Tour De Cure Riders Go The Distance To Fight Diabetes

DENVER (CBS4)- The Tour de Cure begins Saturday and riders are getting ready to pedal the distance to fight diabetes.

Team Madelyn has been training for weeks. Madelyn Doyle wears her red jersey to follow her dad, the team captain.

On Saturday there will be hundreds of Red Riders at the Tour de Cure, those living with diabetes who are riding to raise awareness and money to find a cure for the disease.

"It's, like, amazing. I don't know if, when it will come, I just hope it will," said Madelyn.

Madelyn is a 7th grader who has logged a lot of miles on her bike. She also traveled to Washington, DC to lobby congress to fund diabetes research. Madelyn told Colorado lawmakers that when she was first diagnosed, she took part in a research study where she took experimental medication.

Madelyn's mother, Anne, says diabetes affects the whole family.

"If you don't know someone personally with diabetes, I guarantee you, you work with someone who has diabetes, you will know someone with diabetes in your future who has Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes. It's just a growing epidemic," said Anne.

The Tour de Cure Colorado is Saturday, Aug. 20 at the Boulder County Fairgrounds in Longmont. Donate to a team riding in this year's event or sign up to ride at tourdecurecolorado.com.

The Association reaches millions of people annually through its information activities and awareness efforts, such as American Diabetes Alert; Diabetes Month; Wizdom Youth Zone for kids; 1-800-DIABETES (1-800-342-2383), the Association's toll-free National Call Center; diabetes.org, the Association's Web site; a monthly consumer magazine, Diabetes Forecast; outreach to communities most at risk for diabetes; and programs to help children with diabetes and their families.