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Bicyclists braved the cool, damp weather Sunday morning to raise about $600,000 for the American Diabetes Association.
A total of about 1,800 riders participated in the 20th annual Tour de Cure at Mendon Ponds Park in Pittsford and Mendon.
Riders had a choice of six different events ranging from a family fun run of 3.4 miles within the Monroe County park to a 100-mile trip that took more than 500 riders around Conesus Lake in Livingston County and back.
Another 200 volunteers staffed the event, and they all celebrated with the riders with food and live music in the afternoon.
“All this is an effort to achieve our mission. Our mission is to prevent it and improve the lives of people affected by diabetes and to find a cure,” said Travis Heider, executive director of the upstate New York chapter of the American Diabetes Association.
To participate, riders had to collect sponsor pledges of at least $150. But the average rider collected more than $350, Heider said.
Colin Clifford, a 9-year-old Irondequoit boy with diabetes, said the success of the event showed him “how many people have diabetes and how many people are just like me.”
Colin, who was diagnosed in 2005, was a member of the Red Riders, a team of bicyclists with diabetes.
Colin rode the 15-mile route with his father, Todd, and his two sisters along with several friends and other relatives.
Colin wears an insulin pump and he has to keep track of everything he eats, but otherwise he’s like any other boy his age who enjoys all sorts of sports.
“Even though the pump has helped, it’s not a cure,” said Todd Clifford. “It’s like putting a Band-Aid on a bleeding wound. Eventually we want to cure it.”
Fabian Maldonado, 36, of Rochester has a 16-year-old daughter with diabetes. He rode the 40-mile route with a team from the Harris Beach law firm where he’s a networking engineer.
“I wanted to show her I’m living with it as much as she is,” said Maldonado, who raised $1,200.
“When I showed her the number of what I raised, that just brought a smile to her face and it put a smile on mine,” he said.
“This is my first Tour, but it definitely is not going to be my last,” he said.
BLOUDON@DemocratandChronicle.com
