Tour de Cure

I Want to Ride My Bicycle - Queen

My sister has a bike and really likes to ride it in the summer (if only the weather would be more cooperative this week). I've tried getting her do the Bike Marathon in the Salt Lake City Marathon but have sadly never been able to sway her. My dad's wife, Jana, somehow talked her into doing one yesterday. She was pretty excited for it.

The nice weather of the day before was just an anomaly, as Saturday came with gray skies, wind, and rain. I'm not sure if Em would rather have had the current weather or something really hot. Something in between would've been nice.

Anyway, despite the rain and cold, the race began at 10:00 am at Pioneer Park in Brigham City, UT. I call it a race, but that's not really what it was. The event is called Tour de Cure and is a chance to raise money and awareness for a cure for diabetes. So instead of paying a registration fee, as you do with most races, this one requires the participants to raise money as a donation to the cause. It's nice participating in an event that is less about competition and more about supporting one another.

Em did the 25-mile event; there were also 69- and 100-mile events, but I told Em she should work her way up to the longer one. And it was a good things, because for the majority of the race Emily couldn't get her gears to change and had to pedal with some extra exertion just to keep up with Jana. She finally got them to work and was able to finish the race with a little more ease.

I stood at the finish line to wait and cheer on the other riders. I know from experience that there's nothing better than having people cheering you on along the way, especially when you're so close to the end. I stood there and clapped for every rider that rode past me, and they all seemed quite touched by it. One older gentleman rider looked right at me as he rode by and said Thank-you. I must say that I got a little emotional watching these people finishing a ride for a great cause. This is Em coming down the last stretch; that's Jana in the green behind her.

This was such a great event, with all kinds of people participating--some were doing it for a family member with diabetes, others were Red Riders riding with diabetes, some were clearly experienced bike riders, while others were casual riders doing it for the cause. Some were in great shape and others were not. Some were old and some were young. But they all rode for The Cure.