Tour de Cure Event Day – A Personal Story

Wow, time passes slow when you are out of breath and have a loss of energy … I have been representing SAIC by participating in the ADA tour de Cure for a total of 16 years including the 12 years since I started participating in the Orlando area.

Thank you all for making the 2022 Tour de Cure Orlando great! You did an amazing job assisting me in raising $1,105 for the American Diabetes Association. This is was a tough year to ask for donations considering all the events that happened throughout the nation for the last couple of years. This is why I really appreciate you for what you do! Not only did you help me … but you also afforded me the ability to share the wealth with others on the team and allow them to become a champion.

You are part of Orlando’s TeamOne’s efforts which raised over $7,793. TeamOne 2022 consisted of 7 individual riders. All my donations started rolling in all most immediately after I notified everyone! I’m always humbled and grateful for the donations we have received thus far because every penny counts. As usual, I have an ADA Tour de Cure shirt sticker for display on my dry erase board in my home office in honor of every donor.

On Sunday, March 27th, I participated in the American Diabetes Association Tour de Cure Florida in Lake Nona. Yes, we have gone back to somewhat normal to an in-person event. It been several years we have not had an in-person event because of the pandemic. The temperature started was 65 degrees all day. Today was another overcast day. The notorious Florida wind was very much present from 9 – 10 mph with 19 mph gusts.

The group was hoping to participate in the metric century (50 miles) this year but because a couple of member didn’t have time to training, we decided on an impromptu 25-mile ride starting at 9:30 am. We all were very motivated for this event because we were going to see everyone in person!

The ride began in TeamOne fashion as every other year, all together in a group, as we crossed the imaginary starting line. The day began as a warm morning at 69 degrees. We welcomed the overcast which kept the weather cool accompanied by an unheard of very low humidity for Orlando of 41%. That is 50% less than last year, woohooo! All in all, it made for great riding weather.

We started at a nice and slow warmup pace of 8 – 11 mph for about 2 miles as we were enjoying the scenery and sharing the road with our other 10-mile group. On or about the 2-mile mark, we took off with only one rest stop on this ride which was 12 miles away, where we stopped for a 10 min break. If that was all that happened it would have been a wonderful ride … that would have been too easy … The 25-mile group I was riding with reached the 7 mile mark and sped up even more. Usually this is no problem. This time what was unusual is that I was not able to keep up. I had been the only one riding religiously since our last event, putting in 2,221 miles last year and over 700 mile so far this year with an average speed of 18.5 mph. This ride should have been a ride in the park (pun intended).

Well, this is what I felt at the 7 mile mark … my heartbeat raced up to 175 bpm, power jumped up to 275, and I stared seeing floating little white dots while I was only going 13 mph. Those with the exception of white dots are signs of when I push it to speed of 25 mph at the same bpm and power normally. The white dots are signs of I’m getting ready to pass out. Nothing was normal this ride. I had to back it down and stay between 11 – 15 mph to keep my heart rate at minimum 160 bpm. I was in the rear of the peloton, and I saw the team members leaving me behind as they were getting smaller and smaller the further distance ahead of me they were. I rode for 5 miles alone. When I was 2 miles from the turning point, I saw the 25-mile TeamOne group returning back to the start. They saw me on the other side of the street and yelled are you okay? Of course being out of breath while still giving it all I had, I could yell back and say NO! I just nodded my head NO! They turned back for me to get me to draft behind them all the way to the rest stop.

The TeamOne members initially didn’t think anything was wrong with me. They just thought I decided to stay back and talk with someone because less than 6 days prior I took a solo training ride pushing 18-25 mph in winds speed of 6 – 9 mph and gust of 11 – 14 mph without even getting winded.

When we left the rest stop we were on the 12-mile home stretch. That would be a great and quick ride back under normal circumstances, but not today. I pushed with everything I had to keep up a 15 mph speed. Those last 12 miles were really difficult. Many times I thought about stopping, but my mind would not allow it even though if felt like resistance training.

When we reached the last turn onto Lake Nona Blvd with only about 1/4 miles remaining our old friend decided to give us some help again with resistance training. We rode once again as a team, in a line, and it looked great to see the group sporting the TeamOne “Team of Champions” jersey all lined up moving down the street for the sixteenth year. We (SAIC) were seven riders strong and also Shawn DeLuca, a champion from Leidos, rode with us in this event. Shawn, a TeamOne member, wore the Team of Champions jersey. A sight to see as team members riding together across the finish line. A perfect day without incident!!! 🙂

I believe that “A person’s true wealth, is measured by the good they do in this world!” … for this, you should feel wealthy and very good about yourself!

After the Event

I thought I caught COVID since my breathing was labored the entire ride. During week I was meeting with and hugging (I’m a hugger) more people than in the last 2 years combined. Though I took precautions and had been vaccinated, it seems you can never be too careful. Later, once I arrived home, I took the rapid COVID test with negative results. My breathing and resting heartrate (46 bpm) was still not normal, it was elevated (102 bpm). I just took it easy. Now, what I didn’t mention is that typical of Florida spring, pollen counts can be high. So I also started allergy medication. That and the rest combined so that I was feeling back to normal in a day.

Images of the day can be seen on the team story page: https://teamonecycle.com/2022/03/lake-nona-fl-ada-tour-de-cure-16/

Event Day Statistics

This is the course charted for the 25-mile route.