6 days - Creedmore Cruise & Glucose Experiments

This past weekend's ride could also be called "Lost in Lockhart", as I lost my map somewhere along the line and had to rely on either chasing other riders or calling back home for directions when I got to Lockhart, TX. Very embarrassing.

Well anyway, this was a 69 mile ride, and the weather turned out very nice, though just a tad windy. This ride was well attended, and there were a few folks who were going for the long 69 mile distance. Lucky for me, as I had to tag along sometimes to keep on track.

The big riding highlight was a stretch of road called FM 2001. I got to this road later in the morning, and the winds had started to pick up. Well, there was one stretch that was newly paved, and where I had the wind completely at my back, so I decided to do some sprint training and see how fast I could go all out, and for how long. The sprints are part of my training program, and I rarely have a chance to see a flat road in Austin.

Well, the data from my watch says I got up to 36 mph and held some of that speed for quite some time. Cooool. That's pretty fast for me. I ended up averaging 16.5 MPH for the ride, and that is really fast, as I usually do 14.5 mph average.

The other interesting fact about this ride, I did not "carbo load" ahead of time. What's carbo loading you ask? And why is this important to a diabetic?

Well, the human body carries energy in the form of a substance called "glycogen". It can carry this substance in the muscles and in the liver. When working the muscles hard, the stored glycogen in the muscles lasts about an hour, sometimes only a half hour. After that, the liver has to release glycogen to supply the muscles with the energy they need to keep working.

Now, the student of diabetes will say, "now wait a minute, glycogen is just a bunch of sugar molecules all tied together in a packet. How does the liver know when to release the glycogen?" Well, the pancreas, which we know produces insulin, ALSO produces glucagon, the anti-hormone of insulin. Where insulin is used to get cells to remove glucose from the bloodstream, glucagon does the opposite, causing the liver to increase the levels of glucose in the blood stream.

So, back to "carbo loading". Athletes eat enormous quantities of carbohydrates (carbos) before an event in order to fill up the muscles and liver with as much glycogen as possible. Carbohydrates are converted very quickly into glucose by the body (or into fat there is too much glucose, which is why you see so many "low carb" labels on food these days). The average athlete can store up to 1600 calories worth in their bodies. Cool, so "carbo loading" is just like filling a car with gas, so every athlete should do this, right?

Unfortunately, a 69 mile ride will cost about 3,500 calories to complete, more than a full tank of carbos. So the average athlete therefore has to eat the other calories during the ride. Now here's MY problem. As a diabetic, I can NOT carbo load, because to do so would severely spike my glucose, as I do not produce or utilize insulin as well as a non-diabetic. Too many carbos too fast is very bad for diabetes because too much glucose is produced too fast. It has to get used up right away, and carbo loading is done days before the athletic event.

Well, if I can't fill my fuel tank up as much as the average athlete, what does that mean for doing long distance riding? It means, I have to "pay as I go", or eat what I need as I ride.

This ride therefore, was a huge experiment on my body to see WHAT I needed to eat, HOW MUCH I needed to eat, and WHEN I needed to eat it, in order to go the whole distance without "bonking", or running out of energy and collapsing in a tired heap.

The experiment was a pretty good success. I started the day with a bowl of oatmeal, which is fine for an everyday breakfast. Then, as I rode, I ate often, and I ate well, eating bananas, homemade apple bread, and turkey & pumpernickel sandwiches plus somewhere near 4 liters of water (about a gallon).

However, right near the end of the ride were a series of diabolical hills, one right after the other. As I climbed these hills, I began to feel the pain and heaviness in my legs that told me I was getting very close to running out of glycogen and energy.

Fortunately, I had just enough energy to make it the whole way. So what I like to say about this ride - "it needed just one more banana".

The results of this experiment have been great. Instead of messing up my glucose days before the ride, I now have an idea how to eat and ride and manage my glucose. Better, my after-ride numbers have all been right in the zone. Excellent!

The true test will be my HbA1C test in about a week to see how my average blood glucose has been over the last 4 weeks. I think it will be lower than the last test, when I was carbo loading before my rides. I sure hope so.

The MS 150 is only a few days away. I am resting now and doing recovery rides until the big event. Oh yeah, and I got a cold Sunday so I couldn't ride. I spent the whole day in bed Sunday, and am still resting up today. I hope I am better quickly.

Cheers boys!