Well … not that kind of special. But every year, as Tour de Cure approaches, my thoughts turn to a very special team: Team Novo Nordisk. Those folks really are extra special.

Living with either type of diabetes must be difficult enough. Imagine balancing the demands of monitoring Type 1 diabetes with the demands that pro cycling makes on the body.

It\’s quite a fine line to walk, I imagine. Er, I mean, to ride. If I had diabetes, would I dare to ride at all? I can just see myself blacking out and crashing because I had run out of GU-Gels and my blood sugar has dropped too low. My desire to ride, however, would probably outweigh that concern in short order. Perhaps even against doctor\’s orders!

Tour de Cure time is also time to applaud another very special team: the Red Riders. All riders in TdC are on Team Red, but the Red Riders are TdC participants who have diabetes.

There are five weeks to go before the local Tour de Cure. Those weeks will zip by in no time. Soon I must get my road bike tuned up. I also must decide what I\’ll take along for ride food that day. There will be rest stops with snacks, so it won\’t be as critical as food for my long, Sunday rides. I want to be sure I don\’t bonk, though. We cyclists must keep the glycogen levels up!