High Morale in Rwanda

We rolled out of our hotel to the start of Stage 1 of the 2011 Tour of Rwanda in high spirits. Yesterday, we swept the podium in the prologue and made our presence well known at the race. After signing in, we headed to the team car to get bottles and other supplies that were needed for the upcoming stages and a crowd of children had amassed. At most other races, that would be a very cool scenario but in Rwanda it is a bit different. The kids weren’t crowding our car because they were big Team Type 1 fans. They were there because they thought that we had extra supplies, like food and water to give them.

The Impact of Life in Rwanda

For all that it has been through in the past, Rwanda is a really great place. I first came here for the Tour of Rwanda in November last year and really had a great experience. Fortunately, I was able to return again this year and it is already starting to be another great trip.

When people think of Rwanda, they likely think about the time of genocide, roughly 15 years ago. That was definitely a dark time in this countries history and they are still on the mend from it, but I think if feel safer in most places of Rwanda than I do in parts of Atlanta or Chicago. Before coming here, I was not too familiar with what went on during the genocide, but today we walked through the memorial/museum that was constructed to remember the victims. It was one of the most humbling experiences I have ever had.

Travelling and Some Crazy Costs

I find the various airlines baggage policy to be quite interesting. It seems as if there is no rhyme or reason for some of the ways that situations are handled.

Freedom: How I Beat Diabetes

It is a dream of every 16 year old in America to finally get their drivers license. That little plastic ID signifies freedom: something every kid at that age longs for. Finally, we are able to break free of the ridiculous rules of our parents and we can make our own decisions. It is a huge step toward being an adult and getting to that next portion of life that has been a part of our fantasies and aspirations for at least a year or two.

On my 16^th birthday I woke up at least two hours before the DMV even opened and was ready to roll out the door 15 minutes later, despite the fact that it was only a ten-minute drive to the final destination. Eventually we got there and my name went on the waiting list. Soon enough my name was called and then all of the nerves set in. At that point, I was probably a nervous wreck and shaking because I simply could not fail the test. Failing would be the end of me after waiting so long to earn the freedom of driving. It’s all-good though because I passed on my first attempt! When they handed me my brand new license, with the really awkward portrait of myself, I felt like a new man. Life was great! Now I could do what I wanted and no one could stop me. I was ready to take over the world.

How Low Can You Go?

Around ‘99/2000, word got out around Chicagoland that Six Flag Great America was about to open a new roller coaster. The Raging Bull was going to change the way that thrill seekers experienced roller coaster with its “hyper-twister” steel construction and steep drops of over 200 vertical feet. It is an awesome coaster.

Interestingly enough, if you take a look at the profile of that roller coaster (the 2D image that simply shows elevation change) and you compare it to the graph of blood sugars from a person with diabetes, they will look shockingly similar. The difference is that when you view the roller coaster’s profile, the higher the peaks and the lower the valleys, the better. The thrill from rolling over an edge and dropping a few hundred feet in seconds is amazing, especially if you are an adrenaline junkie. With the diabetes, that’s not the case. Those rapid changes just make you feel like crap.

The Most Intense Journey of My Life

Diabetes is a lot like the weather. It’s not always going to be 75 and sunny regardless of how great the climate is, just like you won’t have perfect blood sugars all the time regardless of the quality of your overall control.  With the seemingly infinite number of things that can affect blood sugar, you are bound to have high and low readings occasionally but if I have learned anything from living with the disease for the past 11 years, it is to accept the highs and the lows but also look at them and try to diagnose why they occurred. Hopefully, through that diagnosis, I can prevent a similar situation from occurring again.

Life on the Go

Quite a lot has happened since USPRO Nationals. I’m pretty sure my excitement for the rest of the season is the only thing keeping me going at this point since I should be dead tired. In the seven weeks since Greenville, I have raced in Washington D.C., Augusta, GA, and Boise, ID, and spent four straight weeks away from my place in Suwanee, GA but I am loving every minute of it. I have visited friends in Virginia, spent time with family in Colorado, went to the Children With Diabetes conference in Orlando, spent time in Montana and Idaho, and I am now on my slow return to the dirty South. So much has happened in all of this travel that I highly doubt I will get to everything here, but I will definitely hit the highlights.

USPRO National Championships

It's time for the USA Professional National Championships in Greenville, SC again. It is an event that brings the best riders in the country and tons of awesome fans to the city in South Carolina. The past few years it has been in September and has sort of marked the end of the season in the states.  The change in date this year will make nationals more in line with the world calendar but could also change the dynamics of the race a bit.

Welcome!

The other day I drove north into a small town called Helen, GA. It’s a small German town in the mountains of Northern Georgia. The goal for the day was to get some good training in, riding for a few hours constantly going up and down in the mountains. I had been to Helen a few times before and found some great routes to ride and met some interesting people, but on my drive up this time, I could tell something was different. On the road I noticed that an excessively large number of people were driving the same car as me (I drive a VW Rabbit). I have noticed a fair amount of people with this car as I just drive around town as it is, but on this day, there were literally lines of 4-5 cars that were all VW Rabbits or VW GTI’s and many of them were very customized. Of course, I thought this was awesome because it made me think that I definitely purchased a really good car. Though I just assumed it was coincidence that all the GTI’s and Rabbit’s were out that day. When I got up the hill and into town I drove to my standard parking lot, which is right behind the Helen Welcome Center. The lot is free to park in and has always been completely empty (maybe one or two cars were ever parked in the massive lot), so I have always had the option of going to the back corner and parking right under the only large tree in the lot to keep my car in the shade. To put another twist on the day, though, when I arrived at the lot it was almost full of cars and even a couple semi’s.