Here is the rough routine I follow before I ride:
An hour before the ride drop my basal rate to 50% and try to guesstimate the length of time for my ride
Prep bike (Gatorade bottle, air, etc.)
Prep me (check bloodsugar, change into riding gear, etc.)
Prep camelback: check blood sugar and pack meter, fill Camelback up with water, load in gel and power bars, cell phone, Emergency ID, glucose tablets.
Ride (stopping to check about every hour or so unless feeling goofy)
How about you?
I drop my rate to about 65-80% of norm (depending on several things including current glucose, any insulin I may have bolused in the last 2 hrs or so, type of meal I ate w/ the bolus (fatty, starchy, proteiny, etc) and my planned intensity and duration of the ride…
When I ride I take in 1 - 24 oz. bottle of accelerade (40 g carbs) per hour and if I am doing high intensity intervals I will down a gel pack (20-30 g depending on brand) per 45 min or so…otherwise I skip that unless I start feeling low.
I always wear my road ID band on my ankle when I ride or run alone, and if I’m riding a really big loop alone I’ll carry my DL (or at least a laminated copy I’ve got folded up w/ my tester) and a CC…I’ve only had to use the card 2 times when I hadn’t lowered my basal enough and went out further than I had planned for nutritionally (so I grabbed a gatorade to get me home and all was well 
I am so grateful that a little bit of forethought on my part lets me still do anything and everything that someone w/o diabetes might do…
Two hours before I ride I drop my basal to 25% for the approx the length of my ride.
During the summer I load my bottles with Cyclomax. Typically 1 bottle is just water and the second has the energy drink in it.
I don’t carry a meter typically, my CGM does a fairly good job and I ride enough loops to know what to expect-most of the time. I do check before I leave to make sure that the meter and the CGM are close in values.
I prefer Lara bars or those gelatin power shots and carry several in my jersey pockets.
iPhone, helmet, sunglasses and gloves.
DL and credit card
Interesting to read others’ ideas here.
I usually start a long ride (group training ride or a century) early in the morning, and I find it works best if I not eat anything in advance. I’ll hydrate like crazy and drink a coffee, but that’s it. The first hour is usually pretty laid-back so I can go that long before eating anything. Depending on how my glucose is looking at that point, I may cut my basal in half for the rest of the day. When I eat, I may bolus about 1/3 or 1/4 of the usual bolus amount and continue riding, testing frequently or checking the CGM. I get too sensitive to insulin when I exercise so I really try to eat as little as I can and avoid having to bolus. It’s a tough balancing act. Obviously I can’t go too long, or I’d run out of glycogen and completely bonk.
Gu, Clif Shots and all that glucose-based gel stuff is the best invention ever and I never leave home without them.
About 30-60 min before ride, drop the basal way down, to perhaps 20% of normal. I used to turn it off completely, but the doctor warned that doing this for extended rides can cause ketoacidosis, even at normal BG levels. I usually reduce my meal bolus by 50-75% as well. Bear in mind that I usually ride with a very high intensity.
Check the tires, fill the bottles. I carry 2-28oz bottles on the frame, and a third in my back pocket on long rides where there are few water stops available. One bottle of Nuun, one of plain water (that can be converted to Nuun), and one bottle of home-mixed Gatoraid for carbs and electrolytes together when the going gets tough. I also back a small tube of Nuun, and various gel packs, bars etc in the jersey, and in the saddle pack. Never, ever, ever get caught out in the middle of nowhere without any carbs!
Hi all, just joined so catching up on a couple of older threads -
My ‘setup’ is similar to everyone’s here but I tend to drop to just 10% of basal 1h pre-ride and take on between 30-60g carb’s per hour depending on the intensity.
How many of you suffer from high bg when you stop? My bg will climb at a rate of knots from 5 to around 15 (I guess by a couple of hundred, I’m in the UK so don’t use the mg measurement) as soon as I stop. I guess this is due to the lower basal on board so I have to make sure I take a couple of units on about 15 to 20 minutes before I finish.