Hi! I just registered for my third JDRF Ride to Cure century bike ride. The first ride was in 2009 in Death Valley. The second was in Lacrosse, WI in 2011. This year will be in Nashville, TN.
I would like to get some other's feedback regarding what they are doing or have seen done regarding nutrition, basal rates and post ride blood glucose levels.
I have found that sometimes controlling blood sugars is harder than completing the actual training ride or event ride. I am open to any ideas or suggestions and look forward to hearing from you. BTW - if it matters, I am 48 years old and have been T1D for 39 years and am currently on an Animas Ping and Dexcom 7 CGM.
On a 100+ miler, tend to just drop basal down to 10-15% (heard some don't go below 50% though), eat up with porridge before the ride and go with a reduced bolus (depends also on weather and such also, but sometimes 40-60%). Then just drink SIS Go energy mixed drink (avoids cramp also). Possibly a snack break also if necessary also. A lot of this really depends on practise rides and learning on the basal rates, and also on how much carbs are needed per hour. For me it can be quiet silly in with me taking in well over 200g carbs on a ride like that (but again it comes down to practice).
Kit wise I don't have access to a Dexcom, wish I had. But do these with a MM sensor when I can acquire one. They are ok, but I do find them a bit inaccurate as it doesn't monitor glucose in your blood, so can be a bit off from the finger tests. But they are good for showing direction of it though which is very useful.
For keeping things stable, a nice long slow burning feed before hand like muesli or porridge I find great. And the rest is mostly from the energy drinks. Hope it helps with a few ideas on your own info gathering on practice rides :)
I am registered for Nashville, too. I did Death Valley last year and was a little disappointed that there were not as many T1 riders as I expected. Glad you are on board.
Everyone's results will vary, and you will have plenty of training time to practice, but here's my general routine for a century ride:
2-3 hours before the ride eat about a light meal of 30g CHO with some protein, normal bolus. I can usually count on the dawn effect or being nervous to keep my BG from dropping too low. When the ride begins, I drop my basal rate to 50%. Check my CGM periodically to see how I am trending and test every hour or at every rest stop, where I make sure to eat about 40-50g CHO. I bolus about 1/4 my normal bolus for meals. A mistake I made starting out was that if my BG was pretty steady I figured I didn't want to eat or bolus and mess it up, so I skipped on the carbs. After a few hours it caught up with me and I was out of fuel.
I avoid the energy drink jugs at rest stops because I have no idea what it is or how strong it is mixed, so I use Nuun (sugar free) electrolyte tabs and lots of water.
Have fun training and practicing this and I hope to meet you at the ride.
Thanks Greg. I had most of this down pretty well, but after being off my bike for the last year, I have found that my old routine was not working for me now. I too learned that you have to eat, whether I want to or not, throughout the ride. My thinking behind throwing this post out was to see what works for others and try to adapt my old routine to find that happy spot again. Good luck training and I will see you in Nashville in September!
