Pancremaniacs, HO!

The high was less than 50 degrees F yesterday and it rained. A lot. But, the Pancremaniacs had a great ride anyway. Our team of 11 +1 raised over $6000 (I had set our first goal at $1500) for the American Diabetes Association. We were the 4th team overall in fundraising, with less than half the number of riders of the teams that "beat" us. We suffered broken bikes, falls, mud, cold, rain... but we had fun! I turned photography over to one of the Pancremaniacs with a handy little camera and got the memory card, but I forgot to ask permission to post images of some of my teammates who don't have blogs of their own, so I'm leaving off the (very nice) team photo. Here are some glimpses of our day:

Treden, creator of the Pancremaniac logo, contemplates organizing a sit-in for diabetes next year while we shivver and wait for the rest of the team to arrive.

After checking in, the Pancremaniacs gathered in the shadow of the Lake Harriet Bandshell. Well, there might be a shadow if the sun were out.

The Pancremaniacs don their colors - lime green for most, red for MoD (T2) and me (T1).

Thanks to the team's outstanding performance early in the fundraising season, I got arm warmers. Much appreciated even with the long sleeve base layer I had on. FiG wore her winter jacket over her Pancremaniac T and wrapped up in a few blankets for the ride. Fluffy came along, too.

The American Diabetes Association staff ran a great ride. There were maps, the route was well marked (though the spray chalk may have worn off in the rain for the 45 mile riders), we got food and gear and there were bike shops support teams along the way. Well done!

And we're off! Just a raindrop or two at this point and I was holding out hope that the rest would wait for afternoon.

See the drops on my helmet? Yeah... my optimism didn't work. I'm stopped here to put on my raincoat.

Still raining at the first rest stop - with A-Mo and Treden. Another improvement over 8 years ago - there were rest stops and they had water, peanut butter, good bread, bananas and oranges. My BG was at 96 here so I just had water.

Back at the Bandshell, FiG's flag is soaked, as are the rest of us.

FiG wanders the area, looking for chocolate. This Auntly meant to alter her t-shirt, but made the flag instead. Good thing she'll grow.

FiG flirted with TC and got his autograph.

Cold, tired and hungry, we enjoyed lunch from Woody's before disbanding and heading home to hot showers, baths and naps. I stayed hungry all day - not finding satisfaction until the Mo's, Treden, his lovely wife and I went to Punch to get pizza and free Izzy's ice cream (this week's Facebook coupon) for dinner.

Including the rides between my house and the ride start/finish, I logged 30 miles yesterday. That was a big ride for me and I'm really glad I didn't bail when the rain tempted me to. It might have been easier on a drier day, but it felt good to put the effort in and to ride with my bigD "pit crew." Thank you, Pancremaniacs and sponsors!

Want to do it again next year?