STRADFORD HELMS

• Greenville, SC
• Age: 21
• Diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes at age 8

Stradford Helms is 21, from Greenville, South Carolina, and was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when he was eight years old. At 12 he started cycling after seeing his father take up triathlon.

“I thought what my dad was doing at triathlons was pretty cool, so when I was 12 I tried those out and started doing really well. But I really don’t like swimming, so I started riding a lot instead. My first race was the junior national championships, and I was dropped on the first turn. By the time I was done in the race I thought it was the coolest thing ever and gave myself over to racing bikes.”

Helms, who goes by Strad, had his best results in 2009 at the South Carolina junior criterium championships, where he won the race, but his proudest achievement was finishing the hilly, nine-stage 2010 Tour of Rwanda.

“I try to stay on top of my blood sugars, and check at least four times a day, but usually a whole lot more. I manage my diabetes with an Omnipod insulin pump, and it’s my dream to compete in Europe as a professional cyclist and one day race at Paris-Roubaix.”

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

• 1st, Blythewood Criterium (Columbia, SC), 2009
• 1st, South Carolina Criterium Junior Championships, 2009
• 5th, Highland Rim Road Race (McMinnville, TN), 2009
• 5th, Roan Groan Omnium (Elizabethton, TN), 2009
• Won 10 South Carolina State Junior Championships