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Cycling with Type 1 Diabetes

M

mkzp123

Active Member
Messages
37
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Hi guys,

My 13 year old son has joined a local cycling group.
He will be going out with them for the first time alone on Sunday however me and my partner are quite worried as we will not be there as he does not want us to come.

He will be cycling for between 2-3 hours.
We will make sure he has plenty of fast acting food, snacks etc and his blood glucose monitor etc.
We will reduce his insulin that day at breakfast which should stop him going low quick.
Any suggestions on what a good snack he should take to help avoid hypos.
Usually we are with him so don’t worry but this evening he did say i hope i do not have any hypo’s as he does nt want to slow the group down. I told him not to worry & have had a word with the group organiser.
Any advice or info will be highly appreciated especially with regards to reducing hypos when out cycling.
Thanks
 

Hi,

Ahh, I remember those days out on a bike at that age.. Even cycled out with a mate loaded with a tent & camped over night?
Quick acting carbs are great. But I would probably recomend longer acting carbs too. To prevent a recurrent low?

Does your son use a CGM set up BG sensor? Maybe some sort of smart watch read out or handle bar rack for a phone with an at a glance BG readout could help him pre-empt & catch lows too?

I wish your son all the best..
 
im far from 13.. can hardley remember back that far....

But fast acting is for treating a hypo.. so dextrose tabs or jelly babies.. but for sustained exercise he needs something that's going to last longer..

i find the breakfast bars are good for this type of thing and easy to carry..

its a case of regular stops, blood test and eat if required.. if too low then something fast acting to raise bg, followed by something slower to keep it up

and sadly you are getting to that stage where he is going to want independence. so get prepared for more of this
 

To be fair the fastest way to increase your sugars is by drinking juice.

I mean you might not want to do this but if I know I’m doing rigorous activity I usually elevate my sugars on purpose to around 15mmol/L then check every 10 mins during exercise.

If he had a Libre sensor that would literally save so much time and he wouldn’t slow anyone
 
Glad he is getting independent enough to do this and I can imagine it is anxiety provoking for you. You have to trust him to stop and eat if he needs to plus test when he can. My kids always surprise me as to how mature they get when I am not there to remind them to do the right thing!
I think it is trial and error at this point but if is going to be a regular thing I would hope you could get hold of a Freestyle libre for easy arm scanning/blood testing.
I am recommending this book because it is good , free and written by a type 1 who cycles and has a strategy for managing just this situation.
https://brightspotsandlandmines.org...ssons learned and,your own life with diabetes.
All of the hypo treatments thus suggested are great but I think you're right to drop bolus so that he starts out a little higher than you like. When I ran I could start at 15 but any higher made me feel ill and in need of a pee ! Your son may well burn through glucose quicker in this type of low intensity long duration exercise so a snack of dried fruit could be easy to carry or a flapjack (doesn't melt).
He may end up running high all day too but getting the trip and done managing it solo will make him feel great that you should take that as a victory!
 
Thank you for all your kind responses above
He uses the libre sensor which has made life easier.
Like many of you have stated above he is becoming independent so we will slowly need to back off but as parents unfortunately it is always a concern when he is away from us that he is checking his sugar levels & eating on time etc.
Any ideas on any long lasting carb snacks which will be easy to consume while cycling will be appreciated.
Thanks
 

Hi,

To be fair, I'm a little "old school." Digestive biscuit & milk.. I find it still keeps me going on a few hours graft, if the basal is off.

Just wait till your son passes his driving test & gets his first motor.. I was out most the night.
 
Hi

Firstly its good he wants to go and enjoy cycling which is half the battle.

For me if it wad my child I would do a risk assessment just for my own peace of mind.

Cycling without diabetes is a risk activity as there are many factors that come into play.

Take into account these issues and I am presuming he is already competent as a cyclist.

- Duration
- Terrain
- Flat or a lot of hills
- Pace
- Planned stops or breaks
- Weather
- Clothing
- Bottles attached to frame with sports bag
- Musette cyclist bag for emergency supplies and blood glucose testing gear.
-wine gums or dextrose tablets
- Highway code is a must know your signs
- Beware sun at key times and how it effects other road users.
- Go with caution i.e aim for higher blood glucose till you get used to it.
- if in doubt test and retest
- if travelling at speed and decion process seems complicated stop and test or slow down to safer speed.
- Do a trial run of route one evening.
-My father use to follow me in car slowly when I was 9 on 20inch fixed gear bike doing 15 miles on summer evening.
- choose best position in group most comfortable with.

If you take these factors into account it will limit risk.
 
If his basal insulin dose is correct and his have no bolus on board, he should be able to cycle and his blood sugars will stay level before breakfast without snacks.
 
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