Riding to Cure Diabetes

On Sunday the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation cycling team took part in a ride organized by the American Diabetes Foundation. The ADA ride started from downtown Grand Rapids and incorporated their walk. (Side note: The JDRF Walk had been the day before on the opposite side of the Grand River.) The ADA organizers invited our JDRF team to take place in their ride. It was their first ride in this format and I think they were trying to build their numbers. Also, both groups are working to raise money and awareness around diabetes. So it's all good.

It was a beautiful day to ride, cool in the morning, warn in the afternoon, sunny, and no wind. We started in the shadow of the Calder sculpture. The route took us across the Grand River and toward Millennium Park. The important word in that sentence is "toward". I was on the lead and I thought we were riding "to" Millennium Park. This got us off route about 5 miles into the ride. Luckily we were paralleling the correct route so our detour only added two miles to the overall distance. Later in the day we (I) also missed another road mark and ended up taking the long way around to the second rest stop. I told everyone to stop following me.

We rode all the way to the Hudsonville/Zeeland area. It was a relatively flat ride, only 1,200 feet of climbing and most of that was on two climbs. The route was supposed to a metric century (62 miles) but was actually 67 miles. Or the way our team did it 69.5 miles. We had a good time and it was good to support our sister diabetes organization.

46 days until we ride at Amelia Island.