2002 Death Valley JDRF RideI did it! I did it! I did it!!!!!!!!! You can't imagine what a feeling it was to cross the finish line after being on my bike for 11 1/2 hours and riding over 100 miles. As I came down the last stretch, I kept saying to myself it's finally over. I could see the finish line from a distance, and a couple of people were standing out front waving me home. As I turned the corner I nearly fell off my bike in disbelief. There they were, all the riders and the support staff. There were hundreds of people waiting for me. I was the last rider in and they all came to cheer for me. What an emotional finish. Our coach had ridden with me and encouraged me the last 45 miles that I could make it. Without him I probably would have crossed the finish line in the back of a pick-up truck. The greatest excitement was to come two days later. As I got off the plane in Minneapolis to make a connecting flight to Madison, I was being paged by the airline. I went to the phone to see what the message was, and they told me that my daughter was waiting for my phone call because she needed to pick me up at the airport. My nephew Bryan was in the hospital in Minneapolis receiving a pancreas transplant. I fell to my knees in disbelief. "Team Madison" was standing right by me at the telephone and when I told them the news, tears of joy began to flow from all of us. We made such a commotion at the airport; everyone was looking at us like we were crazy.
I was in Bryan's room that night after surgery. He was just starting to wake up and he realized I was standing there holding his hand. He looked up at me and said "What are you doing here." (He really does like me!) I told him “I rode 100+ miles through the desert to find a cure for diabetes. When I arrived home you were being cured of diabetes.” It just doesn't get any better than this, and I wasn't going to miss it. I will never forget this moment in my life... |
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I headed over to the hospital and was there before the procedure started. He is no longer dependent on Insulin shots to stay alive. By Tuesday morning they had him walking around the halls of the hospital. I had a picture of Bryan and my brother Darryl in my bike jersey pocket, and I would pull them out as I was riding to remind me of why I was doing this grueling ride. I think it made a difference.