Cycling with diabetes?

ne0h said:

Don't get involved in cycling. It is a dangerous pursuit that kills many people each year in vehicle accidents. There are far safer ways to get frequent exercise.

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Mile for mile - less dangerous than walking. Much safer than motorcycling but much less safe than getting in a car.

http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2012/sep/28/road-deaths-great-britain-data

ne0h said:

Don't get involved in cycling. It is a dangerous pursuit that kills many people each year in vehicle accidents. There are far safer ways to get frequent exercise.

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Define dangerous. Then define acceptable risk. With a statement like that I doubt you have any realistic concept of either.

I've been cycling for over 30 years and have never had a serious accident, maybe I've not tried hard enough. I am well aware of the risk and my vulnerability and know what I need to do to manage it.

I've had far more serious injuries running, walking, playing rugby, doing DIY and at work.

ElyDave said:

Define dangerous. Then define acceptable risk. With a statement like that I doubt you have any realistic concept of either.

I've been cycling for over 30 years and have never had a serious accident, maybe I've not tried hard enough. I am well aware of the risk and my vulnerability and know what I need to do to manage it.

I've had far more serious injuries running, walking, playing rugby, doing DIY and at work.

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Meh

ne0h said:

Meh

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That's really lame. If you are going to **** off a whole category of fitness, at least stick up for your point of view.

Spiker said:

That's really lame. If you are going to **** off a whole category of fitness, at least stick up for your point of view.

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There is no point in me labouring the point - people are fixed in their ways and nothing I say will change that. In any case I'm not trying to tell people what to do, just offering my own opinion.

ne0h said:

There is no point in me labouring the point - people are fixed in their ways and nothing I say will change that. In any case I'm not trying to tell people what to do, just offering my own opinion.

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You've neither made a point or offered a credible opinion.

And the entire thrust of your post was telling people what to do "Don't get involved in cycling"

Confucius he say don't feed the Trolls.

ne0h said:

Don't get involved in cycling. It is a dangerous pursuit that kills many people each year in vehicle accidents. There are far safer ways to get frequent exercise.

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Cycling is a great exercise and a cheap way to commute. Yes, some people get injured but that can be said for pretty much any activity.

LittleGreyCat said:

Confucius he say don't feed the Trolls.

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yes master.

Do I need to go and shave my head now?

Could make you run a bit faster into a head wind

If you are desperate for increased aerodynamic performance you could even wax your legs.

Cheers

LGC

Hiya

I've had Type 1 since 1972 (3 years old) and since getting an insulin pump in 2012 the ability to be spontaneous in sport is great. When I grew up in the 70's I was told I couldn't do sport both at school and at home.

In the 80's I discovered skiing, so this helped me to try other sports.

I now cycle to work 7 miles each way - doesn't seem much but I live in The Lakes and it's not flat.

Since taking up road cycling (I've always mountain biked in the past) I've tried to find out how to adjust my insulin more accurately using the pump.

Like most things with diabetes, it depends.

With the pump I currently reduce my basal rate by 40% for about 1 hour before I set off but this percentage does change depending on exercise I've done within the previous 24-48 hours.
If you're on multi injections I found for skiing that by reducing my bolus amount by around 50% this seemed to work. As I have a fear of heights , this can affect the amount of insulin needed but if you're not bothered, you may want to reduce your basal aswell.

I hope all this doesn't put you off - diabetes is a full time job, but for me, I want to challenge those who have told me 'I can't'.

Think of it like a big brother, sometimes it wins, sometimes you do.

Good luck in your cycling.








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lewisf94. I've been type 1 diabetic for just over 40 years (24 when diagnosed) so, obviously, no spring chicken

I can't ride a bike so OH and I decided to get a tandem. Best thing we've ever bought. We're now up to 8 hour rides, every other day, when we're on holiday, and once or twice a week at home (live on the foothills of the Pennines so restricted by our aging bodies ).

I check my bs before we set off, have double amount of normal breakfast carbs along with normal insulin, check bs every hr or so whilst riding, half lunch insulin with normal lunch carbs, 20% less insulin for evening meal and normal lantus before bed. BUT I usually end up having some supper (not a regular habit) and check bs more often than normal during following day. I take glucose tabs (in my cycle jacket pocket so I can get to them quickly), cartons of orange juice and dried fruit in a pre-filled bag. I pack the dried fruit into the empty blood stick tubs, use GluMen LX, which works out about 10gm carbs per tub but you can buy kiddy packs of dried fruit from the supermarket. We take a packed lunch, some yoghurt and fresh fruit too, so that I know what carbs are in the meal.

I've lost about a stone, in weight, in the last year and we're both much fitter than we were. Unfortunately he's lost about a stone too and he can't afford to really, he's always been so skinny

Hope you enjoy your cycling, hope you benefit from it and get what you want out of it.

Best wishes, Pat

Mile for mile - less dangerous than walking

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That would be relevant if you are planning to run at the same speed you're cycling, which seems unlikely so in practice you'd cycle 2-3x as far per session, potentially flipping the risk.
Of course, if you have to get from A to B (rather than getting your daily 30 min of cardio) your numbers would be the the right ones to look at.

I've done netball / cycling at a moderately high level and the main thing I do is go on a shorter bike ride (whilst fasting) and moniter bs.. then II can see what kind of food I will need in order to not go low (i.e if my bs was 3.1 after 15 mins of cycling, I would know to eat about 10 carbs before I went. that way, I'm prepared in a safer way and know how my body will respond to certain types of excersise and exactly what I need to eat. ) It may sound a bit ott, but I worry about being low when it's in a more important scenario.