Ride Report!

2014 JDRF Ride to Cure Diabetes- Burlington Edition

Ride Weekend Report:

Thursday: Ryan and I took off bright and early Thursday morning, we met up with several members of our Utah Chapter riders at the airport in Salt Lake City and headed off to Burlington, we were all excited and the flight went pretty smoothly. We had a really quick layover in Philadelphia, then off to Burlington. We arrived around 5pm and caught the shuttle to our hotel. It was so nice to get there and see all the smiling faces of other JDRF riders and support staff. We dropped off our luggage in our room and then got checked in and met some of the riders. Energy was high and it was very exciting to be there. We had a fun, more low key dinner Thursday night, since all of the riders hadn’t arrived yet. After dinner the Utah chapter peeps took a shuttle to downtown Burlington to explore. We walked through the beautiful old streets and looked at little shops. We eventually made our way down to the water front and walked some more. Vermont is fantastically beautiful. The weather was perfect, slight humidity and 70’s. On our way back to the shuttle, we of course had to stop at the original Ben & Jerry’s ice cream store for a few scoops of fabulous ice cream. By the time we made it back to the hotel everyone was ready to crash from our long day of travel and excitement.

Friday: We woke up around 8 and headed down to the JDRF breakfast buffet with the group. Its always fun to see all the riders trickling in. After breakfast was the ride meeting where they go over the course and safety precautions. I was getting a little nervous at this point, the ride directors were talking about some of the challenges of the course and I realized I didn’t seem to have an accurate idea in my head of what the course was going to be like! After the meeting we got ready for our tune-up ride, just a quick ride on the early part of the course to make sure our bikes were working properly. About 3 miles in I saw a massive hill ahead. I started to panic a bit. I had no desire to try the hill on this quick tune-up ride, so most of the team went ahead and I turned back to the hotel. My bike was working great, and I was enjoying the feel of all of the oxygen from this almost sea level ride, but I was really starting to get nervous after that hill, and knowing it wasn’t even one of the big hills they had warned up about. I got a little stuck in my head and started to really doubt myself. Luckily my husband and my trainer kept reassuring me and telling me to trust my training. After talking to my team that had gone over the hill, I felt a bit better that it was a deceiving hill and wasn’t as hard as it looked. (Cause it looked HARD). After we got a chance to clean up we headed to lunch on a floating restaurant on the river. It was a beautiful spot and a fun time with my team and a few of our “adopted” cohorts from North Carolina. From lunch we headed straight out to tour the Ben & Jerry’s ice cream factory. Its a quick, fun little tour, and a tasty sample at the end. We took lots of fun pictures and enjoyed more yummy ice cream (it kind of became the theme of the weekend, bad Diane. :) ). We then headed back to the hotel to relax a little bit before the big Friday night dinner. We all dressed in our team shirts and enjoyed a great meal and learned so much about what JDRF is doing and about how fundraising is going this year. They handed out the Jersey for best recruiter and best fundraiser ($90,000!!!). And they handed out the “Promise” Jersey. It goes to the person that is not Type 1 who is best keeping the promise to do everything they can until we find a cure. Our teammate Maggie, a 16 year old girl, won the jersey! It was a very exciting and emotional moment. The whole night is so emotional and inspiring. Its the night that reminds me why I do this. Why I go to the trouble to fundraise and train. My heart was full to bursting with excitement and desire to never stop doing this. I went to bed feeling ready and excited, if a tad nervous.

Saturday: Ryan and I woke up bright and early to get ready for the ride. Luckily the ride starts and ends at the hotel, so there was no pre-dawn bus ride or anything to worry about. I drank my planned ucan/protein shake while I chatted with the team at breakfast. I was really pumped at this point. The still slightly asleep crowd probably thought I was crazy. :) We headed down to the bike room to get bikes set-up and ready to roll. The weather was PERFECTION. It was probably high 60’s at the start, beautiful skies, little wind, although the wind did pick up a bit later in the day. After taking start line pictures and singing the National Anthem, we were ready to roll! I was seriously excited. I got out and hit the hill I was so worried about, and it was a piece of cake! The momentum I got going into it and the extra oxygen flowing through my veins made me feel fantastic. I actually lost the group (Scott, Maggie, Maryann, Brian, Missy, Steve, Betty and Matt) I planned to ride with early on because I was just feeling so good. The scenery was absolutely breathtaking. I have never ridden such a beautiful ride in my life. There were some rolling hills, and some long winding descents. I was awestruck. It was strikingly green and lush. I loved every second of it. I waited for the team at rest stop #1 and tried to stay with them for the rest of the ride. I did pull away a few times and ride with people from other chapters, but we always regrouped at the rest stops. The rest stops were great, the volunteers were helpful. I stayed almost completely with my nutrition plan, and it really paid off. I felt energetic and happy the whole time. At mile 23, the sacred mile in JDRF rides, everyone gets quiet and contemplates all of those who have lost their lives in this fight against type 1. I cried, and I prayed. I prayed that no one will ever have to think of James during that mile. It really is a sacred mile. Later on, as we approached rest stop #3, I was getting nervous again, i’d heard about this crazy hill up to the rest stop.  And rightly so. It was insane. The steepest thing i’ve ever attempted. Unfortunately, its a hard hill to see and prepare for, so I didn’t get geared down quite enough. My legs were going so slowly that I was sure I was going to fall over, so I quickly unclipped (I was sure I wouldn’t be able to without crashing, so woohoo, I didn’t crash!). It was so steep that even standing over my bike was almost impossible because my cleats kept slipping out from under me. I walked, very carefully, 15 feet or so to the top of the steepest part, then remounted my bike and finished the hill up into the rest stop. Whew, it was hard! The team regrouped and I got a second wind, yay, the climb I had feared all day was over!  Little did I know that the next 15 miles were the toughest of the ride. There was a lot of climbing. Rolling hills, but it sure felt more up than down. I was really getting worn out from climbing. My left knee started to hurt a bit, which made me nervous. Luckily I was riding with a fantastic guy named Matt, a Type 1 on a hybrid bike, no clips or cages, and he was killing it! It was fun and motivating to keep up with him over the course of these crazy hills. Luckily, at the end of that difficult section is the turn around rest stop. The team regrouped again and we took a longer break to cool off and hydrate and fuel. My knee was definitely hurting so I took some ibuprofen and hoped that would take the edge off since there was still 48 miles to go. The 15 mile section back to the next rest stop was still difficult, slightly less so than doing it the other way, but it was still a challenge. Once we got back to the rest stop at the top of that crazy hill, I was grateful to know what lay ahead, I knew there would be some climbing but that the worst of it was over. My knee was also starting to feel better, which I was very grateful for. I was still feeling great otherwise and ready to keep rolling. Going down the crazy hill was actually quite terrifying. I had my breaks on as hard as my hands could stand to ease me down the hill, and my hands were cramping by the end of the steep section, i’m surprised I could hold on to the bottom. Once that was over the next miles were just fun. The team was riding together, we were pushing a good pace (we held about 14 over the whole ride, which was my goal), everyone seemed to be feeling good. The scenery was still epic. The weather was still fantastic, if a bit windy. We took quick stops at all the rest stops, but we were really just enjoying the time at this point. The hardest part near the end was at about mile 90 where there were several decent climbs, the last of which is called “Irish Hill”. Its only about 3/4 of a mile long, but it’s pretty brutal, and at mile 90, it’s really brutal. But, I made it to the top which I was very proud of. We cheered each member of our team to the top. I was inspired by the coaches who repeatedly rode the hill to help everyone make it up, some even pushing riders up. Once we regrouped, we rode the last 8 miles together. Just around the corner from the finish line we met up with our coach, Kimberly, and the faster riders from our group (John and Darin) that had already finished, and we rode in together through the finish line, with me at the front of the pack. It truly was a great moment. I couldn’t believe I had actually done it. I finally completed a century. I finally had the full experience of the JDRF Ride to Cure Diabetes, and it was everything I had hoped it would be. Truly. It was WAY harder than I thought it would be (nearly 4,300 feet of climbing, my personal record in a single ride), but I also felt better throughout than I could have hoped for. It was a great day. I got back, celebrated a bit with everyone, and then showered and relaxed for the little time we had before the celebration dinner. Another great time that leaves me on a JDRF high and that I wish I could experience on a weekly basis. I mostly relaxed all evening, and chatted with my husband and Chapter Coach about what to ride next year and fundraising ideas. I think I pretty much have Ryan convinced to ride with me next year. Ryan was a great cheerleader. He made the weekend about me, and he texted me, and watched my progress throughout all of ride day to keep me motivated. I’m so glad he was there for me. It was so nice to see his face at the finish! And I couldn’t have done it without such an awesome group of people to ride with. Truly, a great day. I will never forget it.

Right before the start with my awesome team and our adopted team. :)

Crossing the finish line!

Team Utah!

Sunday: We got up early and got ready for church, and packed up our room to check out. We then met the LDS portion of our team and took a cab to the chapel nearby so we could attend Sacrament meeting. It was a special experience to do it with my team. Afterwards we headed back to the hotel to get ready to fly out, and to enjoy one more lunch together before the official end of ride weekend. They are all such great people. I’m so lucky to have found this group and to be able to call them all my friends. Now, the travel home…that will require a whole post of its own…as I type this I am sitting in the Philadelphia airport. I’ve been here for 22 hours. We got to the Burlington airport 25 hours ago. Its been a long, sleepless trip, worthy of its own post. But despite that chaos, I cannot wait to do this again. The plan for now is La Crosse, WI in August of 2015. That seems so far away! Lots of the team is doing Tucson in November of this year, and I wish I could pull it off. I need as much of that #bikeface as I can get into my life. Its truly a special thing.

I’m still a little short on my fundraising. If you have a few bucks to share, please help me out. It is a cause I will never give up on! And better yet, if you want to join the ride program, you will NOT regret it. It is the coolest thing I have ever done, and once you drink the Kool-aid, you’ll know exactly what i’m talking about! Talk to me about it anytime, or go to ride.jdrf.org and read more about it! 

Here is my fundraising link: http://www2.jdrf.org/goto/DianeOwen