Biking for Your Health – Join the Fight to Stop Diabetes
(ARA) – Maybe you started biking to work when gas prices were hovering near $4 a gallon. Or perhaps you and your family cycle as a great way to spend time together on a Saturday afternoon.
But did you know that using pedal power could help to find a cure for one of the nation’s deadliest diseases? With your family, on your own or as part of a team you can ride your bike and raise funds for the Tour de Cure.
Take the Ride of Your Life
Tour de Cure, the American Diabetes Association’s nationwide cycling event, welcomes riders at all levels — from novice to experienced cyclists — to support the Association’s mission: to prevent and cure diabetes and to improve the lives of all people affected by diabetes. Last year more than 38,000 cyclists — people with diabetes, friends, families and supporters — raised more than $15 million to support diabetes research, advocacy and education.
Diabetes is a deadly disease affecting nearly 24 million children and adults in the United States. Another 57 million have pre-diabetes, a condition that places them at increased risk for developing type 2 diabetes.
Whether you bike for fun or because you dream of being the next world champion, bicycling is great exercise that can have significant health benefits. Tour de Cure events feature routes that vary in length and difficulty, from 15-mile family distances to 100-mile “century” rides. It is a ride, not a race, so participants are encouraged to go at their own pace.
Are You a Red Rider?
If you have diabetes and plan to ride in Tour de Cure, don’t forget to join the Red Riders, a special section of Tour de Cure that the American Diabetes Association created to recognize participants who have diabetes.
“The Red Rider Recognition Program is a way for those of us with diabetes to gather the strength, courage and motivation to live well all the other days of the year when we aren’t riding in Tour de Cure,” says Mari Ruddy, founder of the Red Rider program. “It gives us an opportunity to celebrate the hard work, dedication and teamwork it takes to manage this challenging and complex disease. Best of all, when we can give a participant a red jersey that proclaims with joy, ‘I ride with diabetes!’ it brings a face to the disease with the heart, soul and passion of the participants who are riding with diabetes.”
Join Tour de Cure to benefit your health and to support the fight to stop diabetes. To register as an individual rider, a Red Rider, start a team, or learn more, visit Tour.Diabetes.org or call (888) DIABETES (888-342-2383).
