October 4: Canby to Susanville, California
By riding to Susanville this afternoon, I’ve ridden 187 miles in the past two days. Normally, I try to ride about sixty miles a day, so that’s three days worth of riding in two days. I don’t need to be doing extra mileage, but there was nothing but national forest between Canby and Susanville, so we had to do the entire 88 mile leg in one day.
It was a great day to do it too. I didn’t get started until about 9 AM and by then, the sun was out and it was warming up and becoming quite comfortable — as long as you had a jacket on.
I was able to ride over the first big climb (a 900 foot climb to 5200 feet) of the day without any winds of any kind. About the time I headed south out of Adin, California, a south wind was starting. It wasn’t strong by any means, but by later in the day, it would be enough to slow me down and wear me out.
I spent a good part of the day today above 5000 feet. Besides the wind, I couldn’t help but wonder if I was totally adjusted to the higher altitudes and whether that was contributing to my fatigue. After all, I’ve spent most of the last seven months at elevations below 1000 feet.
A couple days ago, a visitor to the web site wondered why I hadn’t posted any blood sugar readings recently. I guess I don’t really have a good reason other than my blood sugars have been pretty stable recently and I didn’t see a need to post them. Well, I suppose the other reason could be that Pat and I are both pretty tired at this point and we’re looking forward to getting back to Salt Lake City.
In any case, since it has been over a month since I did this, here are my blood sugars from today’s ride:
- 97 (2:02 AM) — nighttime check
- 101 (6:48 AM) — fasting
- 78 (7:51 AM) — one hour before ride test — dropped basal rate to 60% of normal at this time
- 82 (10:02 AM) — one hour after start of ride
- 94 (10:54 AM)
- 104 (12:01 PM) — pre-lunch — had 3/4 of a bagel and a banana. No bolus!
- 117 (1:41 PM)
- 143 (2:25 PM)
- 128 (4:04 PM) — post-ride test
- 156 (5:45 PM) — pre-dinner. 1 unit correction.
- – (6:30 PM) — dinner — green salad, roll, grilled trout, baked potato, zucchini — estimated 75 grams of carbohydrate
- 81 (9:31 PM) — three hours post-meal
Oh yes, one other thing people might be interested in. My infusion sites have been very reliable recently. The lower temperatures and lower humidity both help reduce the amount of moisture the infusion site is subjected to and, as a result, they’re adhering quite nicely. I haven’t had a site threaten to come out since, hmmm, maybe Nebraska which was the last time it was really hot out.
| Total distance: | 89.82 miles |
|---|---|
| Time: | 7:06:44 |
| Average speed: | 12.6 mph |
| Maximum speed: | 36.9 mph |
| Total calories: | 6195 |
| Average heart rate: | 119 bpm |
| Maximum heart rate: | 157 bpm |
| Total ascent: | 4660 feet |
| Total descent: | 4820 feet |
| Ride profile: |  (click on image to view a larger version) |
| Ride comments: More headwinds today. Forecast was for a chance of showers and it looked like it might rain all day long, but I didn’t get much more than a few drops. That was a good thing too because with the winds and the temperatures (high 50’s), it would have been very uncomfortable in the rain. Highway 139 from Canby to Susanville is very nice. Very scenic and light traffic. |
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October 5th, 2006 at 5:06 am
Pete and Pat, I haven’t checked up on your progress for a bit;
you’re getting close! Very impressive, though I’m sure you’re looking
forward to the end. Awhile ago I ran into biking and other friends of yours
on an aborted BBTC ride, the Hansens. This morning I just sent mail
to the dept’s profs and the Flux group about this amazing tour by one
of our alumni. Let us know when and where we can welcome you home!
October 5th, 2006 at 7:24 am
Pete–We are wondering whether you and Pat will stop and spend some time in Reno. It’s a beautiful setting that you might enjoy. Maybe spend the weeekend there and visit Lake Tahoe instead of facing a lot of traffic on Highway 50 on the weekend. Traffic might be lighter during the week. You seem to be ahead of your schedule and should be home by next weekend. We will miss your daily blogs but will feel good knowing that you have completed your DreamTtrip. Love to ypou both.
M&D
October 7th, 2006 at 11:35 am
Hi Peter,
With blood sugars like that people are going to wonder, does he really have Type 1 diabetes? If touring 48 states on a bicycle leads to a cure, I’m right behind you….look out everyone! I think it takes someone with diabetes to really know and appreciate the hard work and great effort that it takes to maintain near normal blood sugars all the time. You are doing a great job and you have demonstrated that using the 4 step management program, (1) taking medication (insulin), (2) eating well and healthy, (3) testing blood sugars frequently, and (4)being active and exercising (bicycle touring) does work and is the best way to keep blood sugars as normal as possible and hopefully prevent complications. Congratulations Pete you have been an inspiration to all people living with diabetes and a good teacher as well.