfinish These other fabulous people that I met through Team WILD convinced me to do my own 1/2 Ironman (all 3 sports. no relay) the following year. First things first. I took swim lessons. Then I did 2 triathlons that summer (2010) prior to signing up for Ironman Wisconsin ONE week before attempting my first 1/2 Ironman. I signed up for Ironman Wisconsin and then DNF'd (Did Not Finish) my 1/2 Ironman.   But Mari was at the finish smiling when I quit and went to cheer on the rest of the team.

AND there were 10 Red Riders at the finish line cheering me on at Ironman Wisconsin (2011). Mari was one of those Red Riders.

There will be at least 8 or 9 Red Riders at Ironman Arizona this fall - cheering me on (and doing it with me) again.

Diabetes sucks.   Life with diabetes doesn't have to.

February

2011

Jen Armstrong

I did my first Tour de Cure in San Diego in 2005. I did my second Tour de Cure as an official Red Rider in August 2008, 2 months after I moved to Colorado. I only knew a little bit about the route, had not been on my bike in a while and didn't know anything about the Red Rider experience. Wow. What an experience! jenarmstrong4

I lived in Hygiene, Colorado as a kid, but only until the age of 6 before moving to San Diego, CA. It was so amazing to travel back out to my earliest childhood home and see the intersection where I used to attend Sunday School at the Hygiene Methodist Church and go to Clarks market before going to the public pool in Longmont in the summers. I remember Clarks well because we used to get candy there as a kid, "Fun Dips" and sugar-filled plastic fruits that we would empty into our mouths and then play with at the pool. I was diagnosed with Type 1 at the age of 9 a few years after we left Colorado. Now I was a Red Rider. I have now had type 1 diabetes for 25 years.

I had no idea that day how meaningful the Tour would be to me or how special that Red jersey really was until I was on the route. Next, we headed north and the photographer captured a great moment for me as I rounded the bend. Off to the west, right at that photo op, is a landmark known as Rabbit Mountain. This too had deep roots of meaning to me. My great-grandfather homesteaded there and my grandfather grew up on this land. As a child, my siblings and I learned to ride horses there. There are still concrete steps of the old house and cellar out there and a large rock where my great-grandfather carved his initials. My family still calls it "the farm", but now the land is Boulder County Open Space. My family's roots are here, right on the course of Tour de Cure. I couldn't imagine not doing the ride every year, as a tribute to my roots and our cause.

I had just reunited with my extended family in Longmont after moving to Colorado 2 months before. They all came out and saw me at different points along the way, even from Terry Lake, my cousins waved from their boat! I could go on and on about my day, but needless to say...the spirit of the Tour was in me.

The next year, I came out and did the ride on my own, my family was not there, but it was still an amazing day of personal spirit and reflection. So in 2010, Mike Carter asked me to be a member of Team Red. I was SO excited! Until being on Team Red, I had never been on a team. When I was growing up with diabetes, unlike kids today, I was more discouraged than encouraged to do sports. My parents had a lot of fear and not a lot of support and education and I understand that now. I like to say that I am a child-onset diabetic, but I'm an adult-onset athlete. The challenge of training in a variety of activities is just a part of my lifestyle now and I enjoy setting the next goal. This year, my goal is to go the next distance of 100 kilometers (62 miles) for Tour de Cure.

I am honored to be a part of Team Red as Co-Captain this year. I look forward to growing with the team and learning from more-experienced cyclists. Go Team Red!!!! GO RED RIDERS!!!!!!

May

2010

Taryn Walters

taryn I had grown up riding my bike. When I was in the second grade I even rode 50 miles on a banana seat bike in Texas over the Fourth of July weekend. Talk about HOT! Then in the fourth grade I moved to Colorado and continued to ride my bike even taking some mountain biking classes offered through my Girl Scout program. I was your typical kid riding my bike to school and using it for transportation to and from my friend’s houses.

My diabetes story begins in September of 1997. I was in the seventh grade and still an active kid. I played basketball & softball, did recreational gymnastics, and ran long distance track. I was strong and enjoyed a good athletic challenge. I remember the week of my diagnosis being in PE class and feeling so sick and so weak that I couldn’t even use the light archery bow; so I went to the nurse’s office and she sent me home from school. I then spent the next week in bed. I would get up to get a drink since I was SO thirsty, and to use the bathroom. After being in bed for a week my parents decided it was time to take me to the doctor. It just was not like me to be in bed for so long. At the doctor they performed a variety of tests and finally decided to check my glucose. It was outrageously high. The pediatrician said that I had diabetes and sent me to the Barbra Davis Center in Denver. I remember thinking “can I have something to drink if we have to go to Denver, I am SO thirsty.”

I don’t remember realizing that I was diabetic until I was admitted to Children’s Hospital. I then spent a few days in Children’s Hospital, and the next two weeks in and out of the Barbra Davis Center learning the “ins and outs” of diabetes. I thought I had a good understanding of the disease and how to care for myself. I remember wanting to cry as I told all my friends and my family about my new diagnosis and they were all very supportive. The first couple of years I had diabetes were fine. I would discuss my numbers and doses with my parents and it was part of our everyday life. As I started to mature and become more independent I would hide my diabetes as much as I could. When I didn’t people would look at me like I was crazy. At one point in time someone told me that it was rude of me to take my insulin in public. I was mortified. I became involved in different activities provided by the Barbara Davis Center including ski trips and holiday parties and even getting to meet Mrs. America who was diabetic at the time. I thought that this was so cool. I made several friends who also had diabetes enjoyed their companionship yet I still felt like no one understood what I was going through.

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