Ride Cincinnati

The JDRF Team is not just about training for our National rides, they are also about helping out the community.  An email went out to the team about needing volunteers to either lead or sweep a ride for this event and what could I do but dive in head first again?! To play it safe, the coordinator set me up to sweep the 26 mile ride.  At this point I mention that over the past year or two the Dayton and Cincinnati area combined into one team and not everyone goes to every event. So at each event I go to, I'm constantly meeting new people!

A little about this ride: It is a fundraiser for Breast Cancer Research and this year they raised over $265,00!!!  RideCincinnati.Org

The day of the event, I had to be at the location and ready to ride by 8:15 to leave at 8:30. Not knowing where I was going or what to do, I was there way early.  Jan and I made our way to the starting point which was the top of the Purple People Bridge on the Ohio River.  We found other team members and waited for everything to get under way!  As sweeps, we were to watch other rides, if they pulled off to the side of the road, make sure they are okay and if they need help, we call the SAG or bike mechanic if we can't help.

I met Jason, who was diagnosed at 19 with Type 1, and because he was sweeping the 18 mile ride, we rode together and chatted about our experiences with Diabetes and how we got into cycling!

I went up ahead of Jason and around mile 6 or 7, coming down a hill and around a curve, I see some cyclist off to the side changing a tire.  I stopped to see if they needed any help, but they were getting it so I just hung around to make sure everything was okay once they got it back on.  The ladies who stopped to help and changed the tire, left after they got it inflated.  The younger gal and her boyfriend then tried to get the tire back on the bike.  I only had to watch for 10 seconds to see that they were going to struggle with this and I was very thankful for Coach Scott's maintenance class the month before!  Stepping in to help them out, we flipped the bike upside down and I showed them how to lift the chain, drop the tire down, then seat the chain.  The gal was telling that she had just bought this bike the day before and didn't expect to have a flat so soon, and who could blame her?!

Jason caught back up with me, so we continued on.  The route for this ride was very nice! The pavement in a few spots was sketchy, I didn't care for riding through the town as soon as we got into Kentucky, but it was a combination of rolling hills!  There weren't any that were too steep and the traffic wasn't too bad!  On a ride like this we did see inconsiderate drivers, but there were also inconsiderate cyclist.  It was enough to make you shake your head.  With cyclist like that it's no wonder drivers complain about them on the road.  On the other hand, with drivers who don't bother to move over to the legally required 3 foot, it's scary for any cyclist to see a vehicle with in inches of them.  Thankfully there were no accidents and hopefully everyone became a little more aware.

Instead of turning around at the 9 mile mark, Jason went down to the 13 mile rest stop with since he hasn't had a chance to get out on the bike much this year.  There he introduced me to many more of the JDRF team members who were returning from their longer rides!

Over all I really enjoyed this ride!  Even if we don't volunteer for it next year, I will still ride in it!