Alliston Herald

Cyclists, their families and support teams gather on the porch and in front of the Banting Homestead after completing the Alliston leg of the Accu...
Craig Widdifield

The Cyclebetes tandem bike arrives at the Banting Homestead in Alliston.
Craig Widdifield

Cyclists head for a high-carb meal of spaghetti and meatballs donated and prepared by Barrie's Catering By Colin.
Craig Widdifield

Cyclists make diabetes history

Arrive at birthplace of co-discoverer of Insulin

BY Craig Widdifield, Staff August 30, 2009 18:08

It was an historic occasion at an historic location just after 5:30 p.m. tonight (Sun., Aug. 30) as local cyclists completed their portion of a cross-Canada cycling relay to raise funds for juvenile (type one) diabetes research, arriving at the birthplace of Sir Frederick Banting, co-discoverer of insulin just north of Alliston.

The cyclists were participating in Cyclebetes, which is being billed as the "biggest bike relay in the world."

Sponsored by Accu-Chek, makers of blood glucose monitoring systems, local cyclists who signed up for the 50-kilometre, Hwy. 9 to Alliston portion of the trek included Peter McCague, Jennifer McCague, Mark McCague, Nancy Bobala, Chris Rapin, Doug Rees, Danielle Beausaert, Chris Beausaert, and Susan Newhook.

After the long cycle trek, participants and their support teams and families enjoyed a hearty, high-carb dinner donated and prepared by Barrie's Catering by Colin.

In its entirety the 2009 Accu-Chek Cyclebetes is expected to span 22 days and cross eight provinces as cyclists link up between Nova Scotia and Vancouver, B.C. covering over 10,000 kilometres.

The event was spawned after Vancouver businessman Kyle Balagno promised his daughter Taylor he would do everything in his power to help find a cure for her juvenile (type one) diabetes before her 18th birthday. He had just six years.

That commitment spawned Team H2V, a five-man team that cycled across Canada at break-neck speed in September 2007. They made the epic ride in just eight days and en route set a Guinness World Record and raised $800,000 for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF).

Today, Accu-Chek Cyclebetes is the legacy of Team H2V - built on themes of "community, responsibility, leadership and promise."

Modified from its original form, the 2009 relay is comprised of core teams of five adult riders and five youth cyclists from each of the provinces the event will cross riding on a tandem bike. Along the way, local residents from the communities the relay passes through are invited to sign up for $30, or even raise more funds through pledges. All the money raised goes to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

From Alliston a new set of cyclists was slated to take over and head to Barrie.

Donations can still be made and the progress of the relay tracked through the official web site, www.cyclebetes.com. The group is on Facebook, Twitter and even has a GPS tracking system.

Similar events take place in the United States and Australia.

JUVENILE DIABETES RESEARCH FOUNDATION

FAST FACTS

•More than 2 million Canadians have diabetes.

•Over 200,000 Canadians have Juvenile Diabetes (Type 1). Most of them are children

•Canada has the third highest occurrence rate of Type 1 diabetes in children 14 years or younger in the world.

•Type 1 diabetes occurrence rate is rising by three to five per cent per year; the greatest rise is in five to nine year olds.

•Diabetes is the leading cause of death in North America.

•Diabetes is growing at an alarming rate. It is projected to be at epidemic proportions in the very near future.

•It is the one single disease that has the potential to collapse the Canadian health-care system.

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