Cycling

[Matt Cycle]

Hi Tejbat

It's a Garmin Edge 200 which is the basic model. Garmin are always updating their model range so the equivalent now is the Edge 20. I got mine from Amazon France (when the pound was strong against the Euro) for under £70. The Edge 20 is currently on Wiggle at £87 but it's always worth shopping around. Although it works using GPS it doesn't have maps stored on it but you can upload routes to it and it allows you to follow a breadcrumb trail. Get one of the more expensive models and they have maps like a car satnav along with cadence and heart rate monitors. The beauty of them is that rides can be uploaded to Garmin Connect and Strava and not only can you see all your rides mapped out you can keep track of all your rides and associated stats.

I'm so sorry to hear about your son and your own problems and wish you good luck with the Macmillan ride. It will be a fantastic effort for a great cause and as you say just a little bit more than a normal Audax. 😉 😱 You'll be rivalling Steve Abraham with those distances.

 

[tejbat6]

thanks Matt
sadly not enough battery life for my purposes
will stick to the eTrex30 and a couple of enloops in the old bp

 

[Matt Cycle]

Cool and breezy but sunny and dry so a chance to get out for a ride today before the rain arrived. I have things to do today so a shorter ride this morning was all I could do. After last weeks hillfest I took a flatter route out into Cheshire. Only 28.5 miles completed at an average speed of 15.1mph and elevation gain of 1370 feet.

Levels have been playing up a bit so at the start 5.9 mmol/l, at 11 miles 5.1 mmol/l, at 20 miles 4.8 mmol/l then back home the first test gave me 14.4 mmol/l , must have had gel or something on them so washed them and it was still 10.2 mmol/l. Not sure how that happened but had malt loaf, muesli bar and a gel. Will keep a close eye on it. I've also bitten the bullet and ordered a Libre - yes, I know the the family will have to starve, kids going to school in rags etc, etc 😉 but I'm looking forward to it - should be here next week.

Garmin stats (Strava has lost me a whole 0.2 mph 🙄 )

 

[Northerner]

My garmin has been losing me about 10 secs/mile lately, most annoying! 😡

How soon before setting off do you eat/inject Matt?

 

[Matt Cycle]

I'm assuming it's roundings but Strava always seems to round down compared to Garmin. 🙄

It varies quite a bit how soon I set off after injecting and eating but today was around 2 hours. I'm hoping the Libre will give me some idea what's happening and what direction it's heading in rather than stopping at the side of the road. There's always this - a Spanish rider on the Type 1 diabetic Strava group sent me this. Standard bg test with meter, strips and lancets whilst on the bike. Very impressive.

 

[Northerner]

Indeed, very impressive! 😱 I find that my biggest problem when trying to test out on a run (I stop to do it!) is the fact that if my hands are hot, wet or sweaty then the blood quickly smears over the finger rather than forming a drop, making it a bit fiddly to get enough blood in the strip 😡 The fact that I'm running also makes the blood flow much more freely, again increasing the likelihood of smearing

I'm the same, usually 90mins-2.5 hours after eating injecting before the run. Before diabetes I could get up, glug a mug of tea and be out of the door in 15 minutes!

 

[Matt Cycle]

Indeed, very impressive! 😱 I find that my biggest problem when trying to test out on a run (I stop to do it!) is the fact that if my hands are hot, wet or sweaty then the blood quickly smears over the finger rather than forming a drop, making it a bit fiddly to get enough blood in the strip 😡 The fact that I'm running also makes the blood flow much more freely, again increasing the likelihood of smearing

I'm the same, usually 90mins-2.5 hours after eating injecting before the run. Before diabetes I could get up, glug a mug of tea and be out of the door in 15 minutes!

Yes, he's got the meter (in some sort of waterproof cover) on the bars and the finger pricker attached to the stem. The strips are in his jersey pocket. He's on a group ride making it difficult to keep stopping. Ingenious solution. Although I can imagine the strips occasionally ending up all over the road. I'm like you and always stop to test.

I tend not to have too many problems with the blood drop smearing but another downside with the Optium Neo I've spotted is that it requires quite a large drop of blood compared to the other meters I've had which can be tricky with cold fingers.

I try and leave it as long as possible after eating before heading out but life gets in the way a lot of the time and I head out whenever I can, test and hope things work out. 🙄

 

[Robin]

That's where I find the Libre really useful, I can do a reading whilst out riding. Doing a finger prick test on a horse isn't really on, I'd be bound to drop the strips, the horse senses you're doing something odd and starts misbehaving so you can't drop the reins, and anyway, my hands aren't exactly clean by that stage of the ride!

 

[Matt Cycle]

A sunny but very cold day and I took a longer ride (just over a metric century - 104km) out to Tatton Park (home of the flower show) in Knutsford, Cheshire. Strava has given it as 64.7 miles at an average speed of 14.4 mph and elevation gain of 2200 feet.

Was hoping to use my new Libre but due to it malfunctioning yesterday I had to stick with the meter. One or two issues 🙄 with bg levels as follows: at start 7.4 mmol/l, at 12 miles 4.3 mmol/l, at 22 miles 3.6 mmol/l, at 30 miles 5.4 mmol/l, at 40 miles 3.0 mmol/l, at 48 miles 3.6 mmol/l, at 56 miles 4.1 mmol/l and back home 7.0 mmol/l. Ermmm. Had loads to eat - muesli bar, 5 gels, banana, malt loaf, flapjack. So not sure what was going on, but hey-ho managed to complete it with reasonable stats and felt reasonably okay. If I had the pump I could have put a reduced TBR which would have helped. I've got my appointment at the clinic on Tuesday. Despite the bg issues it was a great day to be out.

One of the lakes at Tatton Park


Garmin stats (average speed, distance, ride time)

 

[Matt Cycle]

Took the day off for my clinic appointment (I'll post an update on that in the Pumping section) so after Sunday's excursion exertions (see post above) before I went I decided to just go out for a short quick ride earlier round the Staffordshire Moorlands this morning. It was sunny but freeeeeezing, literally. Took a hilly route and a lot of the lanes had patches of ice on them so took it steady. Only did 18.5 miles, at a low 12.6 mph average speed and elevation gain of 1580 feet.

Level before start was 3.2 mmol/l so had a few things to eat - didn't test on the way round due to it being a short ride and the cold and on return it was 4.7 mmol/l.

Skating anyone? Frozen part of Tittesworth reservoir in the background


Top of Gun Hill - relief when you get to the top (frozen part of reservoir towards middle left) - it was a lot sunnier than my crummy phone camera photo shows.

 

[Northerner]

I miss countryside like that. 🙂

 

[Stitch147]

I wish I could ride a bike confidently. Im not too far from the Hadleigh Bike Park that was done for the 2012 Olympics and it looks great over there.

 

[Northerner]

I wish I could ride a bike confidently. Im not too far from the Hadleigh Bike Park that was done for the 2012 Olympics and it looks great over there.

I've never learned to ride a bike, and wouldn't be happy anyway riding on the roads round here My niece has taken up cycling big time - she posted the other day that she has done over 800 miles already this year! Her longest ride was 150 miles! 😱 As she rides in Yorkshire, it also involves a lot of very steep hills 🙂

 

[Stitch147]

Thats the bit that put me off, roads!!!

 

[Matt Cycle]

I wish I could ride a bike confidently. Im not too far from the Hadleigh Bike Park that was done for the 2012 Olympics and it looks great over there.

Hi Stitch

There are loads of trails, canal tow paths, quietways and the like - even in what at first seem like busy urban areas which are ideal for those who wish to avoid busy roads. It's just a case of getting out and practising. Riding with others of a similar ability is a good way to build confidence. Sky run lots of free rides for all ages and abilities including women only rides, some with trained leaders.

http://www.goskyride.com/

 

[Matt Cycle]

I've never learned to ride a bike, and wouldn't be happy anyway riding on the roads round here My niece has taken up cycling big time - she posted the other day that she has done over 800 miles already this year! Her longest ride was 150 miles! 😱 As she rides in Yorkshire, it also involves a lot of very steep hills 🙂

That's very good going by your niece Alan. My jaunt on Tuesday took my total for the year to 300 miles (well, 299.5 😉) in 8 rides. Although the weather hasn't been too bad so far, when it warms up 🙄 I should hopefully be able to ramp it up a bit towards my target of 2000+ miles for the year.

 

[HOBIE]

I've never learned to ride a bike, and wouldn't be happy anyway riding on the roads round here My niece has taken up cycling big time - she posted the other day that she has done over 800 miles already this year! Her longest ride was 150 miles! 😱 As she rides in Yorkshire, it also involves a lot of very steep hills 🙂

Well done her ! Good for you & this time of year 😱 I must be getting old cos I waiting for that shinny thing in the sky

 

[Matt Cycle]

Took a ride out today to the Derbyshire market town of Bakewell (home of puddings and tarts, oh and er a confection of pastry, jam and frangipane 😉 - apologies to anyone from Bakewell for that) passing through the pretty Staffordshire and Derbyshire villages of Warslow, Hartington, Monyash and Ashford in the Water - this meant hills again. Weather was dry and bright but with a strong cold wind which made things a bit difficult. Felt a bit under the weather these last few days and sure enough probably overdid it as I didn't feel too good. I'd decided on Bakewell so like Magnus Magnussen used to say - I've started so I'll finish but I probably should have cut it short. The hilly terrain didn't help either.

The Libre got its first full cycle test today and it proved very interesting. Started at 7.6 mmol/l but after 40 minutes and 7 miles this had shot up to 15.4 mmol/l. It was well after breakfast so I can only assume it was a liver dump. I carried on and after another 10 miles or so it had dropped back to 7.4 mmol/l. The next 20 miles it was between 5.8 and 7.5 mmol/l. It then indicated a drop so I had a couple of gels, obviously overdid it as then had another spike up to 12.3 mmol/l this dropped back into the sixes and I finished on 6.9 mmol/l. The graph shows these 2 peaks. Feeling unwell probably didn't help things either. So not ideal bg wise but some useful information and I also completed my first on ride bg test using it.

Strava stats as follows: 52.2 miles completed at an average speed of 12.6 mph and elevation gain of 4275 feet.

Off for a lie down now. 🙂

Not a soul to be seen. Limestone walls of the white peak country near Hartington.


Garmin stats (don't panic it's my finger on the photo )

 

[Northerner]

One of my favourite places to visit, I used to run from Moscar Edge to Bakewell via the gritstone edges and Baslow/Chatsworth - fabulous! 🙂

Quite an up and down day for you in more ways than one though, so tempted to see what my levels do out on a run! 🙂

 

[Matt Cycle]

Yes, lovely countryside around there. That's quite a trek from Moscar to Bakewell.

The second spike was my own fault but the first one must have been my liver dumping glucose due to the start of the exercise. I did hit it hard to begin with but I could see it rising up to the peak. No point in a correction as long as I carried on and sure enough it dropped back down. A contrast to 2 weeks ago and Tatton Park when levels just kept falling. Feeling a bit unwell - a bit queasy, won't have helped - apologies if anyone's eating but I also had a stream of snot running out of my nose. 😱

Although I've only had limited use so far but I would recommend trying the Libre if you get the chance. Getting the full picture as well as the direction of bg levels when cycling, running etc (as well as on a general day to day basis) can prove invaluable.