11 Jul 10 2010 Knoxville Tour de Cure Wrap-up

On June 5, 2010, I had the opportunity to join just over 400 other folks and ride in the American Diabetes Association’s (ADA) Tour de Cure (TDC) in Knoxville, TN. The TDC is a fundraiser supporting the mission of the ADA in diabetes research and prevention. There were four ride distances available: 12.5 miles (family ride), 25 miles, 62 miles (metric century), and 100 miles (century). I elected to try the 100 mile ride as I had never participated in a ride of that length before and wanted the challenge.

As many of you know, I had planned on riding in honor of my mother-in-law, Ann Black, who had type-2 diabetes for over 25 years. In April Ann passed away, causing the ride to have more importance as a memorial and tribute to the strength and perseverance she demonstrated over the past 10 years in her fight with cancer and subsequent/related health struggles. It was great to be able to have Gary Black (Ann’s husband of over 40 years) present with Julie and the kids as I crossed the finish line, just over 6 hours after having started the ride.

On the fundraising front, I cannot say thanks enough to those who supported me in this effort. Together we raised over $1,350 which made me the 14th highest individual fund raiser. The team I was associated with (UT-Battelle – from the Lab where I work) was the 10th highest with just under 5,000 raised. These numbers may not seem that large, but these were small parts of the entire TDC Knoxville effort that raised over $148,000. This is a great number and I’m thrilled to have been a small part.

The ride was certainly challenging, and I’m glad I did the 100 mile distance. While it was a ride and not a race (a distinction that may not mean much to most, but basically means that timing is less precise and placement isn’t tracked that closely) I was able to learn that there were approximately 45 individuals who started the 100 mile  route and I was the 9th across the finish line with a personally-recorded time of 6:09:05. During that time I climbed a total of 6,128 feet, burned 6,578 calories, had an average speed of 16.2 mph, and drank alot of liquid. If you want, you can view the data collected by my bike computer (GPS/map data, etc.) here: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/35784608. As you can imagine, I learned quite a bit about long distance rides. While I consumed a significant amount of liquid, I had my hydration approach skewed a bit and didn’t consume enough salt compared to what I lost. This resulted in some pretty severe cramping in my legs that caused me to have to stop a few more times than I had intended. I also should have paced myself better as I started off a bit strong and tapered pretty badly, especially in the last hour. I probably should have planned my stops ahead of time and stuck to them regardless. As it was, I decided to stop “when I felt I needed it” and didn’t end up stopping at all until mile 62 and at this point I was probably a little past the point of proper salt consumption and it was a little late to fix it.

All that said, it was a great ride and I really enjoyed participating in it. A special thanks again to all who were involved in supporting me in this – it was certainly a team effort and I couldn’t have done it without you. This last picture is me crossing the finish line… pleased to be done.