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I like my Garmin gear Matt (been to Istanbul with one on M/bike handle bars). It sounds like you might be heading for a cold or similar. good figures. Keep peddlin.
 
HOBIE said:
I like my Garmin gear Matt (been to Istanbul with one on M/bike handle bars). It sounds like you might be heading for a cold or similar. good figures. Keep peddlin.
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Thanks Hobie, could be a cold coming on but I hope not as I'm off work on leave tomorrow and Tuesday and was hoping to get out on the bike.

Did you manage any riding today?
 
Very short ride less than 2m. Son at football & his team won 3-2 & they scored 2 in the last 4mins of match. Enjoy time off. I got dragged in to do small job today & yesterday. That's being self employed 🙂
 
Well after feeling a bit under the weather yesterday I decided to do a shorter ride (90 mins) today. The weather itself had changed with the sun coming out which made it pleasant. The bibshorts were back out again after the bibtights of yesterday. (For those that don't know, no I'm not a cross dressing baby :D . The tights are longs and the shorts are well, shorts. The bib bit are the straps that are part of the shorts/tights that go over your shoulders). 23.8 miles completed at an average speed of 15.9 mph and elevation gain of 1200 feet.

Levels - before start 8.6 mmol/l, halfway 4.1 mmol/l and back home 6.9 mmol/l. A bit up and down but okay with those. Had a gel at the halfway point.
 
I was back out on the bike this afternoon with a ride out into Cheshire. Despite being overcast it was fairly mild and dry. I completed 42.4 miles at an average speed of 16.3 mph and elevation gain of 1800 feet.

Levels were as follows: before start 6.1 mmol/l, at 20 miles 10.8 mmol/l, at 30 miles 9.3 mmol/l and back home 4.4 mmol/l. Quite a variation there - I had a couple of biscuits before the start but I suspect as I was giving it some hammer for the first half my liver dumped glucose resulting in the higher levels at the halfway stage which then started to drop on the way back. Nothing eaten on this one.

Photo overlooking Rudyard Lake close to the Staffs/Cheshire border
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Well done Matt, good numbers. It is that time of year now, is hard to tell what is going to do. (normal :confused:)
 
Thanks Hobie. Yes, I went out in bib shorts, short sleeved jersey with a long sleeved base layer top underneath (quite often what I wore during the 'summer') and was perfectly warm enough. Let's hope it continues like this for as long as possible. :D
 
Mr Blue Sky made an appearance today so I headed out into the Staffordshire and Derbyshire Peak District to the village of Monyash not far from Bakewell. It meant one thing - hills!! I completed 34.5 miles at an average speed of 12.9 mph and elevation gain of 3300 feet.

Levels were a bit of a nightmare - spike before start at 12.3 mmol/l (so was wary of it falling), at 10 miles 7.9 mmol/l, at 18 miles 2.6 mmol/l 😱 (this coincided with the café coffee stop so a large slice of lemon drizzle cake with my name on it was called for), at 25 miles 4.7 mmol/l and back home 8.1 mmol/l. Also had banana, banana bread, gels. Compared with yesterday it was an easier pace due to the hills so could be the cause of the lows. I need that CGM!!

On top of the world (not really it's the Staffordshire Peak District)
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Me (complete with Team Novo Nordisk jersey) in the Peak District
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I realise the weather has been quite varied across the UK but anyone else get out and about and active today?
 
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Glorious sunshine here today, I stripped off to shirt sleeves during my horse riding lesson. ( that counts as being active, technical lessons on horseback are quite strenuous for the rider) I went to Derbyshire a few years ago, and went for a ride from Flash village down to three shires head. Fantastic scenery round there. (And yes, that is cheating, the horse does do all the hard work uphill!)
 
Excellent Robin. Not sure I'd be much use on a horse but pass plenty of horse riders when out on the bike and always say hello. You get to see so much more than you would in a car - I've seen foxes, weasels - all sorts of wildlife and yesterday several suicidal squirrels. :D Yes, the weather was glorious here today. I know Flash very well and pass close by every day on my way to work. I have been on the bike a few times both from the Staffordshire side (Longnor, Hollinsclough) and the Cheshire side (Bosley, Wincle, Gradbach) - lots of hills to get there!! 😱 There's a nice café at Flash Bar stores on the A53. Great scenery but the A53 to Buxton can be a real pain in winter if it snows!
 
With all this atrocious weather (last weekend and this) I've been unable to get out on the bike and I'm suffering withdrawal symptoms. :(

So it was another walk again today. In spite of the wind and rain it was quite mild - only did about 4 miles, but every little helps. 🙂

Here's hoping for drier weather next week. 🙂
 
Matt Cycle said:
With all this atrocious weather (last weekend and this) I've been unable to get out on the bike and I'm suffering withdrawal symptoms. :(

So it was another walk again today. In spite of the wind and rain it was quite mild - only did about 4 miles, but every little helps. 🙂

Here's hoping for drier weather next week. 🙂
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Get thissen running Matt! A bit of rain doesn't matter, and you don't need to worry about tyre grip 🙂 I used to race cyclists up Lodge Lane back in the day - and leave them in my wake! 🙂
 
Northerner said:
Get thissen running Matt! A bit of rain doesn't matter, and you don't need to worry about tyre grip 🙂 I used to race cyclists up Lodge Lane back in the day - and leave them in my wake! 🙂
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I'm seriously tempted Alan, although I haven't done any running for years. With cycling I don't mind cold as long as it's dry but it's the rain I can't abide. Here's a few photos from rides from last winter taken between Leek and Buxton.

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Jealous! I've put the bike away for the season now - don't mind cold or rain but the wind is my nemesis. And I live in Scotland so it's only about 1 day in 10 that I don't think I'll be blown into traffic. Time to hit the pool and cross-train - hoping to do a sprint triathlon next year. Just need to figure out how to enjoy running....
 
Managed to get out for a quick ride this afternoon and it was er, bracing. No I'm lying it was bloody freezing!! We had snow last night but the main roads were fine. Some of the side roads and lanes still had bits of snow and were icy in places so I had to take it steady.

I only did 10 miles at an average speed of 13.4mph and elevation gain of 580 feet but it was good to get out again.

Level before start was 6.5 mmol/l but had been 3.5 mmol/l about 20 minutes before. I had a headache not sure if it was the cold or from that low. Must have had too much to eat when correcting it because on return it was 8.1 mmol/l. (Also managed to get my Optium Neo meter working again albeit intermittently, so not so much a crisis just an annoyance!)

Another view overlooking a cold Rudyard Lake.
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Ah! I remember running over the gritstone edges of Derbyshire in shorts and t-shirt in this type of weather, past bunches of walkers in 6 layers of clothing! 😱 🙂 Once almost fell foul though when I turned my ankle a bit and had to stop for a few minutes, just outside Ringinglow. Managed to get going again as starting to shiver and made it the last few miles home 😱 🙂
 
Northerner said:
Ah! I remember running over the gritstone edges of Derbyshire in shorts and t-shirt in this type of weather, past bunches of walkers in 6 layers of clothing! 😱 🙂 Once almost fell foul though when I turned my ankle a bit and had to stop for a few minutes, just outside Ringinglow. Managed to get going again as starting to shiver and made it the last few miles home 😱 🙂
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Presumably southerners up on a walking holiday! 😉 :D
 
Back out today for a longer ride, not as cold as yesterday but still cold! I took one of my usual routes through the Cheshire lanes to Jodrell Bank. Distance was 42.4 miles at an average speed of 14.3mph and elevation gain of 1700 feet.

Levels before start was 8.1 mmol/l at the café coffee stop at Jodrell Bank it was 5.2 mmol/l (had 2 pieces of malt loaf and a gel). Then the problems started - on the way back about 10 miles from home I pulled over at the side of the road to test again, the meter said no - too cold. Kept trying and trying, blowing on it but it wasn't having it. I thought my levels had dropped but had no way of checking and I know it sounds silly but I got a bit tearful. I've never been like that before and I don't know if it was the probable hypo, the cold, not feeling in control or a combination of things. My hypo awareness is not good so I wasn't sure what my levels were. Anyway, after plenty of cursing diabetes with a few choice words I assumed it was low and had some more gels and set off again albeit somewhat slowly. Got back home and tested and it was 4.1 mmol/l. So who knows what it was when I'd stopped. Apart from all that it was good to get out. 🙂

Space the final frontier - the Lovell radio telescope at Jodrell Bank pointing straight up. (No, the telegraph pole is not wobbly it's my poor quality phone camera!)
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Always safest to assume a hypo if you feel bad/odd Matt - I've done the same out on a run when I realised I'd forgotten my meter. Can you keep the meter close to your skin to keep it warmer?

Great picture! 🙂
 
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