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| Photo by Skylight Photo |
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| Photo by Skylight Photo |
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| Photo by Luc Arseneau |
All I could do was to laugh out loud.
Part of it was nerves. The other
part was simply noticing how funny life really is. I mean, come on, are you kidding me? A friggin hurricane?! The more that I looked at the weather
forecast, the more that I realized that Dorian was definitely lining up to hit
us on Saturday, the day of our Mike’s Bike Shop Cyclebetes XII ride. All other activities were being cancelled
mid-week. But we didn’t want to cancel just
yet. In denial, I was secretly
hoping that we could still pull it off.
After so much work I wasn’t ready to just throw in the towel like that.
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| Photo by Skylight Photo |
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| Photo by Skylight Photo |
In so many ways, I have been in the same situation many, many times before. Playing the Type 1 game, you plan everything
so very carefully and then, out of the blue, Type 1 Diabetes starts playing
dirty and all you can do is try to minimize damage. No warnings.
No mercy. Like the time that
Adele’s blood sugar dropped dangerously low as we were trying to exit the
airplane during one of our vacations.
All other passengers had disembarked.
The flight attendant came to see why we were stalling. Little did she know that we were busy saving
our daughter’s life. And there was also
that time when I was shoving juice and gummy bears into Adele’s mouth at the
bottom of the ski hill when she was having a severe hypoglycemic insulin
reaction, everyone around us oblivious to the fact that we were dealing with a
life and death situation. Living with
Type 1 Diabetes is a constant, 24-7, delicate juggling act. And all that you can do is do what you can do
and hope for a good outcome. It’s a life
of constantly being chased by a hurricane. We’re somewhat used to it. But, we still feel like it’s slowly killing us.
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| Photo by Skylight Photo |
Insulin isn’t a luxury for someone with Type 1 Diabetes. It literally keeps them alive. It is like oxygen to them. Without insulin, Adele’s blood sugar would
continue to rise as her body entered a state called Diabetic Ketoacidosis. If left untreated, she would eventually slip
into a coma and die. This process would
not take years, months or even days. It
would be a matter of hours. Insulin is
that powerful.
When Frederick Banting discovered insulin in 1922 he sold the patent for
about a dollar. Banting believed that
“Insulin belongs to the world, not to him.”
Thank you Dr. Banting. Not to put
myself in the same category as Nobel Prize winner Frederick Banting, but I do feel
the same way about the Mike’s Bike Shop Cyclebetes ride to cure Type 1
Diabetes. I feel that the ride does not
belong to me. It belongs to all the
people living with Type 1 Diabetes. It
belongs to all the sponsors, donors, volunteers and participants. Without them, it simply wouldn’t exist. The only thing that is mine is the
dream. Thank you so very much for sharing
and supporting this dream.
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| Photo by Skylight Photo |
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| Photo by Luc Arseneau |
It was a rough week leading up to the 12th edition of our
ride this year. I spent most of Thursday
night tossing and turning in bed, unable to sleep, trying to figure out what we
should do. Friday morning, the day
before the ride, we made the decision to eliminate all afternoon rides because
of the imminent hurricane. The forecast
seemed to indicate that we would be good in the morning as long as all rides
were done before noon. That left us with
two groups riding 75 kilometers on the road and one group riding 45 kilometers
on the gravel trails. 75 riders had
pre-registered and close to 60 showed up to pedal for a cure on Saturday
morning. It was the very best outcome
given the circumstances. All rides
started out dry but ended wet which somewhat made the smiles that much brighter.
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| Photo by Skylight Photo |
Despite hurricane Dorian, we still managed to raise $23,000 for
JDRF! This brings our total raised to
close to a quarter of a million dollars since 2007! Our event is definitely a survivor being one
of the oldest, if not the oldest, of its kind in our area. Thank you.
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| Photo by Skylight Photo |
Thank you to our main sponsor, Mike’s Bike Shop. Rick Snyder, thank you for stepping up every
single year and making this event as great as it has become. Your generosity and undying support continue
to amaze me year after year. Without you
the ride would simply not exist. All
people living with Type 1 Diabetes are forever indebted to you for all that you
have done to help find a cure.
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| Photo by Skylight Photo |
Thank you to the rest of the organizing committee who give so much time
and energy throughout the year. Thank
you so very much Pablo Vergara for all that you do for Cyclebetes. Your generosity and willingness to help and
sacrifice your physical appearance for a cure always amazes me. Thank you my friend. Thank you so very much Luc Belliveau for all
of your help even in the middle of selling your house. I really appreciate it Luc. And thank you to Jessica Melanson, newly
hired NB and PEI JDRF engagement coordinator.
The support and contribution that you have provided to our event in such
a short time period has been amazing.
Merci beaucoup Jessica. I always
feel humbled working with such an amazing team.
Thank you.
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| Photo by Skylight Photo |
Thank you to all participants and donors. I am always amazed by your generosity. And a special thank you to all riders who set
fundraising goals above their registration fee and worked tirelessly to reach
and even surpass them, especially those with no ties to Type 1 Diabetes. Thank you.
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| Photo by Luc Arseneau |
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| Photo by Skylight Photo |
Thank you to Don Ricker at Skylight Photo for the amazing event and
road ride photos. Thank you to Luc
Arseneau for the awesome gravel ride photos. The
event would simply not be what it is without your contribution. Thank you.
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| Photo by Skylight Photo |
Thank you to JDRF youth ambassador Vanessa Galluchon for your
speech. Your message reminded us why we
were all there and what we were riding for.
Thank you.
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| Photo by Luc Arseneau |
Thank you to all of our sponsors : Sobey’s in Dieppe, MacDonald Buick GMC,
Giant bikes / Guy Pellerin of Pellerin Sports, City of Dieppe, Cavok Brewing
Co., Cape Bald Packers, Terry Tomlin of Tomlin Sports Marketing, Kevin Noiles
of Lambert, Pat Bolduc of Big Ring Sports, Nomad Supply Co., Jack
Trudel of Trek Bicycles / Bontrager, DNA Swag Inc., Dieppe IGA / Coop, Long and
McQuade, Vins Dandurand, Moncton Propane Services and Adrien Lesvesque at
Fallstaff Media. Thank you.
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| Photo by Skylight Photo |
Thank you Tim and Andrew Calvert for staying back and riding
with the back end of the first group. It
makes for a very long day when you’re struggling to keep up and it makes all
the difference to have someone there with you to pull you along. Thank you.
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| Photo by Skylight Photo |
Thank you to all of our other
dedicated volunteers: Jeff Currie, Bill Goobie, Martin Pelletier,
Charles Cormier, Dany Benoit, Jonny St-Pierre, Tracy Renton, Gerry Allain,
Elmer Wade, Pete Cormier, Lorraine LeBlanc, Erica Griffiths, Gilles Gallant, Steve
Kikkert, Caroline Belliveau, Tania Morais, Rachel Parkins, Luc Melanson and Michele
LeBlanc. Events like these can’t happen without help from people like
you. Thank you.
If I have
forgotten anyone, I apologize and want to thank you as well.
And last
but certainly not least, I would like to dedicate this year’s ride to two
riders who have left us this past year.
Larry Spicer had ridden with us in 2014 and 2015. He was registered to ride again last year,
but ended up not being able to ride. He
passed this summer. Ride in Peace
Larry. Derrick Keith fundraised and rode
every single Cyclebetes ride from the beginning, in 2008, until he got sick
last year. Cyclebetes meant a lot to
Derrick. And Derrick meant a lot to
Cyclebetes. Derrick passed last
fall. Ride in peace Derrick. Your generosity and dedication to our cause continue
to inspire me to be and do better. I am
forever grateful to have had the privilege to know you. Thank you.
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| Photo by Skylight Photo |
We are already starting to plan the 13th edition
of Mike’s Bike Shop Cyclebetes. Mark the date: Saturday, September 12th,
2020. I really hope that you can join us !
All online fundraising pages will still work until the end
of the year so you can still donate here... 2019 Mike’s Bike ShopCyclebetes Ride to Cure Type 1 Diabetes.
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| Photo by Skylight Photo |
2019, the year that we raced a hurricane… Pretty sure we’ll remember this edition for a
very long time...
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| Photo by Skylight Photo |
I am forever humbled by your love and support…
Thank you.
Peace
Mike
