A group of eight students on campus signed up to ride in Little Rock’s Tour de Cure scheduled for Saturday, April 13. The event will be held in Little Rock and is one of several cycling events sponsored by the American Diabetes Association to raise funds for the organization, by which they raised over $18 million in 2011. The event is held in 44 states. The group on campus, led by senior Marci Ingram, is the first group from Harding ever to participate.
“I think we’re kind of the only cycling team,” Ingram said. “Harding itself does not have a cycling team I’m aware of. I’ve not heard of one, anyway.”
Ingram has been cycling for three years now and this is her second race. She said her idea to put a team together came on a whim, and it was a very spontaneous process overall. Originally there was only a small group interested in cycling, but she saw the opportunity to build a team and went for it.
“I had a couple who wanted to ride, but as students it’s kind of hard to come up with all those registration fees,” Ingram said.
Because of the financial burden, Ingram asked her husband to sponsor a team for her, which he agreed to. Shortly thereafter she posted an announcement on Pipeline letting everyone know about the Tour de Cure and inviting students to join the team. A small number of people responded, but the people who did respond brought friends along. Ingram decided to cap the team at eight members.
Two of the team members, sophomore Ross Tuneberg and senior Matthew Irvine, are seasoned cyclists. Ingram actually claimed the two have a chance at winning the entire race. Ingram herself said she was not in the event to win it, but rather is just participating.
After cycling for a couple of years, Ingram decided she wanted to put a team together for the first time. She began cycling at essentially the same time she began her academic career at Harding. Cycling alone, however, she said was not nearly as rewarding as she imagined it would be. She said a team would be a great motivation for her.
“Companionship for a team; camaraderie,” Ingram said. “It get’s kind of boring sometimes to ride by yourself, and when you participate in a team, you have that team spirit, that feeling of helping one another out. And riding as a team… gives you more of a sense of accomplishment collectively than if you just do it by yourself.”
During her first race, Ingram said it was rewarding but it was slightly lonely. The only person cheering her on at the end was her own husband. She said it would be an improvement to ride side-by-side with fellow team members.
Another factor in Ingram’s motivation to start the team is that many of her family members actually have diabetes. Her mother, aunt and some cousins have been diagnosed.
“Before I started cycling, I was actually almost a borderline diabetic, but with cycling that’s no longer an issue,” Ingram said.
The Tour de Cure has a variety of options as to how far the cyclists may ride. There is the option to ride 10, 50 or 100 miles. The team led by Ingram intends to participate in the 50 mile ride. Tuneberg and Irvine may participate in the longer 100 mile ride as well.
