First dry Willowdale Ride!

Yeti Big Top 29er + Singletrack = :-)

Got out for a quick lap at Willowdale State Forrest. A little drizzle in the air, but I'll call it dry as my last ride out there was pouring and 40°F. Trails were in very good shape this time around, and the ride was great.

I started the day with a couple pieces of Double Protein toast with strawberry jelly. I added my 40g carbs and  BG of 98 into the Bolus Wizard of my MiniMed pump and it delivered a bolus of 4.9U. I went for an easy 1hr hike with dogs, and when I returned home to get ready for my ride I was low at 65. My CGM warned me of the approaching low, but I was out of glucose tablets in the car. You may think this is deplorable, but it happens, and I fixed the issue the same day and replenished. Set a temp basal of 55% a little after 2pm for a 3:30pm start time.

The start of the ride was chilly but I warmed up pretty quickly. I am convinced that the cold weather has an impact on insulin sensitivity. I can't back it with any medical resource at this time, but I feel like low BG's are more apt to happen in colder weather. I digress. My only complaint on my ride was a little lower back pain. I'm not sure if I am getting used to wearing a hydration pack or if riding a single-speed could be the culprit, but those are the only things that have changed recently.

Help from the DOC!

I wanted to write a blog post asking for everyone to help out a member of the DOC (diabetes online community). Tony Cervati is a Type 1 diabetic who is riding the Tour Divide mountain bike race. This race starts in Banff, Canada and goes to Mexico along the Great Divide. That's right over 2,800 miles and it is mostly off road on trails in the wilderness. Oh yeah, and it is self supported! That means there is no team car or help along the way. In comparison the Tour de France is about 2200 miles and is all on roads. This will be an epic challenge!

Taprootfilms is trying to capture the race and create a film about Tony's experience. I think this film will be a great way for other diabetics to see how diabetes does not have to be a limiting factor in our lives, and that we can attempt anything.

Please read through the links I have oprovided, and go to type1riderthefilm.com and learn about Tony's story and why this film is important. If anything, please link to these sites/stories in your own blog posts, Facebook, and Twitter so that others can be exposed to the great things these people are trying to do.

Good luck Tony and Taprootfilms, we will be following you the best we can during your race!

I don't care....

(To be clear, Diabetes is not reversible. At all. Ever.)

This upcoming article in 'Readers Digest' has come up this week in some diabetes blogs that I read. It states that you can reverse diabetes, which is a false statement. A lot of people are very frustrated and feel that this is somewhat of an outrage. I can't disagree with how they feel. My words would be that this is irresponsible of 'Readers Digest', and I think it would behoove them to title it 'Reverse Complications of Diabetes' or something similar.

People misunderstand diabetes and how it is brought about, and articles like this are trying to be helpful. I would encourage 'Readers Digest' to spend a little more money on their editors to prevent potential dis-information, especially on titles of articles and publications. I am betting that this article has some suggestions along the lines of healthy eating, exercise and some general tips on healthy living the would definitely not hurt a person with diabetes.

25.8 million people in the U.S. have type 1 or type 2 diabetes, unless you are one of them or you are a heath care professional working around diabetes, you probably don't take the time to know the disease like those of us who have it. In fact there are many people with diabetes that don't know, or care to know the intricacies of the disease. It is claimed that 7 million people out of the 25.8 million don't even know they have the disease. Those people are probably not the most informed or educated either. 'Readers Digest' may be failing at informing people about our disease, at least in the title of this publication.

This weeks riding....

I think I have turned the motivational corner, and have started getting into more of a regular exercise schedule. The weather has NOT cooperated. It has been raining, cold and windy. My job does not allow any sort of normal schedule for eating, sleeping or exercise so I just have to suck it up and get it done. Some days (rarely) I will work 8am-5pm, some game days I might do a 11am-11pm, and weekends may be a double header. It has yet to fail that my day off is gloomy, windy, snowy, cold and rainy. Even though all this can, and will, deteriorate motivation to get out and exercise I have to suck it up and get out.

Diabetic Safety

***This post is important to everyone, but especially people with Diabetes***

Get an identification accessory. My wife would be so proud that I used the term accessory with out her encouragement! Back in the day people had no choice but to wear those big clunky medical ID bracelets or necklaces. Today there are many choices. I am in no way affiliated with this company but will give them a plug anyway. I use a Road ID Elite. You can have it say whatever you want, and they have many colors, styles and other products besides bracelets.

First MTB ride of the year

My new Rig - Yeti Big Top 29er

I can't believe how fast the snow melted. At one point this winter, and I am not joking, you could not see a UPS truck drive down the street the snow banks were so high. Stop sings were covered. But I managed to find dry trails last weekend and got out for a 1.5 hour ride.

There was a very Fall like feel outside with temps in the mid 40's, lots of dry leaves on the trails, and a few wet spots to avoid. I even saw some deer crossing the trail in front of me at one point, which is an unexpected bonus considering where I was riding.

Can I have 2 Pump/CGM's?

I was on a Minimed pump/CGM system for the past 7 years. Most recently the Real Time Revel system. I stopped using Minimed because of a customer service issue that I thought was unacceptable.

I have been doing a little research trying to figure out when OmniPod and Dexcom are going to integrate. Basically this integration would mean that the CGM data would be available on the Omnipod PDM and I would only need to carry 1 device. I am also trying to decide if I want to switch back to my Minimed Real Time Revel pump/cgm. I came upon this article (2nd entry) in my research and it sounds like there is going to be a long delay in getting the integrations done.