Cycling: Diabetes no block for Hargrave

Professional cyclist Timothy Hargrave has had diabetes since childhood, but he tells everyone that the life-changing disease will never limit his goals.

It's an optimistic outlook, but those doubting Hargrave's philosophy just have to glance at his cycling résumé. What Hargrave has accomplished on a bike is impressive enough, even without including the fact that the 23-year-old from Auckland, New Zealand, was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at age 6.

Hargrave shared his message at Omaha-area hospitals Friday, hoping his words inspired the fearful patients not to let diabetes keep them from living the way they want. He used his cycling achievements as Exhibit A.

“Quite often, they are pretty scared,” Hargrave said. “So you talk to them. You encourage them. You reassure them, like even though I've been Type 1 for most of my life, I can still do what I want.”

Hargrave rides a bike, despite a disease that can be fatal without proper oversight. People with Type 1 cannot produce enough insulin in their bodies and have to regularly take doses of the hormone to keep blood sugar levels from rising. Exercise only enhances the risk.

But yet, Hargrave still races for Team Type 1, which has 16 professionals who regularly compete in top cycling events. He's one of four professional team members who've been diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes.

And he's in Omaha all weekend, racing today and Sunday in three cycling events around the metro area.

A 10-mile time trial is scheduled for 9 a.m. today at Elkhorn Mount Michael High School. A criterium race will begin at 3 p.m. on the downtown streets of Papillion. Hargrave's race should start at 8 p.m. around 3rd and Washington Streets.

The Babcook Memorial Road Race will kick off around 9:45 a.m. Sunday and continue into the afternoon. That event starts at Mount Michael.

Hargrave is the only Team Type 1 professional racing in Omaha this weekend, though he said he's still looking forward to competing without his regular teammates.

Two weeks ago, he didn't ride with eight Team Type 1 representatives either, when that group finished Race Across America in record time. It won that 3,000-mile event after five days of cycling.

But Hargrave was on last year's runner-up team at the same Race Across America event, another piece of evidence that he says proves his disease can't alter his ambitions.

“You have Type 1 diabetes ... You can still live how you want to live — whether that means racing a bike across America like our team did or doing whatever you want,” Hargrave said.

Hargrave will be signing autographs from 6 to 7 p.m. before he races in today's criterium in Papillion.

Professional riders Steve Tilford and Tim Farnham will join Hargrave at the weekend races. Tilford's a two-time world mountain bike champion and Farnham, from Elkhorn, races for Bissell Pro Cycling.

Contact the writer:

402-473-9585, jon.nyatawa@owh.com