Olga Galindo has thousands of reasons to ride in this weekend’s Tour de Cure, a bike ride from San Antonio to Austin that raises
money for the American Diabetes Association. Some she knows. Some she doesn’t. “My sister has Type 2 diabetes, and the captain of the Cool Cats Cycling Club, Della Corales, has diabetes too,” says Galindo, who works in customer service at San Antonio Water System. “And there are a lot of people in San Antonio who have diabetes, including kids, so I ride to help find a cure for them.” Texas has a higher rate of diabetes among adults compared to the nation as a whole. An estimated 1.8 million Texans 18 and older have been diagnosed with the condition, the sixth leading cause of death in the state and the fourth leading cause in San Antonio. It’s hard to miss Galindo and the other members of the Cool Cats group, a recreational road-riding club — just look for the purple-and-lime-green jerseys featuring a cartoon cat on a bike. “Our club has kind of made it our main charity ride,” says Corales, a dentist. “Pretty much everyone in our club has been touched by diabetes personally or has family members touched by it.” Cyclists have several route options during the two-day ride. On Saturday, they can choose a 50-mile or 80-mile route from San Antonio to San Marcos or a 13-mile family fun loop. On Sunday, they can ride 25, 55 or 80 miles from San Marcos to Austin.
Along with the Cool Cats’ purple and lime green, there’s another kind of jersey to look out for this weekend: the red jerseys worn by the Red Riders, cyclists with diabetes.