More than 2,000 cyclists will gather for the annual Sage Rutty Tour de Cure in Webster on Saturday. The American Diabetes Association event is expected to raise over $1 million for diabetes education and research.
They'll be biking on courses ranging from 3 to 100 miles across the Lake Ontario shoreline and into Wayne County.
Many of the Tour de cure riders are diabetics themselves. Among them, Orlando Perez, a 58-year old type-2 diabetic from Rochester, who will be participating in the event for his third time.
He tells WXXI News that one of the most important ways to overcome his diabetes is through exercise.
"You have to find ways that make you happy, make you joyful to want to go out and exercise. You have to want to go out and exercise. My son gave me a bike and that's how I got involved with the Tour de Cure and then since then, this is going on three years, two years ago, I rode in my first triathlon."
He did his first triathlon as a relay with his son. In his next competition, he will do all three events - the swim, the bike, and the run. Perez will ride the 40-mile route in the Tour de Cure on Saturday.
According to the ADA, almost 10-percent of Americans are diabetic. The local Tour de Cure is the largest cycling event in the region.
