Square to Square

I'm finding out that being part of the JDRF Cycling Team isn't all about going out and riding to prepare for the National events, it's also about volunteering!  The Square to Square ride is put on by a great couple, I don't think they charge anything for it, but any donations that are received go to the volunteers to help fund their National rides!  I signed up to help clean up afterwards because I had no idea what to expect and thought this would be the easiest thing to do with out being in the way!

Before going down, I was told that this goes through a few of the town squares of the areas that make up Cincinnati.  What is Cinci landscape known for?!  Yes... HILLS!  And I was warned ahead of time that we would be riding through urban areas.  I'm not thrilled with either!  Give me country roads any day!  Wanting to be a part of the team and see what all they do, I dove right in, head first!  I have to admit that I was thoroughly impressed!  We rode through beautiful areas, such as around Xavier College, and not so great areas, but over all, it was a great ride! Heading back from the rest stop in Kentucky, I rode with Coach Dan and M (who is around 20 and has been Type 1 for about 15 years).  Once we got across the river and started up the steep streets around the Reds' Stadium, she struggled and we called for a ride for her.  That or she was tired of me asking a million questions about how riding effects her sugar and how she manages it! I couldn't help it, Ellee wants to ride with me so bad and I'm nervous!  Any little tips to help for when she starts riding, the better!

From just North of the Ohio River, it's just Coach Dan and I.  This is great because he will be on the Wisconsin ride, and any cycling tips from as many different coaches, the better!  We some how missed one of our turns and kept saying that it's got to be right around this bend in the road!  Half way up the second hill I stopped him.  These are long, fairly steep hills and this second one looked like it went on forever!  I talked Coach Dan into stopping and checking the GPS to find a route back instead continuing to playing the guessing game!  We figured out where we went wrong, called another coach to let them know that we were off track and thought we had it figured out.  As we got closer to the finish, we mutually agreed that if we ever got directions for another ride where every other thing was "at the White Castle, turn..." that we would pack our bikes up and leave!  We ended up riding 36.2 miles and so far it's the story I'll be sharing years from now at team events!

Unfortunately since it took us so long to get back, they had everything pretty much packed up.  To make up for the shotty directions... they handed us ice cream as soon as we got off our bikes!!!  Wow, do they know me or what?!  That right there made up for every emotion that ran through my head when we were lost!!!

I told Coach Dan that if he wanted to test me on my climbing skills, all he had to do was say so, he didn't have to "accidently miss the turn"!  Again, I can't say enough about how impressed I am with this Team!  Everyone is great and I love talking to the others to find out why they ride!  Some have T1 themselves, for some it's their kids, and surprisingly a majority of them didn't have a connection but do this because some one asked them to!

Long Over Due

Wow! I am horrible about keeping up on this!!!  I guess it's that time of year when the weather is so nice that you'd rather be outside than messing around on a computer!  Let's see what I can remember to do a recap of my most memorable training rides so far!

First Ride of the season... and I know this will never happen again... St Patty's Day Eve!!! Yes, the middle of  MARCH!!!  We had unseasonable warm weather and it was hard not to get out on the bike and enjoy it!  Almost 27 miles right off of the gate and it felt GREAT to be back out on the bike!

The second ride was a different story!  I knew that we couldn't get lucky enough (we are in NW Ohio after all!) for the warm weather to stick around.  Kelli and I decided that since we will be rooming together when we go to Wisconsin for our ride, that we should start riding together!  We met up in Xenia and headed South on the Little Miami Trail.  And when I say it was cold, I mean it was cold!  We had rain the day before, and if it was 50 degrees the whole weekend, it was a cold 50 degrees!  I was underdressed because as cold blooded as I am, I never would have thought that I'd be out in that kind of weather.  After that ride, I have decided to stick with the warmer temps!  Our feet were so numb after we got done because of the way bike shoes vent!  That was 28.5 miles and for at least 15 of it I was miserable!

In the beginning of May, we had a training ride as part of the Young's Dairy Ride.  This is a great ride that Young's put on where you have an opportunity to ride from Youngstown clear up to Ohio Northern University in Ada for a whopping 83 miles! And you can even bike your way back the next day!  The money raised from this ride go to 4 different charities, with JDRF being on of them!  This training ride was also my first ride with other members of the SW Ohio JDRF Cycling Team!  I was stoked!  And 44.7 miles later I was exhausted!   But I did it and felt so good because that was a great accomplishment for being my third ride of the season! The hills right off the bat really got to me, but I managed through them and was glad the ride back was flat! I also got to meet other members of the team, and every single one of them are wonderful people!  On the way back from the last stop I got to ride with Coach Scott for a little bit and he gave some great pointers!

A few weeks later I participated in the Kenton Buggy Ride.  And that was 43.7 miles of pain! My exercise induced vomiting reared its ugly head and I worried that this would plague me for the whole season if this is how it's going to start out.  I signed up to do the Metric Century (which turns out to be around 60 miles).  14 miles in at the first rest stop and can feel my stomach turning and my legs are getting weaker.  I found from the previous ride that the bagels I ate at the stops didn't bother me.  Since eating bread helped, I had some delicious Amish cinnamon bread!  But I also made the mistake of eating some strawberries too.  Feeling so sluggish early on, I decided to skip a loop which knocked about 14 miles off of the 60.  I went the rest of the route and even took a short cut to take off a few extra miles.  I think my body knows me and decided that it will hold on until I am absolutely done.  I no sooner made it back to the parking lot and my stomach let me have it! I made a mental note to talk to the JDRF coaches and see what they think will help me with this problem.

Kelli and I were able to talk Coach Scott into doing a bike maintenance class for some of us newbies!  It was very early the morning after my Kenton ride and an hour and a half down to Centerville where it was being held!  The class was great and I took away two great pieces of advice... a simple way to get the back tire off & on and how to wash and grease your bike! I was sore from the day before and really didn't feel like riding afterwards, but Coach talked me into doing an easy recovery ride.  It was an easy 16.5 miles through some neat areas!  And being Dayton, it wouldn't be a ride without hills!  I was told by a few of the older guys that they were impressed with my climbing skills for 1) being from a Northern, flatter area and 2) for being a fairly new ride!  I'll take that as a compliment!

Registration!

I wanted to register for the JDRF Ride to Cure right away, as soon as registrations opened, but I wasn't able to.  And I'm weird in the way that certain things I like to plan for certain dates so that I can remember them.  As Ellee's birthday and her diagnosis anniversary drew near, I thought about it.  I wanted to register on her anniversary date!  In the grand scheme of things, it doesn't matter... but for me, it's sentimental!  

Three years ago we went from a care free life of raising two healthy kids to facing the fact that Ellee would have to have multiple daily injections for the rest of her life.  The part that tears my guts apart is the thought that there is no cure for this.  But the more research I've done on the disease and with the JDRF, I now have hope that one day there WILL be a cure!  It won't be a pretty cure, transplants of any kind never are, but it's a sliver of hope in this grim outlook.

The only way to truly cure this is to some how replace the cells that make insulin, so it's not like treatments for most other diseases.  The possibilities are there, though.  Organ transplants have always been an option, but not always as successful.  A month after Ellee was diagnosed I read about Islet Cell Transplants and I was delighted!  Instead of a whole organ, they were just injecting the cells that make insulin!  I like this idea better for many reasons!  I then found a lady's blog who lives up in Toledo that had this and so far, so good!  I was even more delighted to find out my cousin's husband is actively working on this project!

JDRF is vested in many aspects of T1D.  From possible cures, to improving insulin and treatments, to even prevention!  I like the idea of prevention - if this is something that isn't easily cured, then prevent it!  If I had to give one reason why some one who has no idea what Type 1 Diabetes is so why should they contribute to the JDRF, it is so that they may continue to never know!  I don't wish this disease upon anyone and would some day love to see reports where every year the number of diagnosis goes down, not up.

This is why I ride!  This is why I'm taking on the challenge of a 100 mile bicycle ride and raising a large amount of money to be able to participate!  Not only would I like to see Ellee be able to live care free again, but so that no other child should have to go through this!  

I am now registered and will be doing a 100 mile bicycle ride through "Three States, Two Bridges, and One Mighty River!"  I can't wait!!!

Registration is Now Open!

It's Here, It's Here!!!  The registration for JDRF's 2012 Ride to Cure is now open!  Now, the hard part... which ride to choose?!

Registration opened on January 30th, and to celebrate, the Dayton Cycling Team had a meet and greet that night and encouraged new riders to attend and for current members to bring some one new! Assuming that I'll get assigned one of their coaches anyways, I made it a point to attend.  I'm glad I did, to say that this is a great group of people is a complete understatement!  Everyone was so welcoming and had great stories to share!

I think the highlight of my evening was meeting the three "kids"!  A 17 year old boy (diagnosed around 16 months), an 18 year old boy (diagnosed at age 5), and a "girl" whom I believe is around 22 (diagnosed around 2 1/2)!  All three of them were diagnosed early on and have gone through all kinds of life changes with this disease and all three are very well-rounded, pleasant kids!  The one guy has done 3 (or 4) of these rides already and he's only a Junior in high school!  Both guys were talking about being councilors at the diabetes camp they have every year in Bellefontaine (which I am making it a priority to see that Ellee gets to go to that this year)!

There are days when I just want to sit down and cry because of T1.  There are nights when I don't want to get out of my warm bed to go check blood sugars or don't want to set a second alarm because she is high and I need to check again in a few hours to make sure she comes down.  But this is the reality of it.  Over and over, I am thankful that she was diagnosed with something that allowed us to bring her home, but at the same time, no kid should have to live with all the needles and finger sticks.  On Monday night, seeing these kids, who have gone through so much, have such positive attitudes is very encouraging!  These kids are the reason this is so important!  They are wonder role models for Ellee!  Which now-a-days it seems like positive role models are few and far between.  But I'm very thankful for an organization such as JDRF!

Knowing that I'm going to ride 100 miles doesn't sound all that intimidating right now... what does is deciding which of the 5 destination I'm going to choose!

Resolutions

Back in Middle School band, we played a piece called "Resolutions".  I loved it, but unfortunately don't remember who the composer was to look it up.  And it's the time of year where most people go crazy making over-the-top resolutions for the upcoming year that they don't have any intentions of carrying on for more than a few months.  I've learned my lesson on not to get over zealous with resolutions!

It's been a rough past few years, but I still have a lot to look forward to!

I love watching the girls grow up! Two girls who look so much alike but have completely different personalities!  And those personalities are as lively as can be! They aren't so little any more, Ellee is in 1st grade and is reading while Dani is in Preschool and learning to write.  And as with girls, the drama gene is starting to appear - this is the one thing I could definitely do without!!!  But then again, it just makes life all that much more interesting because you never know what is going to happen!

Learning to live with Type 1 Diabetes has been an interesting ride in itself, but Ellee makes it look easy.  April will mark our 3 year mark. Some days it feels like it was just yesterday that she was diagnosed and others if feels like it should be longer than 3 years.  We are now 3 months into pumping and while it has one major downfall, the benefits are priceless.  I'm looking forward to our Endo appointment in Feb so that we can see how much, if any, the pump helps control her A1C!

But, the high light of my year will be getting to ride in the JDRF's Wisconsin Ride to Cure!  Two years ago I bought a road bike for myself for my birthday with doing a JDRF ride in mind.  I knew I wouldn't be able to do any thing over 10 miles on my hybrid bike, so I took a leap.  I didn't get to ride it much that summer, but I did learn a lot about a whole different world: the world of cycling!  However, this past summer I started living in this world!  It's kind of like visiting a European country, falling in love, and wanting to move there!  I wish I lived closer to work so that I could park my car and ride my bike! But I will be the first to admit that I'm a fair-weather rider, so as soon as the temps drop and/or the wind picks up too much, the bike comes in the house in hopes that I get some time to get the rollers out!

This past year I put 375 miles on the bike and 115 miles on my inline skates!  I did my second half marathon inline skate and while I didn't finish in under an hour like I wanted to, I can't complain about my performance: 13.1 miles in 1:05, finished 3rd woman to finish and 1st of the women in my age group (out of 6-8)!  We drove the course right before the race and my heart sank as I saw the hills on the one stretch of road, and when I say that the finish line was an uphill battle, it literally was!  It felt like the last hill was a 45 degree climb with about 10' of flat road right in front of the finish line!   As for cycling, I'm still getting use to it, but along with lots of shorter rides. I did a 47 mile ride and felt awesome afterwards but another time did 65 miles and for the last 8 miles had this overwhelming feeling to throw up, and once I did, I felt human again (as weird as that is to say)!

While I may not make resolutions, I am making goals!  I want to spend more one on one time with the girls.  I want them to see that life is what you make of it, and while not everything is fun, with a little hard work, it is very enjoyable!  I also want to improve my cycling and skating skills, not only for my health, but for the girls' health!

Inspiration

The last 2011 JDRF Ride to Cure was the weekend before Thanksgiving, in Tuscon, AZ.  I love flipping through the pictures posted on Facebook.  You can see the people's faces of how amazing of an experience this is for them.  Reading about a parent's journey of riding for their children, or even reading about a marriage proposal at one of the rest stops!  It's an inspiration to see the sense of accomplishment in their faces, whether they have T1D or are riding because some one they love has it.  The smile on their faces as they cross the finish line tells a thousand stories, and you don't even have to know "their story".

I had to get on the computer this morning to send out an email.  I read a little while ago that JDRF would be finalizing the 2012 rides with in a few weeks.  I went to see if they were close to releasing them yet and found a link to this story:

Huntsville's Ross Armstrong does 111-mile Ride to Cure

Nate was working on the Christmas lights and I started to read the story aloud to him, without pre-reading it.  I made it through the first two paragraphs with no problems.  I started on the third and my voice started getting shaky.  Once I hit the word "needle" I had to stop to gain my composure.  Nate knows me better than I know myself because he didn't waste any time coming to me.  Needless to say, I didn't compose myself, instead as Nate wrapped his arms around me from behind, I lost it.  Like his daughter Mallory, my daughter Ellee had very little memory of what it was like to be carefree.  Even I have very little memory of what it was like for 4 years to be able to feed her without having to check her sugar first then to give her an injection of insulin afterwards.  

I know that very few parents understand how I feel when it comes to this ride.  When we tell people that we will be riding over 100 miles next summer, the mileage is what catches their attention, not the cause.  In my eyes, riding a bicycle 100 miles in one day is nothing compared to living a lifetime of daily care of T1D. But after each training session and after the day of our big ride, my life will resume.  Back to checking sugars before every meal, dosing for everything with carbs that she eats, changing out infusion sets, and analyzing sugar results to make sure her dosage is working.  

I ride because it is my hope that one day Ellee will be able to say "I vaguely remember what it was like to have to check my sugar and dose insulin after eating."  

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