| Show Tour de France winner Lemond supports ADA 1 pr ou out I s sJohn John Renshaw i Sports Editor 1 When Greg Lemond was I 1 years old the future i cycling hall han of famer visited Utah for a family vacation of skiing at Snowbird At the time know one could have predicted what the future held for Lemond except that he had hada a tremendous passion for the outdoors The same passion lead Lemond to a successful cycling career but in the same regard the very same drive for the outdoors would almost cost Lemond his life In 1986 millions of people watched CBS to witness the first American to win the Tour de France The victory was short The following hunting trip in during a year Lemond was accidentally accidentally acci accidentally acci- acci California dentally shot by his brother- brother law in-law and 40 shotgun pellets were lodged into Lemonds Lemond's the Through back and legs and a help of a cell phone Lemond was nearby hospital able to will himself to survive and than used the same drive rehabilitation through to Two get years later Lemond i win the Tour would on to go 1989 and be de France in of the Year Yearby Yearby named Sportsman Illustrated Lemond 1 I by Sports would add another tour victory victory victo victo- T J before retiring ry in 1990 from cycling in 1994 45 of Now at the age leads him a Lemonds Lemond's passion another rea rea- rea- rea back to Utah for neither on n Lemond is son through i I. I vacation passing nor i. i Instead Lemond is participating t- t Since e tour ing on another 1991 the American Diabetes s created d Association ADA the Tour de Cure Lemond id ld s i 1 I 1 i 1 I T J a n i I. I i. i t- t e s d id ld serves as the honorary chairperson chairperson chairperson chair chair- person for the ADA as the Tour cycles through more than 80 cities across the country country country coun coun- try where its it's a ride not a race The Tour De Cure made its way to Brigham City on June 10 where over riders participated participated participated par par- in the event The turnout was three times bigger than the previous year The tug Courtesy of computing gov raising fund-raising event focused their ride in Box Elder County with a 25 60 and mile course The ADA Executive Director for Utah Laura I Landon feels the Tour is a great way to educate people about fitness and the dangers of diabetes I feel great with the turnout and owe a large part of it to Greg Landon said Its important to show people how fitness can impact your health and at the same time reduce the risk of developing diabetes and to have Greg a apart part of this really helps bring bringa awareness diabetic diabetic dian dia- dia After a friend became betic a few years ago Lemond read an article in the New York Times which lead him hime to get involved Tour de Cure Cured continued on page 5 Tour de Cure working toward an important finish line continued from front page I know how important your health is to accomplishing accomplish accomplish- ing your goals which is why I 1 support the ADA he said Its the number one health hazard after cancer and we need to start addressing the problem and encourage people people people peo peo- to get involved Diabetes is a disease in which the body does not produce or properly use insulin hormone that is needed to convert sugar starches and other food into energy needed for daily life The cause of diabetes continues to be a mystery but researchers agree that obesity and lack of exercise are strong factors in the cause We need to encourage better better better bet bet- ter physical education more activity for the kids and make people aware of the tragic consequences diabetes can have Lemond said According to the ADAs ADA's official there are million Americans who are diagnosed with diabetes and 41 million who are pre While there has been a 14 percent increase in Americans with diabetes over the last two years funding for the research and prevention for diabetes increased zero percent percent percent per per- cent in the 2006 federal bud bud- get Funding is c critical r it i c a 1 eve everyday r y day researchers are making progress but we need to encourage more raising fund-raising and start focusing on educating educating educating ing people Landon said Small changes in your lifestyle can make a differ differ- ence increase your and reduce the risk of diabetes just by exercising for 20 minutes a day five times a week According to the ADA 33 percent of children who were born in 2000 will develop diabetes diabetes diabetes dia dia- betes sometime in their lives At the same time 50 percent of all minority children who were born in 2000 will also develop the incurable disease in their lifetimes s. s Currently people die each day from diabetes but with events such as the Tour I de Cure people are becoming more aware of the different types of diabetes If people have any questions questions questions ques ques- or concerns they can call 2383 1 for either information or to make a donation Landon said Lemond brought attention to a sport during a time where it didn't receive much national exposure With his success Lemond helped pave the way for future cyclists such as Lance Armstrong Now the of hall cyclist is accepting a new challenge The same passion that was issued for cycling will be re-focused re to educate and bring awareness to a disease disease disease dis dis- dis- dis ease that is affecting 7 percent of the American people Although Lemonds Lemond's trip to Utah this past weekend was much more different than the first Lemond is hopeful that his next visit to the Wasatch front will be to announce mission mission mission mis mis- sion accomplished During my pro riding years when I 1 won the Tour de deFrance deFrance deFrance France I 1 had one goal in mind The finish line Now Im I'm riding for an even greater goal-a goal cure for diabetes-and diabetes I 1 urge you to join me he said |
