Tag Archives: Victoria Cumbow

Thank you for your support.

June 16, 2015 – 11:10 am

It’s that time of year again… the time when riders are out on their two wheeled vehicles, getting ready for the ride of a lifetime. Or lifetimes. Yours and mine.

These riders are training for the JDRF Ride to Cure Diabetes, which is held in several locations throughout the year. Today, I’d like to feature five riders, most of whom you probably know already, especially since four are also diabetes bloggers.

A rider needs to raise at least $2,000 to be allowed to join one of these rides. That’s the kind of money I can never even hope to raise, so the least I can do is support the riders who can (or who are close). I hope you’ll click on the links to their pages and help support their rides. The money they’re raising will go toward research to help make a future with less, and then hopefully no, Type 1 Diabetes. Here they are, in no particular order.
 
 
– Our first rider does not write a blog. But he has been featured on other blogs, including this one back in February 2014.

Bob Parant will be riding in Burlington, Vermont again on July 25. Bob’s a 43 year veteran of living with Type 1, and he never lets it get him down. Read his inspiring story here. And:

Support Bob’s Burlington, Vermont ride
 
 
– Moira McCarthy Stanford writes a compelling blog at Despite Diabetes, chronicling her life as the mother of a young woman living with Type 1 Diabetes. She’s been a tireless advocate for a long time, and three years ago, she participated in her first Ride to Cure Diabetes. This year, she’s participating in two rides—LaCrosse, Wisconsin on August 15, and Death Valley on October 17.

The best part for Moira will be in August, when her daughter Lauren will join her for the first time. Their stories are amazing, and you can help them both get to their destinations by supporting their rides. Here are the links:

Support Moira’s LaCrosse, Wisconsin ride
Support Moira’s Death Valley ride

Support Lauren’s LaCrosse, Wisconsin ride
 
 
– Jeff Mather is a beast of an athlete. He writes a very interesting blog at Jeff Mather’s Dispatches, and right now, he’s diligently working on training for a complete ironman triathlon: 2.3 mile swim, 110 mile bike, and a full marathon. All in the same day. All with Type 1 Diabetes along for the ride. He’ll be taking a break from his training (who takes a break from training with a 100 mile bike ride?) on July 25, when he’ll be in Burlington, Vermont for his latest JDRF ride, one of several for him in the past decade.

Support Jeff’s Burlington, Vermont ride
 
 
Jeff will probably spend part of his time in Vermont riding alongside Victoria Cumbow. Victoria writes at her self-titled blog about life with Type 1, her life as a new homeowner and resident of Nashville, Tennessee, and her absolute love of transportation on board her bicycle. Her first JDRF ride was two years ago in Death Valley, and she completed the Nashville ride a year ago. This time, she’ll be in Vermont, after already completing a sprint triathlon and a half marathon this year. Just… wow.

Support Victoria’s Burlington, Vermont ride
 
 
Last, but certainly not least, is Alecia Wesner, writer at SurfaceFine. In years past, she’s been a top fundraiser for JDRF walks in New York, where she lives and works. This year, she’s decided to give up sneakers for bike shoes, and head to Vermont for her first 100 mile ride. When I read what she writes about it, I think she may be unsure if she’ll make it. Regardless of what she says though, I think she’ll do great. And she’s bringing her sister along for the ride too!

Support Alecia’s Burlington, Vermont ride

Support Paige’s Burlington, Vermont ride
 
 
I’m not sure I know what else to say except how much I appreciate what these athletes are doing to help all of us living with Type 1 Diabetes. I hope you feel the same way, and I hope you’ll either join them or donate to help them on the ride of a lifetime. Many lifetimes. Yours and Mine.
 
 
 

By StephenS | Posted in Advocacy, Athletes With Diabetes | Also tagged , , , , , , | Comments (2)

Like these links: Discover, Share, and Donate.

July 18, 2014 – 10:03 am

It’s been a few weeks since I’ve done one of these posts, so let’s check back in and see what’s happening in the Diabetes Community:
 
 
First of all… If you haven’t looked in on the series of Type 1/Type 2 Conversations (or, depending on your perspective, Type 2/Type 1 Conversations) between Laddie Lindahl and Kate Cornell, you’re missing out. There are a lot of things that all People With Diabetes have in common, and we can certainly learn a LOT from each other. So why don’t we? This is a great place to start:

Talking About Weight

Diabetes in the Great Outdoors
 
 
You might have noticed that the International Diabetes Foundation has a new app available that will let you put the universal Blue Circle (I can say it’s universal now, yes?) right on your photo. Sarah Kaye at Sugabetic has a great write-up on it here.
 
 
There is currently some awesome fundraising for JDRF going on, and even though this may seem like overkill, I want to share everything I know about right now. Here are places for you to help support each of your favorite riders, walkers, climbers, and businesses, all raising money for Type 1 research:
 
 
First of all… Did you know that Walgreens is JDRF’s largest corporate partner? Part of the reason for that is the fundraising they’re doing during their annual pin pad campaign this month. Now through the end of the month, shoppers are encouraged to make a donation to JDRF. And they’ll also donate $1 for every registration to their Balance Rewards for healthy choices program through the end of the month. So tell everyone you know, Type One or not. Walgreens has more details here.
 
 
You’ve probably already read about Haley Maurice and her brother (Diabetes Mine wrote about them), who took off down the John Muir trail on July 16th, on a three week hike with an eventual goal to climb the tallest peak in the continental U.S., Mt. Whitney. All to raise money for JDRF. Haley is a 15 year old Type 1 with, you guessed it, an inspiring story to tell. You can read about it all and donate too by starting at summitdiabetes.com.
 
 
Alecia’s Stem Cells are at it again. Alecia writes over at Surface Fine, and she leads a huge walk team in the New York City JDRF walk every year. This year will be no different. She’s always looking for more walkers, and donations never hurt either. Support Alecia’s Stem Cells right here.
 
 
And how about those bikers? I am both jealous of and humbled by people who can train hard enough to cover 100 miles in a day and raise the $2,000 or more that it takes to participate in the JDRF Ride to Cure Diabetes. I think they deserve all the support they can get. Click on the links for more, and support these super riders:

Moira McCarthy Stanford is riding in the Death Valley and LaCrosse rides

Victoria Cumbow is riding in the Lake Tahoe and Nashville rides

Jeff Mather is riding in the Lake Tahoe ride
 
 
Okay, that’s a fairly exhaustive list for a Friday. But there’s always room for more! Have you read something recently that moves you? Inspires you? Makes you laugh out loud? Please leave a link to it below. Have a great weekend!
 
 
 

By StephenS | Posted in Like these links | Also tagged , , , , , , , | Comments (4)

With a little help from our friends.

May 8, 2014 – 10:25 am

DSC00819

How did I get into this? Why did I get into this?

Because I’m a sucker for a good idea and D-Athletes, and I want to support my friends.

Many of you know Victoria Cumbow, who, among other things, is a passionate diabetes blogger and a dedicated bike rider. She’s participated in two JDRF rides in the past two years (hope I got that right), including one in Death Valley. And this year, she’s participating in two more: the Lake Tahoe ride, and her hometown ride in Nashville.

May is National Bike Month, and Nashville has jumped on the bandwagon to designate this Nashville Bike Month too. To kick start both her fitness goals and her fundraising efforts, Victoria has decided to complete a challenge of biking all 31 days in May.

She’s taking photos of her rides this month, and using the hashtag #inthesaddle to share her experiences. She also asked a very pointed question: Who’s with me?

I don’t think there’s any freakin’ way I can bike all 31 days this month. In fact, I know I can’t, partly because of restrictions and admission days for my clinical trial. Also because I missed biking on day 1. If you miss the month-long challenge on day 1, you can’t really make it up.

But I did decide to go halfsies: To support Victoria, I’ll be biking at least 16 days in May. So far, I’ve been #inthesaddle four out of eight days this month. Some days will be on my bike, some days will be on one of the spin bikes at the gym. And one day will be at the Chesapeake Bay Tour de Cure, which is less than ten days away. Shameless plug: You can still support my ride by clicking on the donate button to the left. Thank you.

So far, the challenge has been good for me, helping me to focus on what’s really important (people), how much I like riding a bicycle after all these years, and helping me get into better shape for my big ride a week from Saturday.

Look for the #inthesaddle hashtag. And if you’re on your bike during this month, maybe you can take a photo and post it too. If you want to support Victoria’s JDRF rides this year (she’s raising $6,000 for research toward a cure!), click here to support the Tahoe ride, and click here to support the Nashville ride.

And pray that my legs hold out for 12 more days #inthesaddle this month.
 
 
 

By StephenS | Posted in Athletes With Diabetes, Exercise | Also tagged , , , | Comments (3)
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