Saturday, November 19th 2011 - JDRF Ride to Cure Diabetes in Tuscon, Arizona...
...0 miles and 500 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
Now I know what you're thinking - 0 miles? missing a 1 and a 0 in there right!? - but sadly this little uncle was medically disqualified from the ride. I had some minor hip surgery (these beauties take work, ladies) about two weeks before the ride and to my dismay, my doc was adamant that I stay off the bike. So instead of hitting the roads, I worked the refreshment tents with the vigor of a 111 mile biker with grade A hips - making 500+ peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, slicing bananas into peel-and-go pieces and pouring countless cups of water and gatorade for the masses. While disappointed I wasn't on a bike, I had a blast and met some pretty amazing people along the way. Plus, I got this sweet jersey for my volunteering efforts! Even better yet, I got to meet this incredible little lady who received a jersey for being absolutely amazing (story follows):
Mallory, 6 was the life of our Tucson gathering. She was there to root on her dad, who was riding to give her a cure. Mallory was diagnosed with Type 1 when she was 2 years old and was thoroughly disappointed when told she was (way) too young to ride with JDRF. You must be at least 13. But, she wasn't discouraged. Her parents helped her keep tally of the miles as she rode her bike in her neighborhood through the summer. She finished the 111 mile ride before her dad. Pretty inspiring let me tell you.
Now on to the green stuff - for all those who donated, THANK YOU! With your support, Allen and I raised over $9,000 for JDRF. You are all fantastic and I can't thank you enough for your kindness and generosity. I fully believe that with your donation, we are that much closer to finding a cure for my man Braeden and his future heartthrob Mallory. In all, the Tucson riders received donations totaling more than $400,000 (wow!) and the JDRF riders for all rides in 2011 raised around $5MM! (REALLY WOW!)
Below are some pictures from the Tuscon ride (in which Allen completely kicked tail) - I invite you to kick back, put off work for the next little bit and enjoy the slide show
Pretty cool, yeah? Well now comes the even more fun news - Allen and I are up to our fundraising and biking antics again! We're heading to the metropolis of La Crosse, Wisconsin for a JDRF 100 miler on August 18th. Not only will my tail end be on a bike for sure this year but we're going to SHATTER last year's fundraising total. Ahem, with a little help from our friends of course!
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