The American Diabetes Association puts together one of my favorite national charity rides to help raise money, awareness and a reason to be healthy for diabetics and non alike.  The ride, which happens in hundreds of locations all over the country draws tens of thousands of both regular and non-regular riders, offers a variety of lengths and difficulties depending on your choice and experience.  There is a nominal registration few ranging from 10 to 25 dollars, but you are also required to fundraise a certain amount prior to the ride.  In my case the minimum this year is 200 dollars but I always try to shoot for 500,

Obviously a portion of the money gets used to hold the events themselves and pay for whatever had to be funded beyond local and national sponsorship.  The rest of the money however is used in research and development of active and preventative medicines, education and awareness for the general public and people afflicted or at risk of having diabetes, and to help fund direct medical supplies for the cause.

This will be the third year I will be participating in this ride and am very excited to know exactly how everything works at this point.  I always do the longest rides available for a variety of reasons.  First of all, I love to ride and the chance to ride is something I try not to pass up.  Secondly, there is a lot of work that is involved in raising money and being involved in an event like this, so I might as well get the full benefits of the longest ride.  Lastly, it is always fantastic to meet to new riders and share stories as you are always riding near other rides and the more miles you ride, the more opportunity to meet more interesting people.

The route I will be riding is marked at around 63.5 miles but tends to vary plus or minus one or two miles depending on last minute road construction and riding hazards.  Typically it consists of a couple decent long gradual hills and two or thee pretty steep but shorter climbs.  The last two years, I saw more riders walking these couple of hills than riding them.  As a climber, I just kept on pedaling and enjoyed the view from the top while a friend or two caught up.

The total ride takes about four hours and has four to six rest stops for a quick refill on energy or a bathroom break.  After the ride we all meet back at the starting field for some food and beverages provided by sponsors, music from a hit or miss band (keep in mind it has to cater to a wide variety riders), some free leg massages from a local sponsor and the usual meet and greet of riders that finished around you.

There are less than 8 weeks left for this years Tour de Cure and I have ridden about 500 miles in preparation.  There is still lots of fundraising to do and the best possible job of all which is to promote cycling and regular cardiovascular exercise everywhere I can.  Enjoy the warming weather and find your reason to ride.  To help me ride in this years Tour de Cure and donate money to the American Diabetes Association please follow my support link.
SUPPORT THE ADA AND HELP KEVIN RIDE

Rock climbing is one of the most specialty item sports available to us outdoor types.  Because every single item can contribute to a safe or not so safe climbing experience, it is very important to understand what it is you are buying and why it is you are buying it.  In order to further the development of the LOE community and rock climbing gear and special events, we have established a beneficial relationship with an up and comer in the online climbing gear industry, Colorado Crack Gear or www.coloradocrackgear.com.

CCG will be updating the LOE community about the latest equipment, special need items as well as informational articles which should be helpful to all of us amateur and not so amateur climbers alike.  The concept of gaining knowledge in regards to any action sport only helps its athlete perform better, longer and safer.  With exclusive first looks on some of the most needed gear on the crack, Colorado Crack Gear will be our featured climbing partner for gear and information here at Live Once Enjoy.  Let me be the first to say, welcome to the community!

-Kevin

How It Started - I received the bike new in 2011. This is a custom build 53cm 2010 SL Club design from SuperiorLite.  It came equipped as follows and weighted in at just over 19 lbs with pedals.

So, after an entire drive-train and tire and saddle change to Selle Italia Carbonia Flow SL, the bike has lost about 1.5 pounds of carrying weight. Here is how it looks now.  It is currently built up as follows and weighs in at 17.6 lbs with pedals.