Tour de Cure
 
 

Mike Carter

Mike Carter - Colorado Tour

I've been a cyclist my entire life. I did my first major bicycle touring when I was 15. I sold my first car to buy a fancy road bike before I went to college. I went to CU and did a bunch of seriously stupid cycling things during school like riding up Flagstaff mountain every morning before class and hauling camping gear, beer and ice to Rocky Mountain National Park on the weekends on our bikes.

My wife Jan and I might have had a bike touring honeymoon but we got married in January, so we skied during our honeymoon and went bike touring the next fall. I bike-commuted to work most days through the 1990s and we dabbled in mountain biking some weekends.

Then in 2000, I started getting sick and was diagnosed on June 6, 2001 with what was then called late onset type 1, now called Latent Auto-Immune Diabetes of Adults (LADA.) I don't think I rode 500 miles total in the first five years after diagnosis, mostly due to peripheral neuropathy and a good helping of apathy. During those years, I used the ADA as an educational resource and made monetary contributions but not much else. In 2005, I forced the bike issue by buying a new mountain bike but still didn't ride regularly. I also attended my first ADA Expo that year and picked up a Tour brochure. In 2006, I got back into cycling, at least to work a couple of days a week.

In 2007, I picked the Tour de Cure to be my way of getting back to something that had always been a part of my life before diabetes. My original goal was "simply" to ride the century, I didn't care how much I raised, I just wanted to ride. Reality hit hard after the first month of training rides and after I adjusted my priorities, I decided that I could do more for the cure than just attempt a 100-mile ride. Jan and I formed a Tour team and raised over $6,000 in about thirty days. Not that my team effort was easy. It was an emotional roller coaster. I edited, re-edited, re-re-edited my fund raising email messages and then would agonize over everything. At this point, I told my wife that I would really like to stop crying every time I sent or received email. The outpouring of support and contributions from our families, friends and co-workers was truly unbelievable.

All active news articles
 

© 2023 American Diabetes Association

All rights reserved. Use of this Web site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

The American Diabetes Association is the nation's leading 501(C)3 nonprofit charity providing diabetes research, information and advocacy.

Tour de Cure is the premier fundraising campaign of the American Diabetes Association ®, now with virtual engagement designed for anyone and everyone to participate. The campaign has been expanded to include more members of our community and bring them together to learn about diabetes, healthy living and to support people living with diabetes. Tour de Cure is a unique opportunity for businesses, clubs, friends and families to form virtual teams with the vision of a life free of diabetes and all its burdens.

Credit Card Verification Code

The Verification Code is imprinted on credit cards to help merchants verify transactions when the actual card is not present, such as Internet purchases or donations. The merchant uses this number as part of the authorization process with the card issuer.

Please use the images below to locate the verification code for your card type.

Visa, Master Card, and Discover

Visa, Master Card, and Discover Verification Code

The verification code for Visa, Master Card, and Discover is a 3-digit number printed on the back of your card. It appears after the account number or last 4-digits of your account number, in the signature panel.

 
American Express Verification Code

American Express

The American Express verification code is a 4-digit number printed on the front of your card. It appears above and to the right of the embossed account number.

 
Register

CREATE a new team

Become a captain of a new team.


JOIN a team

Join a team already registered for this event.


REGISTER as an individual

Participate without associating with a team.


Create a Team

You can create a team either through the "Register" button above where you'll first find the nearby event or by visiting the list of events associated with national company below.

Do not forget to associate your newly created team with this company.