New to Cycling

Healthy Living Physical Activity
#1

After sitting on my tail in school for two years, I've decided to start moving! My husband and I are training for the 5 Borough Bike Tour in NYC 2015. We've started riding regularly, which I love. The problem is that sometimes a couple hours after a ride I bottom out. I'd like to prevent this without over eating, so am wondering what has worked for others with this problem. Also, for long rides, what works best for you in terms of testing frequency during the ride and snacks that work for you. Trouble is I detest most protein bars!

Thanks!

#2

The bottoming out thing is real typical for me. At work, I often would ride (not riding right now -- had back surgery in December, so off the bike for a year... dammit) BEFORE lunch, so I would just do LESS insulin post-ride than on a day I don't ride. That helps somewhat.

When I was endurance racing on my mountain bike, I used Hammer Nutrition products, including Perpetuem and Sustained Energy (both are dry drink mixes). Hammer makes great stuff, but if you don't like protein bars, you might have a tough time with their stuff. You can order high volume products of their stuff on their website, but can usually find smaller amount products in virtually any well stocked local bike shop, so you can try it out without investing too much. Read up: http://www.hammernutrition.com/knowledge/the-hammer-nutrition-fuels-what-they-are-and-how-to-use-them.1252.html

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#3

Pumping? I set mine to 50%, or lower, depending on distance and effort. A CGM helps if you or your insurance can afford it.

#4

I set a low temp basal, as Miketosh suggested and mount my dexcom to the bike stem so I can see it without stopping. I test if I feel like the CGM is missleading, or I test about every 2 hours if not using it (more if I feel like I'm going low).

For snacks, I rely pretty heavily on cliff shot blocks, since they're easy to snack on and have a good measured dose of carbs. Every 2-3 hours I supplement with a cliff bar or something similar (I don't bolus for any of these carbs unless I'm high for some reason). Peanut butter crackers aren't bad, but seem very dry if you'r already taking in a lot of water.

Whenever I engage in an unusually high level of activity I notice that my insulin sensitivity seems much higher for the next 2-3 days -- so watch carefully even long after a big ride!

#5

Yeah, Shot Blocks are awesome. I also like Sport Beans.

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#6

Thanks for the info. I don't pump (did during my second pregnancy and loved it much more than the shots of my first!) and don't qualify for CGM. I'm playing with the eating thing to see what works for me. Recently I've been riding before dinner, which seems to work well. So far I've only gone 5.5 miles in one ride but as I build up stamina etc I plan to go farther and longer - THEN I'll need to be more aware.

I actually like the idea of peanut butter and crackers. It is dry, but palatable to me.

#7

I also used to make peanut butter balls (but I can't find the recipe...) -- they were basically just a mix of peanut butter, honey, whatever else sounded good, made into a ball and rolled in wheat germ / oat bran.

They smush pretty easily, but they're cheap and pack a lot of calories / lb.

#8

I am new to cycling as well. What a great sport to keep in good shape and maintain better diabetic control. I started road cycling in June 2013, and mountain biking in October 2013. At first, I found that I'd bottom out after the first hour on the saddle. Too correct, I lowered my basal to zero while riding and filled my waterbottle with gatorade. After a few months, however, the problem has gone away on it's own. Now it doesn't matter how far I go - my reading is always 5.5 - 6.5 (99 - 117) at the end.

I just signed up for the Enbridge Ride to Conquer Cancer in Ontario, Canada - a 200km ride.