The Border-to-Border Against Diabetes bike tour traversed a 502-mile route from the Utah-Arizona border to the Utah-Idaho border during the first week of April. The five-rider BBAD (pronounced Be Bad) tour team’s purpose was to raise awareness of the value of an active lifestyle for people with diabetes. The team, which included four riders with Type 1 diabetes and one cancer survivor, began their adventure south of St. George on April 2 accompanied by their support vehicle driven by Joel Bingham of Bingham Cyclery.

Their route the first day took them from the Utah-Arizona border through St. George and Enterprise to Cedar City. This route included a scenic, 10-mile stretch of gentle and steep (up to 18%) climbs on a bike/pedestrian path through the Snow Canyon State Park. A broken shifter on one bike and a broken spoke on another did not deter the team from completing the 102-mile first day.

The second day continued with a big tailwind on to Milford, where they were greeted with a motorcycle escort from Bubba, a local resident, and cheering supporters at Penny’s Diner who had made a big welcome banner that unfortunately blew away in the big wind just before the team arrived at the Oak Tree Inn in Milford.

Day three started with an ominous “Next Services 75 miles” sign just north of Milford. Thirty miles into the ride, the tailwind turned into a strong headwind with rain, so getting to the next night’s stop in Delta, Utah was tough, made especially rough by the semi trucks racing past covering the cyclists with whatever the trucks were carrying (hay, pebbles, pigs, horses, etc.).

Day four was a ride through the rolling hills to Eureka, followed by a great downhill through the canyon and a beautiful view of Mt. Nebo, up a long series of false summits on the climb from Goshen to Santaquin and finally arrival in Payson for the night. The following day took them back the way they came the previous day to Elberta, north on Highway 68 on the west side of Utah Lake, out of rural Utah and into the Salt Lake metro area.

Day six, Thursday, was another day of tailwinds on their ride from Sandy, though the west side the Salt Lake valley, to Ogden. After the heavy traffic of Highway 89, the steep toll road in Ogden was pleasant, even if a bit painful after 420+ miles of riding in six days.

Friday, the last day of the tour and the day that would give meaning to the Border-to-Border title, began in Ogden in a downpour. It rained cats and dogs through Brigham City where it finally quit raining and was just plain cold. As they passed through town a bank time and temperature display said 34°F. Finally the BBAD riders were nearing Idaho on an I-15 frontage road somewhere north of Tremonton. And just when you thought things couldn’t get any worse . . . the pavement ended.

The BBAD bike tour finished its last seven miles on the frontage road of I-15 as it alternated between pavement and muddy gravel. But then the sun came out, and all participants realized that they had proved -if only to themselves- that there are truly “No Limits” for people with diabetes. Members of the BBAD team are Kim Hale (Layton), Peter Hoogenboom (Salt Lake City), Matt Vogel (San Francisco), Dave Nevins (Boise), and Matt Score (Boise).