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Went for an absolutely beautiful ride this afternoon. Cool, 22 at ride time with about a 7-10mph wind but just had to get some time outside. This morning when it looked like the weather would shape up I sent a message to @duane_b and conned him into coming along. We left my place around 1:30 or so and headed out on gravel with the mountain bikes. The earlier frost had put an amazing covering on the trees that made everything look like it was fresh and cold...really quite cool. Due to my exuberance and Duane's lack of recent riding we headed back at about the 1:30 mark to drop him off. Then I headed out for a little more.
Now for some pics...
See, pretty cool stuff. Now, if you've made it this far you probably are wondering about the "lesson".
Let's start with a little background and theory first. In case you don't know I was diagnosed as a Type 2 Diabetic in October of 2008. Now, I have it pretty good...no, really good. I'm not on insulin, I can eat most anything I want as long as I watch the frequency and the portions of it and with those things alone I can keep pretty well in check. That is until I start to exercise, I won't lie I've had some learning curves on keeping my BS (Blood Sugar) in check while riding, especially long distances. Your body metabolizes food and more importantly sugars differently when you're exercising, and then differently again when you're racing than when you're sitting around. So basically I need to know how to eat both on and off the bike as well as high intensity workouts or races. During the course of the last year I got it figured out. There were rare occassions that I had problems but for the most part I nailed it. It did take time to figure it out but I got it down to what to eat when.
Lately I haven't been riding as much as what I should be...and it's cold. I had read that the cold affects your metabolism differently than it does when it's warm out, basically because your body burns more fat to keep you warm. This time last year I was still experimenting with what foods and when during a ride and I was keeping a VERY close eye on my BS by testing frequently. Once I got things figured out and could almost nail my number by guessing I cut way back on testing. Anyway, because I was still figuring things out last year when it was cold out I never really knew what the cold was affecting and what the normal course of trial and error was affecting.
So, back to the lesson. When we rode back to the house and dropped off Duane I was down about a half a bottle of Cytomax (highly recommended for cyclists, I use it because I know how much to take during a ride to keep my BS where I want it) I had another bottle and the half that I'd started along with 3 Granola bars with Protein (protein is good for those who are wondering). The last swig I took from my bottle I noticed that it was getting a little "slushy" but it wasn't bad. I threw my spare bottle on my back instead of the cages hoping that it would keep it from freezing. Then I headed back out.
My first mistake was that after 1:30 on the bike I should have been down a solid bottle plus a little but since it's cold out you forget to drink but I really didn't think much of it. Thirty minutes or so later I went to get a drink and the bottle was frozen solid, as in couldn't even get the cap open...not good, I guess it got colder. No problem I have a spare bottle on my back. Pulled it out and it was seriously slushy itself. No biggie I've still got 2 bars and I 'm not going to be out that long. So I kept going...and going...and going. My second mistake was that I kinda hit one of those "zones" that you do sometimes. About 45 minutes later I realize that my climbing isn't where it should be and the legs are getting fatigued. About that time I realize that my other bottle is frozen solid too...not good, that's my fast sugar. I pop my last 2 bars hoping to get something out of them and headed back quick. Well, being on gravel, and we'll say a fair ways from home I started zig-zagging back. Unfortunately I was on a rode that every single east/west road was minimum maintenaince. I LOVE minimum maintenaince roads, but these hadn't been cleared...actually they didn't even have tracks through them. So I turned down a few that looked good only to be confronted a quarter mile later with drifts to my chest. After having to turn around 3 times I finally made it to an actual paved road and high tailed it back.
It was just before I hit the pavement that I realized things just weren't right. It started out with tingling fingers and toes, thinking it was the cold I kept going. Then slowly I started to realize that things were blurry, then they went really blurry. I've been low before so I knew the starting signs but I ignored them and put a little more in the legs. About 7 miles from home I'd finally had it...called the wife and just tried to stay upright. By the time she got to me I was in bad shape, the shakes, blurred vision, slurred speech...the works. After getting home and getting some much needed food in the system I felt better. All of my testers were in the car and too cold to work. But as I type this almost 3 hours later, after food and then supper, I still only test at 76. Normal range is supposed to be 90-100. I know I've never been that bad off before and I wish I could have seen my number I if I had to guess I was under 60.
So, going forward here is the deal. First of all I need to figure out some way to keep water bottles from freezing. Temp wise I was fine (Embroication is amazing by the way, thanks Vaughn), legs were good everything right in line other than the BS. Secondly I need to carry another method of quick sugar into the system. If any of my "loyal" okay bored readers out there know what I should do please let me know.
Well, that's it. That's my saga I guess. Not nearly as bad as those TeamType1 guys have it that's for sure. But I do believe that there are plenty of Type 2 people out there that have to have the same issue.
Thanks for listening to the ramblings.
