It started 2 years ago at the end of August at a friends 106th birthday party, (hello Rich, lol). I saw some pictures of myself and was in shock. You can really see how big 250#'s at 6'1" is. Change was needed, move forward to the following May and I had changed my diet, was working out more and cycling more. I was getting ready for the Buena Vista Bike Festival was down to 225#'s and thought I was feeling pretty good. So I was talking to a friend, (Thanks Ann), about how I was feeling and some weird things happening to my body and I thought it was being 52 years old and my body changing as I got older. Right away they said I needed to get a blood sugar test. So this is a few days before the BVBF ride, I borrowed a blood sugar meter and tested myself. Is 375 high???? My friends saw that and freaked. So I did the ride, rode 70 miles and my blood sugar never went below 225, now to find out that a 125 total average is what would be considered normal, hello Type 2 Diabetes. There is this test called an A1c that measures your percentage average for three months. Upper 5% is considered normal and I was at 17%, sir we hate to inform you you have type 2 diabetes. I have a very cool Dr., and not being one who likes drugs myself we talked and decided that I should go on a 3 month regime of Metformin and then retest. We also tested my Testosterone levels, yep almost nil. I started on the Metformin and Testosterone therapy. So it is now one year later and I am down to around 200#'s, I was on the Metformin for the first 90days after being diagnosed and my Dr. and I decided to cease use and see what happened. My blood sugar is stable, a little on the high side but not high enough to warrant meds. I have always wanted to ride at the Velodrome so last July 4th I showed up there and met Mark Tyson, Elite Track Coach. He was there training some really fast cyclists and said just hang out a bit and he would get me on the track. This was my first experience on the Velodrome, and it was just that. Ride out, turn left, try and go fast, have fun and oh yeah, DON'T CRASH. I could barely make it around three laps, 1 kilometer, with out feeling as though I was going to die. By far the hardest cycling I have ever done. I trained the rest of the season there, and during the winter did a little up at the Boulder Indoor Cycling center Velodrome and waited patiently for our 7/11 Velodrome to open. I did do Buena Vista this year and got 65 miles in. Bad weather curtailed my chance for the 100. I have been riding both my MTB and road bikes hard to stay in some form a shape. Now it's June 6th, 7pm I was warmed up, they called my name in the group of "C" riders. Nervously I road up to the rail at the start line. Gentleman, please roll out for one neutral lap, rolling through the neutral lap then BANG the gun fired and we were off. I made it, I felt confident enough in what I have been doing to give it a try. My first actual race at the Velodrome. I completed a 1 mile sprint, a 2 mile sprint and a 3 mile race.  Didn't even come close to winning and didn't plan to, but I am beating the Diabetes and still dropping weight. I am working now on competing in as many Tuesday night races as I can and put together a 5 year plan to get competitive. I want to thank everyone I have met at the Velodrome for all the encouragement, advise and support they have given this 53 year old beginner. People always ask why I am always talking about riding at the Velodrome, well those are the reasons. If any one wants to see my progress stop down on a Tuesday night and watch the racing and support your local riders. Some like me working on changing their lives. Cme down both Tuesdays and Thursdays, Thursdays are the Cat 1-2 riders. Some of the fastest cycling you'll ever see