I have a love/hate thing about software and apps. I want it to work and not be too complicated to install. I was always a hardware guy liking mechanical design and the construction and design of electronic devices. Coding and manipulating fiddly software programs is not my forte.
I had hoped to be able to use Spike and then latter Nightscout apps to display data from the G6 on my Garmin bicycle computer. I just gave up after looking at the instructions. So I went the modify the receiver route.
I found a self stick Garmin 1/4 turn mount. I cut a piece of my son’s Monster can. The receiver has a removable cover so I used some clear double stick tape to fix the metal to the back of the receiver. I cut the cover to fit the mount, and stuck the mount to the foil through the hole. I had an elastic lanyard that I secured with black lacing cord. I don’t trust these twist mounts without a lanyard to catch the device if it comes loose.
Anyway here’s some pictures that are clearer then my words.
@Luis3, there is a really cool (and simple) trick I came up with for exercise. It lets you see numbers frequently without ANY requirement for button pushes. It also does not use nightscout or require a phone. It’s about as simple as it gets to do. Like 2 steps on your Dex receiver.
Hi @Luis3
I noticed you have what looks like a G6 receiver mounted on the handlebars. So what I am talking about refers to just using the native Dexcom receiver like that, and not any apps or phone stuff.
This is for riding, not for just normal times.
Set your low alert at 100 (that’s the highest number it can be set for)
Set your high alert at 120 (that’s the lowest number it can be set for)
Set the repeat for both the low and high alerts to 0 minutes
Turn the “No Readings” alert on
And, while you are riding, don’t acknowledge any alerts with any button push.
Those numbers look crazy for alerts, but this is what happens. Your receiver will start to signal you every 5 minutes whenever your BG is not between 100-120. As long as you do not press a button to acknowledge it, it will keep showing your your BG every 5 minutes.
The only time it won’t show a BG number is when you are between 100-120, and that’s okay too. Because if you don’t see an alert for a while, you know your BG is good. So in a way, the lack of alerts is also telling you where your BG is.
If your sensor is not giving a reading, you get the “No Readings” alert too.
The main trick, and most important thing is - DO NOT ACKNOWLEDGE THE ALERTS. As long as you don’t press a button, it will keep displaying your BG every 5 minutes.
@Eric2 Probably this week end. I just spent an hour and 3 minutes on what I call my Zwiftmobile. It’s my old Cannondale alloy frame without wheels or brakes mounted on a Tacx Neo 2 controlled by Zwift.
I haven’t been on the road in a month or 2 because I was having trouble with my BG since I started MDI. It makes me wish I had a pump as there is no real good way to reduce basal. Ah well, I’ve learned to cope well with t2DM for all these years.
Having the CGM while cycling, walking and resistance exercise is really eye opening. Last night I woke up before the low alarm and BG was headed down. I ate probably twice the carbs needed and BG then went up too high. A year ago that would’ve been the right amount of carbs to treat a low.
Would be happy to engage with you on exercise stuff. Will send you a PM on some stuff I have done.
A pump is really helpful - just being able to turn off basal is a big deal.
If you are going to stay with MDI, the best bet would probably be Levemir because you can set it up to time your basal injections so that you are riding when there is no basal left. Levemir duration is extremely predictable. The duration is dose-dependent - the more you take, the longer it lasts. But if you figure out your dose in units per kg of body weight, you know exactly when the basal ends.
@Eric2 That is interesting. Before I started MDI I had been using Lantus 30 units. I would have hypos around 6 hours after bedtime. I started splitting the dose 18U at bedtime and 12U 12 hours later. I would hold off of the morning dose until after my morning ride or gym workout.
This worked very well. Since I started MDI I have been injecting the Lantus as soon as I get up taking the big dose an hour before dinner. This seems to give me a flatter curve.
As far as sharing about exercise PM away. I am not a great cyclists but road cycling is my passion. It has the great benefit of burning up excess blood glucose. Most of my cycling is solo in my rural area, but I would do a weekly group ride Friday or Saturday.
I haven’t been with the group since April because of Covid. Not only diabetic but 70 as well.
You have a few years on me age-wise, but I wonder if I have you on D years. How long ago were you diagnosed? I have been a Type 1 for 49 years.
I don’t ride, I run. But as far as the BG and diabetes, riding and running are both pretty easy to manage and very similar. You can take carbs and take insulin and check BG while performing the activity. Because you can eat and check BG, those activities are much easier to manage than things like swimming. Also, the exercise physiologies with running and riding are very similar.
@Rphil2 Well I do live in Texas and am relegated to the porch, ha, ha. The box fan came to me when I read on some forum about stinky shoes from stationary cycling. This has worked very well. Yesterday I got a bright idea, no really is was bright to see if I could increase the angle with a couple of bricks and not hit the fan with my toes. Voila! it is wonderful. I get more air on the feet and even to the lower torso. Always tinkering just like we do with insulin and food.
@Eric2 You got me beat on the years with diabetes. I was diagnosed as type 2 in 1992 or 3. Bicycling has saved my life by more than managing blood glucose levels, it relieves the stresses of life and has help stave off knee replacement for years. I can’t run because of my knees but I did a mile brisk walk this evening after dinner without any problems.
You were so kind to tell me how to keep the receiver display on, but I want to know where you keep it while running?
My next thing I want to do is to cobble a garmin mount to a belt clip so that I can attach the receiver to my belt instead of in a pocket. I just like tinkering with stuff.
This is a post that shows my one-handed lancing device. I leave it on during races and it is very easy to use, and I can lance any finger, totally one-handed while wearing it.
There is a video in this post that shows how it works.
