Jim Onwiler is 54 years old. He lives in Colorado. He loves to ride his bike. And he has had type 1 diabetes for over 20 years. This year, he decided to take his cycling to a new level and to help him get there he called on TeamWILD Athletics to support him on his journey.
Champions at CampWILD!
Here’s a video interview of Jim during one of his Rest Week’s. He happened to be at CampWILD, which didn’t allow him too much rest, but he did take a break so that I could do this interview with him!
Jim signed up to ride as a Red Rider in the American Diabetes Association Tour de Cure Colorado on August 18, 2012. He went for it, and chose the 100 mile route. He then signed up for CampWILD and thought he might just keep riding and training on his own and just wait for CampWILD in June to really fine tune his nutrition and diabetes knowledge during exercise.
Then Jim found out that TeamWILD was giving the Tour de Cure Colorado a training plan to use as a fundraising incentive for Red Riders. Jim raised the money to be able to enter the drawing and he wrote a compelling essay and it was his name that won the program. That meant that Jim got to have the TeamWILD cycling program expert weekly guidance to prepare himself for his event!
A few weeks ago it was the end of training week 6, and this is what Jim had to say about his experience so far:
I love this!
Through week 6 I have learned so much about nutrition and fueling my training.
Fortunately I was already doing pretty good with my nutrition before I started so I didn’t need to change a lot there.
mmmmm….cheese burger….sorry!
A few things I am learning are: Developing a fueling strategy, planning not only my exercise but also the carbs my body needs to make my exercise more efficient.
Eating good carbs before I ride and then every 45 minutes during my rides really keeps my energy level up.
As Coach Marcey says, “I love CARBS!!”
Been using Clif Bar Shot Bloks and recently discovered Jelly Belly Sport Beans.
Been putting a Nuun tablet in my water bottle for shorter rides and adding a second bottle with just H2O for longer rides.
Started adding some climbing this week. Thought it would be hard to keep my HR down, it wasn’t. Just ending up going really slow up the steeper grades, buy hey… a month ago I would have been walking.
A good tip is to remember that there is a lag with most HRMs so I try to stay in the middle of the zone all the time. This keeps my HR from getting to low or to high.
As Cycling Coaches Nicole and Amy say, “I love zone 2!!”
I have been logging all of my rides on MapMyRide.com and was thrilled to see my totals for this past month:
240 miles, 16.7 hours in the saddle…and my but isn’t sore.
Think I have conditioned my sit bones…woo hoo!
Lets see how much my totals climb in the next 2+ months
Really feel lucky to be a part of this program.
Before I started this journey a ride of 2+ hours was quite a strain on all of my body.
This TeamWILD program has given me increased confidence on my bike, the fitness to feel great on even long rides and the knowledge to confidently manage my D on all rides.
TeamWILD is a group of truly amazing people.
Thanks Mari, thank WILDies…….goWILD!!!
If you would like to support Jim in raising funds for the American Diabetes Association, CLICK HERE!
Jim doing a criterium at CampWILD! He's focused! GO JIM!!
Way to go Jim!! This will be my 3rd year riding the 100 mile Colorado TdC…..both wonderful and terrible. Conserve a little going up and don’t pedal too hard going down the canyon although it’s tempting. Save some fuel in the tank for the last, hot 20 miles across the rolling hills back to Longmont. Good luck and have FUN!!
Type 1 for 25 years and going strong….
GO WILD!! Go Red Rider!! Love you all!!