Losing to a 6-year-old. It’s as bad as it sounds.

A while back, I was challenged to a dual. Not the sword-fighting, bee-mask kind of a dual, but a who-can-ride-109-miles-first-on-a-bike kind of a dual. My challenger was a 6-year-old cutie who goes by the online name of Squeakers. She’s 3-feet, 6-inches of pure brute strength. Actually, she’s a big pile of adorableness right down to her blonde pigtails. Squeakers was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when she was 2 years old. Since then, her parents (Ross and Sarah) have been involved in JDRF Walks and fundraising efforts to help Squeakers down the road. In fact, her mom is a SUPER D-MOM! In addition to taking excellent care of Squeakers, she’s our local JDRF Outreach Coordinator (volunteer), she is on the Walk committee, she heads up our Mentor coordinating, she’s the Family Team co-chair and she’s the Hot Shots co-chair. Oh, and she still finds time to tweet at @mod4acure. Along with her husband, Sarah is an amazing advocate, and I’m so thankful we are friends (in real life).

But this year, the family decided to do something different than the usual Walk to Cure Diabetes. Ross, an avid cyclist, decided to take his riding to the next level and signed up for the Ride to Cure Diabetes, also hosted by JDRF. Although there were shorter distances, Ross chose to ride 109 miles for his daughter all while raising money to be used for medical advancements and a cure. On Nov. 19 (yes, a week and a half away), Ross will ride is 109 miles in Tucson, Ariz., while Sarah and Squeakers cheer him on. Several months ago, Squeakers decided she wanted to ride 109 miles just like her dad. So Sarah made a chart and as Squeakers rode, the miles were marked off. Not long after beginning, Squeakers challenged me to do it with her and see who could ride 109 miles first.

Game. On. (I mean, she is a 6-year-old, right? Easy peasy.)

So for most of the summer and part of the early fall, Squeakers and I marked off our miles one by one (although Squeakers rode as many as five miles at a time on occasion). We stayed neck and neck for most of the competition, with the lead teetering back and forth by a mile or two. Last Sunday, as I was leaving church, my cell phone rang. I was expecting to hear Sarah’s voice when I said hello, but instead, I heard this…

“I’m finished!”

“What?” I asked. “With all 109 miles?”

“Yes!” Squeakers exclaimed.

“Oh no,” I said. “You beat me! I only rode 108 miles and had one more to go.”

I will not rehash the rest of the conversation as it mostly involved my being teased by a 6-year-old. 😉 And in case losing to a 6-year-old wasn’t bad enough, she added at the end of the conversation that she’d actually ridden 111 miles, so “technically” she beat me by three miles. In my sullen defeat, I mustered up enough pride to ask for a rematch next year. Fortunately, Squeakers agreed, but not without adding “And next year, I’ll beat you again.”

Ouch.

So next week, I’ll see my friends off as they travel to Arizona. I’ll say a few extra prayers as Ross rides. I have every confidence in him as he’s been training for months. (And just before he leaves, he’ll meet Jerry Willis of Team Type 1. How about that for a last spurt of motivation?) I’m incredibly proud of Ross for training so hard and for putting his all into this race because of his daughter. I’m tremendously proud of Sarah and all she did to help raise money for the Ride and for JDRF’s efforts. And of course, I’m crazy, super duper, fantastically proud of Squeakers for riding 109 111 miles just like her dad!

So next time you are on the couch thinking Grey’s Anatomy or House Hunters is more important than getting outside for some exercise, remember this adorable cutie-patootie 6-year-old who rode 109 miles on a bicycle in one summer. Come to think of it, she rode most of it as a 5-year-old.