Cycling with Type 1 Diabates: Insulin Pump.

[TractorRog]

Tlinford - don't be scared of endurance events as there is no reason why someone with type 1 diabetes, and who understands his dosage and fuel requirements, cannot take part. I am in my early fifties and have been on insulin for over 30 years. I'm no great sportsman as I spend all week sitting at a desk but over the last two or three years I have cycled top to bottom of France averaging 70 miles per day, completed the Three Peaks challenge in just over 25 hours and during the summer just gone, cycled the Dunwich Dynamo - 110 miles overnight. I have done several 90+ bike rides this year and I have also just run the Beachy Head Marathon. I tend to find that endurance events with a fairly constant energy requirement are easy to cope with. Blood sugar levels for me tend to fall gradually and the first indication that I need to eat something tends to come when I just struggle keeping up with whoever I'm cycling with. My friends all know that I have diabetes but none have ever had to feed me glucose in a hurry and I have never felt like I might suddenly fall off and end up in a ditch due to a hypo. I always carry insulin pen, blood testing machine, glucose tablets and some energy bars with me in a bumbag as I'm not a fan of lucozade sport type drinks. Having said all this, I have only ever used insulin pens because I have never had a problem with regular injections and my dosage is somewhat lower than yours. For the record, I inject 10 units of basal insulin when I get up in the morning and also before bed. I then inject between 7 and 12 units of quick acting insulin before the three main meals each day. I rarely reduce my dosage compared to a non active day - I simply eat more while I am exercising and as others have posted, it is easier to cycle and eat than it is to run and eat.

Roger

[tlinford]

I am wondering about Bolusing on a long ride. I assume that you don't need to bonus for the carb snacks on a ride. but as a cycle tourist, cafe stops are a must.... Do you Bolus as normal for a lunch stop?

[TractorRog]

Correct - I don't take on any extra insulin for carb snacks as I'm cycling and whether I do or not at a cafe stop depends on blood sugar reading when I stop, what I'm going to eat and distance/terrain to be covered after setting off again. If I'm having beans on toast at 11ish and probably not going to have lunch for another 3 or 4 hours, I may have 2 or 3 units of bolus. My dosage calculation is not overly scientific as I discovered when the Diabetes clinic asked me how many units I take to deal with a certain amount of CHO. My response was that I basically judge based on experience, how I feel, what I'm going to be doing and so on. Seems to work for me!