Cycling

[Matt Cycle]

And then you ruin it by saying half the year gone!
I didn't dare tear myself away from the Moto GP coverage so missed the nationals.. then went out and it was hotter than I expected. Did 100km but it was a chore to be honest, need to re-repurpose my two bottle cages but I don't know where to carry a Frio pouch where it won't get dried out, any ideas would be good! Got tools and novo rapid in one cage, some spares in a seatpost mounted tool wrap thing and pump/phone/libre/food weighing me down in pockets, gives me one bottle to carry.. which is usually enough but not today.

Got to agree about Sam Brand and the others.. I guess there is a bit of pr training done but that isn't a bad thing, anyhow his personality comes through and he seems to be a decent bloke, can ride a bit too I am told...

@HOBIE... check Bultaco ebikes out.. I would be very happy if santa was handing those out!

I knew someone would point that bit out!

I've never had a frio pouch. This includes when inter-railing across Europe in the mid 90's for almost 5 weeks with my insulin in my rucksack - it never saw a fridge. Went to several very hot places including Athens and Istanbul. Managed to survive. Is the frio to keep your pen in? I don't think it's necessary when cycling in this country even when it is hot. Pens weigh next to nothing and would fit in your jersey no problem. If you could fit the tools in the tool wrap or small saddle bag that frees up your other bottle cage.

 

[christophe]

That's kind of what was bugging me.. I was thinking the frio in my jersey pocket would be in full sun (amazing that we are getting issues around it being too warm and sunny!) .. and dry out, effectively leaving the pen to cook gently. Maybe I should try it out on a near empty pen and see how it goes.. 5 weeks without a fridge puts 5 hours on a bike into perspective..

My last trip in the "normal" world was to Greece.. ( Greek cycling holidays... good outfit for, guess what? Cycling holidays in Greece..google it for the pictures of the food if nothing else!) I had a ride from Evia to the mainland via the ferry and then rode up mt Parnitha and back again.. carelessly grazing on whatever I could buy from the bakeries on the way.. must do it again, just because.

 

[TrevA]

Did anyone watch the Nationals? Surprising results in both the men's and women's races.

Just normal club rides for me at weekend. A fast ride round the Vale of Belvoir on Saturday - 36 miles, average 18.2. On Sunday we went to a cafe just north of Grantham - mega hot, very busy at the cafe, which is also a pick your own fruit farm. 51 miles at 16.4 average.

 

[Matt Cycle]

Did anyone watch the Nationals? Surprising results in both the men's and women's races.

Just normal club rides for me at weekend. A fast ride round the Vale of Belvoir on Saturday - 36 miles, average 18.2. On Sunday we went to a cafe just north of Grantham - mega hot, very busy at the cafe, which is also a pick your own fruit farm. 51 miles at 16.4 average.

Yes I watch the Nationals Trev. Agree was surprising results but great racing by both winners. Was hoping to see TNN rider Sam Brand but by the time the TV coverage started for the men's race they only focused on the breakaway and those in the peloton must have dropped out on one of the laps as there were only 38 finishers.

 

[Matt Cycle]

Hot conditions again today feeling a bit more humid as well even with a bit of a breeze. I thought about heading to the energy sapping hills but stuck to lower levels with a ride into Cheshire to Jodrell Bank and Goostrey for a 50 mile ride in just over 3 hours. The roads seemed remarkably quiet - was it the heat? people recovering after the England win yesterday? Don't know.

The ground is parched with the most of the grass on the verges and elsewhere (including my lawn) turning a yellowy brown. On some of the roads and lanes the tar was melting. Bit dangerous in places when going around corners. 😱 At least the weather means my kit dries in next to no time after washing it when I get back.

I keep the pump in a lycra pouch belt and this was wet from sweat when I got back (tmi?). 😱 Two water bottles required on this ride.

Strava stats are 50.1 miles completed at an average speed of 15.7mph and elevation gain of 1964 feet.

Onto levels as it is a diabetes forum and that's why we're all here. I put the pump TBR on at 60%. I'd had my usual pre ride breakfast of wholemeal toast and peanut butter and porridge with raspberries, blueberries, flaxseed and chia seeds. Usually sets me up nicely. At start 4.0 mmol/l (had some fruit pastilles and protein bar), at 21 miles 5.3 mmol/l (had cereal bar), at 30 miles 8.2 mmol/l, at 38 miles 8.2 mmol/l, at 45 miles 7.9 mmol/l and back home 6.0 mmol/l. Quite pleased with those. So just the cereal bar during the ride and a macchiato at Jodrell Bank cafe.

Field baked dry not far from Jodrell Bank.


More parched conditions near Gawsworth. The hill in the distance (normally green) is a yellow colour.


The Garmin - same as Strava.

 

[christophe]

In the gym mostly on my turbo, went out for a ride while the football was on.. nice and quiet. Just gentle, 40 miles without caring about anything. A bit of water, no food at all.. went from about 6.5 to 5.5 in half an hour then stayed there. Think the basal is behaving itself, for a while anyway! Can go for 90 minutes on the turbo controlling the bg with effort/intensity.. have food and insulin to hand when outdoors. sorted out the bottle arrangements with a bit of tool shopping.. Wera micro ratchet and some 1/4" hex driver bits take up very little space. So.. two bottles and seat mounted tool roll and pockets stuffed. So you lose kilos to type 1 and put it all back on with the stuff you need to carry...! Hope to get some miles in Scotland at the weekend..

 

[christophe]

Well SW Scotland isn't quite like home.. rain, wind, about 15 degrees with empty roads and hills.
Did just over 62 miles so not worried about saying 100km.. 820 metres of climbing, certainly not used to that. Got lost a bit , signposting not up to any standard.. pretty average average at 15.6 mph. I think a couple of weeks here would bring some major fitness gains.. but back to work tomorrow so that will have to wait.
Didn't have to eat anything during the ride, got the bg settled after breakfast then rode. I guess the nature of the geography and wind, and the savage road surfaces, means it's a constant grind all the time. Ate well last night which kept the fuel tank full, monitored regularly but had no problems staying in 5.5-6.5 range, going neither flat out or very easy for the whole ride. Dropping now slowly so it's an early dinner!

 

[Matt Cycle]

Headed to the hills again this week taking in Hartington, Monyash, Chelmorton, Buxton and back over the Cat and Fiddle. Didn't seem as hot as the forecast said it would be although it was certainly warm enough. I'd put both my water bottles part filled in the freezer laying down overnight and topped them up this morning with high 5 tabs. Cool drinks at least for part of the way! Breezy as well and I seemed to hit more headwinds than tailwinds, harder work than normal up the Cat - or was it my imagination! Legs felt heavy on this one but always good to get out!

Strava stats are 54.9 miles completed at an average speed of 13.7mph and elevation gain of 3902 feet.

I put on the 60% TBR again and levels were as follows: at start 4.3 mmol/l (had a few fruit pastilles and half a cereal bar), at 10 miles 4.6 mmol/l (had cereal bar), at 19 miles 7.2 mmol/l, at 28 miles 8.8 mmol/l, at 36 miles 7.2 mmol/l, at 43 miles 10.4 mmol/l (no idea how that happened although was 'powering' down the Cat and Fiddle, at 50 miles 10.4 mmol/l and back home 8.9 mmol/l. Not bad, can live with that - having to manage my total insulin requirements by educated guesswork. 🙄

Looking towards Chelmorton


Top of the Cat looking in the direction of Buxton. Loads of bikers on this road and congregating here.


The Garmin.

 

[christophe]

I think I killed my pen..
Somehow after a decent time of having good control, I have had a couple of nightmare days.. instead of the libre traces looking like a slightly wonky line I was getting something like washing machine in a paddling pool king of lines..
Should be picking this up a bit sooner but initially I was thinking body reaction rather than an issue with the injectables..
Anyone else on Tujeo and giving themselves a bit of a hard time on a bike?.. I guess it's not about the bike, to steal an infamously ill cyclist's phrase.. actually that feels pretty good to steal from Armstrong!

It always seems to be the basal that gives me trouble, when it works all is good.. when it goes away, I immediately think of the last meal, bad calculation etc. Could there be something about the stress/rest cycle that is causing the basal insulin to stop working? Probably too early to say but another pen from the same box in the same fridge seems to have made a difference without having to change the dose..

A guess as a follow-up question.. can't speak with the Db nurse about cycling, can't speak to many cyclists about insulin.. where is a good place to find this stuff out!? Runsweet doesn'tseem to have a lot of activity , but there is a lot of info.. anywhere worth a try? I did have a couple of chats with the Novo Nordisk developers and scientific types.. they would prefer everyone to be exactly the same but in short they say "it's biology".. science for sh1t happens I suppose!

 

[Matt Cycle]

I think I killed my pen..
Somehow after a decent time of having good control, I have had a couple of nightmare days.. instead of the libre traces looking like a slightly wonky line I was getting something like washing machine in a paddling pool king of lines..
Should be picking this up a bit sooner but initially I was thinking body reaction rather than an issue with the injectables..
Anyone else on Tujeo and giving themselves a bit of a hard time on a bike?.. I guess it's not about the bike, to steal an infamously ill cyclist's phrase.. actually that feels pretty good to steal from Armstrong!

It always seems to be the basal that gives me trouble, when it works all is good.. when it goes away, I immediately think of the last meal, bad calculation etc. Could there be something about the stress/rest cycle that is causing the basal insulin to stop working? Probably too early to say but another pen from the same box in the same fridge seems to have made a difference without having to change the dose..

A guess as a follow-up question.. can't speak with the Db nurse about cycling, can't speak to many cyclists about insulin.. where is a good place to find this stuff out!? Runsweet doesn'tseem to have a lot of activity , but there is a lot of info.. anywhere worth a try? I did have a couple of chats with the Novo Nordisk developers and scientific types.. they would prefer everyone to be exactly the same but in short they say "it's biology".. science for sh1t happens I suppose!

Hi Chris. Not been on Toujeo myself but what sort of levels are you getting? I came to the conclusion a long time ago that I'd just do my best, yes it goes spectacularly wrong - hi on the meter doesn't mean it's saying hello to you, hypos, relatively poor HbA1c's compared to more recent years but I've survived. It always 'amuses' me when people say calamity my bg was 8.1 after a bowl of frosties or they've reached the heady heights of 11. 🙄 Is my diabetes worse than theirs, well yeah I think so. 😉

Basal for me has always been an issue. How can one or two injections of basal come anywhere near what your body requires? It's quite a blunt weapon. On the bike I always used to take the same amount of basal as I normally did (this is what Sam Brand said he did as well) and then eat just to keep things ticking over. It sort of worked like most things diabetes related! When on Levemir I could and did reduce one or both of the injections sometimes worked. Levemir would give you a bit more basal flexibility than Toujeo/Lantus. Now on the pump I find the different pump basal rates help but nearly all the TNN riders are on injections rather than pumps and manage to 'muddle' through. I've had times on injections where I think the basal's knackered, blood sugar sky high so been correcting, swapped pens, prayed to the diabetes gods but it could be anything. It sorts itself out eventually and I move on.

The Runsweet forum isn't operational but you're likely to get different answers from different people. You could try contacting Dr Ian Gallen himself. Me, I have read up about exercise and T1 in recent years but kind of agree with the Novo people you mention and mainly I've just made it up as I've gone along. Apologies for the ramble, probably not helped very much.

 

[christophe]

No problem with rambling, all good information which does kind of confirm what I am finding out.. our tools and methods are imprecion and guesswork. Doing the best you can is all anyone can do, the TNN guys do have the luxury of structured days and lots and lots of data, it isn't reassuring exactly that they can get it wrong but it puts the occasional duff day into perspective.
My numbers tend to be good if not very good and I am looking for better than 8.1 but I am not anywhere near a bowl of Frosties at this time.. I guess what I should be amused by is I am trying to achieve results after 6 months that thousands of people are struggling to make after decades of work, not to give anyone a hard time it's more a reflection on my approach than anything else.

I had a couple of chats with all kinds of decent people on the TNN thing, basically they were mostly saying back off a little and don't stress about it. If I can hold my numbers in the normal range 4-7 then I can, and do, back off a little every now and then.. no harm done. Just the basal thing is doing my head in a bit.. it is the easiest thing to get right, test it set it, test it, forget it.. but then it changes.. the other day I was shouting at my meter "WHY!!!??"

Didn't help.. 🙂 so, total reset. Tore off a dubious libre sensor, threw away a pen and started again.. dozens of finger jabs and the world started turning properly.
Like I said before. I should be better at recognising when the basal is playing up .. the signs are there, but .. without shouting this time... why?? I guess sh1t does happen..
So I did more thinking. Having freed up another bottle I am looking for a carb drink that I can vary the concentration of and aim for something that keeps the level in the right place when I drink it on a steady intensity, and plain water and a bit more effort when the level goes too far. A pen to hand if it gets too high.. (if I ignore everything from wind strength and direction to tyre pressure and size..) it's got to work right?

Rambled right back at you.. !

 

[Matt Cycle]

So I did more thinking. Having freed up another bottle I am looking for a carb drink that I can vary the concentration of and aim for something that keeps the level in the right place when I drink it on a steady intensity, and plain water and a bit more effort when the level goes too far. A pen to hand if it gets too high.. (if I ignore everything from wind strength and direction to tyre pressure and size..) it's got to work right?

I did use the High5 4:1 for a bit (powder that you mix with water in your bottle so you can vary concentration depending on how many scoops you use) with the aim of sipping regularly, topping up levels. Again it was another sort of worked. My problem was I couldn't get into the habit of sipping small amounts on a regular basis whilst riding and preferred to eat a cereal bar or something and stop and take a swig of it. I've still got some so may try it again.

 

[christophe]

I was a long time user of the Zero tablets.. 2 in a large bottle and in theory all was good. Like you say, it gets to be a chore drinking when you just don't feel like it. I think if I switch my mind over to seeing it as liquid food .. certainly if it is to be my carb source then I will have to have it!
I did use smoothies mixed 50/50 with water.. maybe I can use that, only with a lot more water.. got to work out a few numbers. I hate this part of it!

 

[Matt Cycle]

got to work out a few numbers. I hate this part of it!

Educated guesswork with stuff like that, I think life's too short to go into detail for something so unpredictable. You'll be alright!

 

[Matt Cycle]

Long ride out today to Delamere, up to Knutsford and surroundings (I needed to burn off those Wispas 😉 ). Weather was a bit overcast but perfectly pleasant for cycling as it wasn't too hot and not as windy as it has been recently. Felt okay on this one although had one or two moments with bg's 🙄 (that's blood glucose not the singing brothers of Saturday Night Fever fame) see below and started to feel it a bit on the climb back towards home.

Strava stats are 100.3 miles completed at an average speed of 15.1mph and elevation gain of 3548 feet.

I used a TBR of 65% and levels were as follows: at start 6.8 mmol/l, at 23 miles (would have tested sooner normally but felt okay) 5.7 mmol/l, at 32 miles 7.2 mmol/l, at 41 miles 7.9 mmol/l, at 52 miles 7.2 mmol/l, at 60 miles 3.0 mmol/l (had 2 crumpets at Whitegate cafe at 41 miles and gave myself 1u, bolus wizard said 1.5, stupid really 🙄 ), at 68 miles 6.6 mmol/l, at 78 miles 6.9 mmol/l, at 86 miles 3.2 mmol/l (gone to pot here - the TBR had finished and I didn't hear it beeping!), at 94 miles 7.4 mmol/l and back home 4.6 mmol/l. On the ride as well as the crumpets I had 3 cereal bars and 3 gels.

Enjoyed that. A good way to spend several hours on a Saturday. Beats visiting B&Q anyway.

The river at Whitegate is full of green stuff. Presume it's to do with the weather.


Looking in the other direction.


All been harvested now at Gawsworth. Just stubble. The BBC had a report the other week that they've found evidence that stone age man and woman ate bread. Not sure how that squares with paleo fanatics.


Here's the Garmin.

 

[HOBIE]

Good nos Matt. I like the Temp Basal button a lot. I have been out today & am going out shortly as well. 😎

 

[HOBIE]

Been on a machine & a half today. Cannondale, Full suspension, Electric ! Did 26mph on the flat. Disk brakes & had a great day. Nearly 5 GRAND 😱. Was good 😉.

 

[christophe]

Well, that's all the Tour de France watching done with.. got to get back on the bike and it's windy and pouring with rain! Indoors then.. turn pedals and watch the rain run down the windows..

 

[Matt Cycle]

Well, that's all the Tour de France watching done with.. got to get back on the bike and it's windy and pouring with rain! Indoors then.. turn pedals and watch the rain run down the windows..

Washout here today and we had showers on and off yesterday. 🙄 To be fair they did forecast it. Due to warm back up during the week though. Good to see Geraint Thomas winning the TdF on TT yesterday - just today's processional to Paris. Team Novo Nordisk are in the RideLondon Surrey Classic today - shown live on BBC1 this afternoon - starts at 15.50.

 

[Northerner]

Washout here today and we had showers on and off yesterday. 🙄 To be fair they did forecast it. Due to warm back up during the week though. Good to see Geraint Thomas winning the TdF on TT yesterday - just today's processional to Paris. Team Novo Nordisk are in the RideLondon Surrey Classic today - shown live on BBC1 this afternoon - starts at 15.50.

Isn't it a bit daft that they chose a date that clashes directly with the conclusion of the foremost cycle ride on the calendar? I'm not a cyclist, as you know, so not sure how cyclists feel about that - which do you watch? I suppose Le Tour is a chiefly a procession on the last day, but there are a few sprints to watch.