Tour de Cure Nebraska

Another early flight, and another response from Boulder Super Shuttle of "sorry, we can't pick you up that early unless you get yourself down to one of the Hotels we stop at." I'm starting to like them less and less, and would almost go as far as putting them in the same horrible category as the airlines. Although they don't charge as much as the airlines for a bike (usually, unless I can get the bike on free) it is a greater percentage of the fare that they charge. But I was able to make the bus on time, and made it to DIA with plenty of time to spare.
There was no rest when we got to Omaha, our team PR man Sean, a Omaha local, picked me up and took me to our first stop. This was the Nobbies store, a major sponsor of the Tour de Cure Nebraska. I met the Watanabes, the kind owners of the store. Below is a picture of me in Nobbies in front of the window, which was packed full off tiny yellow jersey, each representing a sponsor of the Tour de Cure. Below that is my favorite photo (and possibly a facebook profile pic in the near future). I was fortunate enough to get a photo with my idol. Someone I aspire to: Hannah Montana. Well, it wasn't actually a photo with her, but a cardboard cut out. But that's the closest I'll ever get to her greatness.

I spent Friday afternoon visiting the Crieghton Clinic and the new Diabetes Center at the University of Nebraska Med Center. The Crieghton Clinic wasn't really much to write home about, though there were some interesting people there. The Diabetes Centre was much more exciting. The new, state of the art facilities were very nice. I was lucky enough to have a tour of the facility before having a meeting with some of the endocrinologists, dietitians, directors, exercise physiologists and so on. Below is a photo of me with with Dr Rob Baum and director Beth Pfeffer, both posing in Tour de Cure cycling jerseys.

Saturday morning started off with the bike masters bunch ride. There was a good turn out of riders, with about 45 participating. This number got a bit smaller though as a few eager riders hit the pace early on and split the field on some of the rollers. Below is a photo of me with Dave Reinarz, the manager of Bike Masters, before leading off the bunch ride.

After the ride, I was treated by the "bike nut" Craig Harding to lunch. We ate and shared stories of riding with diabetes (he has type 1), and I tried my best to convince him that he needs a pod and navigator. But than everyone does.

It was an early start on Sunday morning, which meant I didn't stay up to late after dinner with Sean, though I hear that town goes off in Omaha on Saturday night; maybe next time. We got out to the ride pretty early, so had a bit of time to chill out, drink coffee, eat bagels and pretend that we're important. We also got to talk to a few of the sponsors. Below I am hanging out with Team Type 1 main sponsor Sanofi Aventis. I even got some free sunscreen, essential on those hot Nebraska days in the sun. The Sanofi Reps there were pretty cool though, so I wasn't just hanging out with them before and after because I was obliged to, but rather cause I wanted to.

As well as hanging out with Sanofi, I did talk to a few other people at the ride. This included some of the other sponsors, riders, and event volunteers. In fact I spoke to everyone via the microphone. Sean gave me a very nice intro, talked me up a bit (finally someone other than me talking me up) and I gave a little speech.


The ride itself was pretty good. The course was nice, rolling but not to hilly. At the start there were a few riders trying to push the pace a bit, but it got a little confusing at the first feed station when the lead motorbike pulled into the first rest stop. A few riders followed, and most others wondered, "is this a compulsory stop?" After a little stop to sort out what was happening, we got going again, until the next rest station, where everyone stopped. After leaving the feed zone there, it was a fair bit quicker to the turn around. After that it was a lot steadier pace on the ride back to the finish.

The finish area had a friendly atmosphere. The atmosphere was even better with good music and a dance spectacle from my new favorite Sanofi rep. A lot of nice people asked me to autograph their race numbers, jerseys, team type 1 team photo cards and just have a chat. I also had a lot of photos taken with riders, and also with Beth, who by then I was getting on so well with I was calling her mum (but not mom). The photo is below.

But the day wasn't over yet. We were then treated to food and wine at the Soaring Wings Vineyard. The vine was very good, well I thought so anyway, but I'm not much of a wine connoisseur. I signed a few more team photo cards, and as I did wrote my blog site on the back, so for all of you reading now, I hope you enjoy.

Unfortunately I had to rush away to make it to my favourite place on time, the airport. But I have to say thanks to Frontier Airlines and Omaha Airport for making my flight the most stress free trip I've had in a long time. After waiting in the check in queue for all of 2 mins, I then didn't have to pay excess for my bike. I was a bit worried after I walked up the stairs and heard "Could Timothy Hargrave please report to check in." I was thinking 'bugger, they're going to charge me for my bike', but I got down there, was handed my i.d. and walked up to security rather relieved. The one person in front of me in security didn't hold me up much and I was on a plane back home, already missing the fun, friendly people and beautiful sunshine of Nebraska.

Finally I'd like to thank all the people who got me to Nebraska, and those that looked after me while I was there: Sanofi Aventis, Abbott Diabetes Care, ADA, The Wiede's for all their help, Amy Kruse, Craig Harding, Dr Rob Baum and Beth Pfeffer. Also big thanks to all the supporters and riders on Sunday who made for a great day. I apologise if I have forgotten anyone.