Tour de Cure Event Day – Diana’s Story

What a Ride! Everyone from TeamOne made it!!!

Thank you all for making the 2017 Tour de Cure Lake Nona great! You did an amazing job helping me raise over $1,000 for the American Diabetes Association (ADA).

You were part of Orlando’s TeamOne’s efforts which raised over $28,667. TeamOne 2017 consisted of 24 individual riders. Considering these economic times for some, we are humbled and grateful for the donations we have received so far because every penny counts. I have an ADA Tour de Cure shirt sticker for display in my office in honor of every donor.

On Sunday, March 26th, I participated in the American Diabetes Association Lake Nona Tour de Cure 50 mile ride. This was my third ride for the ADA. Little did I realize when I did the first 2015 ride that I would still be participating! This year I was so honored to ride on behalf of a newly diagnosed person – Xavier. His name has been added along with the others that I ride for:

Bertha Styles (Charmaine’s Nana), Keith Buchanan (Charmaine’s Brother), Cathy’s Dad, Charles Lancaster, Sam B., Taylor, Mr. A, Xavier Gomez
In loving memory of Charles’ parents

The day: The temperature started in the mid 60’s. I was expecting a beautifully hot day and counting on the notorious Florida wind. My ride started at 7:30 am, along with the 63 and 100-mile rides. The 10 and 25-mile riders followed at 8:30 am. (oh, I forgot to mention that my day started at 4 am, as many of my training days have, but no coffee on this particular morning.)

We started on time with TeamOne. The breeze and the sun provided the perfect temperature for a great day of riding. The few gusts of wind, on the final 8 miles of the course was not nearly as blustery as the normal afternoon Florida wind. Even though I was counting on an incredible wind, I was not at all disappointed that it was only 10 mph wind today. The temperature only got into the 70’s. That temperature was very welcome today.

We took on the wind as a team, and I am proud to say our average of 18.2 mph for 50+ miles showed it. One of the best things about riding with this group of cyclists is that even though we are in geographically dispersed locations throughout the year, we come together on this day to support each other with the actual riding part of this quest to find a cure.

This ride was great for so many reasons: Your generosity in donations (which makes you a part of TeamOne); my THIRD 50-mile ride; riding with a team that looked and did awesome; making some new friends on this ride.