Tour de Cure Recap

A little over a week ago was the St. Louis Tour de Cure for the American Diabetes association. I signed up on my gym's team, hence the yellow and black jersey in the photo above. All of the participants who  had diabetes, received a "red rider" jersey. I've had diabetes since I was a kid, so I got a red jersey. I decided to leave my team jersey on for the ride though.

I wore this pin on my jersey. The photo on the left is my Dad's younger brother, who just just recently lost his battle with diabetes.  The photo on the right is my Mom's sister. She passed away 14 years ago, and she battled with diabetes for years. Neither of them saw their 55th birthdays, and they are both sorely missed by many people. Two lives cut short, partially due to diabetes. 

The ride started a bit later than originally announced, and I never heard why there was a delay.

I met a couple of other people to ride with, and this is the three of us at one of the rest stops. 

This is the  50 mile route I was riding. See that pink bar at the bottom of the photo? That shows the elevation changes. This was a hilly course, but I'd been training on some hills.  Somewhere between 28 and 30 miles, I crashed. See that last tall pink peak? I was near the summit.  I'm frustrated that I had made it through almost all of the challenging part of the route when I crashed. If I could have hung in for a couple more miles, I would have been back on mostly flat terrain. I still don't remember what happened. I was exhausted. I hadn't slept well for 2 days. It was kinda hot, and I was taking the descents too fast. A deputy found me on the downside of a hill with my bike on top of me. I have no memory of even speaking to him. He stayed with me until first aid arrived.

My helmet and gloves did their jobs. The foam on the interior of my helmet was cracked. The straps were bloody. I started to try to wash the blood out of my gloves, until I saw that they were ripped. I threw it all away. The day after the crash, I checked my bike computer to see what the maximum speed recorded was - thinking that would be what I was doing when I crashed. It was just over 30 mph. Too fast. 

I had to get checked out at the ER. X-rays and CT were all clean, thankfully. Just a lot of road rash. I saw my chiropractor two days after the crash and my internist the day after that. The appointment with the chiropractor was so helpful. He adjusted my back, neck and ribs. It was the first adjustment I had ever had there that was painful, but I felt much better afterwards. My ribs are still sore a bit, but they have healed to the point where I can breathe deeply enough to exercise.

My new helmet and gloves arrived last week, and I have already put them to use.  Over the weekend, I got an email from my team captain. He told me that there would be a small gift for me at the front desk of my gym on Monday. I had no idea what would be there, and I went and picked it up today.

 Here's what he and the regional manager sent me!  A new helmet, new gloves, a water bottle, a dri-fit shirt (which was the right size!), and a card. This was so thoughtful!  I love the card. Here's what the inside says.

I found this to be so encouraging.

Taste the Cause

Tomorrow is the cycling event, Pedal the Cause, that I've been preparing for, and this evening we had the chance to go to a dinner that is a fundraiser for the same event. The dinner was called "Taste the Cause," and all the riders got in for free.  Kids under the age of 12 years also got in for free, so the only one of us that needed a ticket was James. We got to try food from several local chefs, and I think we will be visiting their restaurants.

 This was my favorite thing I tried: Roasted Lamb with Pumpkin and Edamame Salad. The lamb was really tender, and the salad was very flavorful. 

 The main thing that Samuel had to eat was Shrimp and Grits. That made me happy.

 He also loved the chocolate coconut macaroons from Cravings Gourmet Desserts.  I thought I'd had macaroons before, and didn't care for them - but these were so good.

 There was a live band, and he got up from our table to dance with his macaroon in his hand.

 The chicken entree that the FarmHaus had available was quite tasty. Samuel enjoyed some of their cornbread.

 Kaldi's Coffee was on site demonstrating the Chemex Coffemaker.  I had never seen this done before, and it certainly did produce a smooth cup of coffee. They were serving some their Kenyan coffee.

 There was a time for cancer survivors to share their stories, and as the crowd clapped for them, so did Eva Kate.

There is a huge wall set up for people to place a sticker and write the name of someone they are riding for.  Jon's name went on my sticker.

Jon is a friend of ours from college, and I just learned this week that he has traveled to Austria with his wife to under cancer treatment. This is his second battle with the disease, and there is a fundraising campaign going on right now to raise funds to help cover his medical expenses. You can read about his story here: Kicking Cancer with the Bufkins. Please pray for healing!

Pedal the Cause is Almost Here!

I'm so excited to be participating in Pedal the Cause this year. I picked up my rider's jersey on Friday, and I got my bike tuned up.

Pedal the Cause is a cycling event in it's 5 year here in St. Louis that raises funds for the Siteman Cancer Center and St. Louis Children's Hospital.  The money raised will go to fund cancer research at these two hospitals. These are both wonderful institutions, and I've had the honor of serving patients at both hospitals as a pharmacist.  The best calls I ever get at work are from cancer patients who are calling to tell me that they no longer need my services because they are in remission. That is always such amazing news, and how I wish I got more of those calls.  All too many times it goes the other way. Instead of a happy patient on the phone, and I have a saddened family member on the phone telling me that their loved one's disease has gotten worse and they are stopping treatment and going to hospice care. Both phone calls have brought me to tears for two very different reasons. One for joy, and the other for the briefness of life.

I'm only $50 away from my fundraising commitment.  If you'd like help me chip away at that by making a donation towards creating a world without cancer, here's the link: Pedal the Cause Donations. Thank you so very much for your support.

I've had a number of family members who found themselves grasped in the clutches of cancer. Two grandparents, an aunt and an uncle, my husband's grandfather. I ride for them. I ride for my patients. Here's to a world without cancer.