I went to Maryland’s Eastern Shore (east of the Chesapeake Bay) again this past weekend. This time it was for Saturday’s Chesapeake Bay Tour de Cure.
I rode the 55 mile route this time. Maureen was engaged with some dog walks at home, so she wasn’t able to be there. Even if she was, she wouldn’t have let me do the 100. That’s okay though.
So, how was it? More difficult than I thought. The weather, which was just about perfect on Friday, was pretty lousy on Saturday. The 55 mile ride started off at 9:00 under cloudy skies and temperatures around 63-64 degrees. It stayed cloudy, with a little rain too, all through the day.
My glucose wasn’t very cooperative either. I bolused less than normal for my high carb breakfast at 7:30, which I normally do. But when I checked my BG just before the ride started, I was at 312 mg/dL. Still, I was a little worried about correction bolusing and crashing too fast later on. So I didn’t bolus, and started the ride.
The first rest stop was about 12 miles into the ride, and I thought that it wasn’t worth checking my glucose because I had only been on the bike for about 40 minutes.
The next stop was at around mile 28, after the Bellevue to Oxford ferry. That’s right… our ride included a ferry ride across the Tred Avon River. Yes, it was a nice break in the ride. Especially since my BG at the Oxford rest stop checked in at 61 mg/dL. I loaded up with an energy bar, some grapes, and a couple of honey stingers. Then I was off to the next rest stop, about 10 miles away.
Once I got there, I checked my BG again: 71 mg/dL. Another bar, a bag of chips, and two more honey stingers. No bolus since about 7:30 in the morning. I stayed at this stop for about 20 minutes, which is 10 to 15 minutes longer than normal. Then I was off again.
I now have about 17 miles to go. I’m very concerned about going hypo at this point. Part of why I was worried was because I wasn’t riding with a pack. What I mean by that is there were about five or six people that passed me and disappeared quickly at around the 45 mile mark, and they were the only people I saw in the last 25 miles or so of this ride. ADA does a fantastic job of tracking riders and equipping everyone with emergency numbers, etc. But if you’re nursing your BG along in the last leg of the ride over mostly country roads, you don’t want to take any chances. I decided to suspend my pump.
At that point, I just kept reminding myself: Keep those legs moving, keep the wheels rolling. I managed to get back without an issue. When I checked my BG prior to partaking in the post-ride lunch, I was at 86 mg/dL. After suspending my pump for about an hour and twenty minutes up to then.
I finished the ride in about 4 1/2 hours, including time spent at rest stops. That’s faster than I thought I would go, but I didn’t feel like I was really pushing it. That’s a good sign.
All of the event volunteers were wonderful. They were helpful, informative, and always very nice. At the stop in Oxford I was helped by a volunteer with Type 2 who was putting together sandwiches, someone handing out grapes and chips who’s had Type 1 for twenty years, and her son, who also has Type 1 and a great service dog. They all looked happy, and they were doing great. How can you not feel empowered by that?
I’m glad I made the commitment to ride. I’m happier still that we were able to raise about $266,000 for the American Diabetes Association. That’s pretty good for a still-new ride with a relatively low turnout. Now, if they can just get the weather worked out next year, it will be a lot of fun.
