Rolling Spikes & Time In Range (TIR)

So, summary, 13 days at less than 127 and then 10 days of what I'm calling Rolling Spikes around thanksgiving and the holidays; then hope 2 days of TIR from 104 to 126 (Optimum range 70 to 130) dashed with today's mid-morning reading of 140! Four hours ago I was feeling good and proud of my numbers because it worked I was at 110! Now, unfortunately, I feel like a poser on BezzyT2D.com! Why would they want a person that does not have control of their sugars on there sharing with others on how to maintain healthy blood sugar numbers?!? Yes, I know a lot about exercise and nutrition and am able to share that with others respectfully and with compassion! No one has everything figured out and it is a process of communal learning! It's not about being perfect and we're all an experiment of one sharing our journey!

What if I hadn't taken the mid morning reading? What if the early norning reading is the one to hang your hat on? What if the 13 days of excellent readings was based on when I was taking the readings? What if taking a reading in the middle if the night lends a good result (FBS)? What if I was avoiding the mid morning reading because I was out riding during that time (Mm)? What if the best times to take a reading are in the middle of the night (FBS at least 9 hrs.)? After my rest after coming back from my ride (Post XK)? And before dinner (BDnr)? And before bed (Bb)? What if for me the randomness of when I take a reading when my schedule is off is what is causing me to lose confidence?!

I have a lot to think about while I ride and it is time to ride! These and other existential questions are answered by a fartlek, random speed play!

Crash the Course and My Bandit Days

When I was a runner without means I would crash the courses or bandit, but then I volunteered and worked the race to have the right to run the course after my volunteer duties were finished! Then moved on to course marshalling run events. Haven't done any of those things till the other night! 

I was late to the start and when I got there there were no roadies to be had so I went and did a 26 mile out and back on the marathon course I remember running in 2007. There were times when I was on the course and times when I was just doing my ride. It was happenstance that ZBC was finishing up as I came back up from the Southside. I'm fine with what I ended up doing. I did not end up posting excellent times or anything. My PRs are ten years old now and the only things I can hang my hat on are Local Legend Strava awards! 😂 But it was fun for me! I wish I had connected with Walter Koch Jr. and I'm sorry about that Brotha and said hello to Billy Busby! 

I honestly didn't know any of the hipsters fixie fiends but there is a hipster fixie in my future. My old Dave Scott signature Centurion is currently being transformed by another fixie lover on the Northeast Side and eventually I'll take it out with my Buddy and we'll bandit with our fixies on the 'thon course! 

I actually was surprised my wife said go for it. She is a night owl and we binged some netflix and I must have sold it just right, she said, "Go, hurry, be safe! Show me your shoe covers (early Christmas present) when you get back!" I showed her right then since I was already gonna be late! I came back home to a light sprinkle and slept till 4 yesterday and we didn't have dinner (steaks) till 11 pm. Today back on schedule as much as I can with a two hour recovery spin!

Let me add a bit of my RideRedRider issues with the rain! I've been spiking since Thanksgiving since the rain has kept me inside! I finally set up the Cyclops old school trainer and am enjoying getting some spins done inside! Now if I can figure out something to do while spinning that doesn't use a ton of bandwidth!

Bound to happen when you go out to eat!

So, yesterday on a mall walk, we stopped in at Cheesecake Factory, thinking they have such a varied and extensive menu, but alas what we tried did a number on my blood sugars! I talked about what I had on facebook on my latest post, so I won't repeat myself! 

The number continued today, oh by the way my FBS was 133 that knocked me out of my 13 day streak of blood sugar readings below 127! Now, today, like I said the isht storm continued. My lowest number was 108 not bad, but then we ate out twice and then my numbers really shot up to almost 150! I had not been this high since my diagnosis two months ago! Quelle merd!

So, I promptly turned to my best source of info, the internet! Ended up at no place else other than Healthline. If you don't know Healthline and BezzyT2D.com are connected and regularly give support to T2D people. Bezzy, I read is a UK slang term for bestie and T2D is short for Type 2 Diabetes. Well, I found info on Healthline from a doctor suggesting a walk when your number is sky high! Sky high for me! I had been on a 7 day streak at less than 110! Then I was on a thirteen day streak at less than 127! Now I'm on half a day at 133! Haha! And I thought I had this isht licked and locked-up! 

To complicate things, our weather has been ishtty all week! I was lucky just now, but I'm getting ahead of myself!

Anyway, Healthline has really good information! The doctor suggested I get a walk in before bed. The fact that bed came at 2 AM doesn't change the fact that my blood sugar was high. If I had gone to bed it would just have gotten higher! This way at least I give myself a chance to get an ok nunber in the morning! Sheesh, T2D is not easy to deal with on a daily basis!

I was remiss on telling you about my walk, other than having to pee the whole time I was out there, I did my best, I finished my walk in less than one hour, maybe it was because I had to goo! I wore all my reflective isht, my new gloves, and my old vest! I wore my warmest cold weather sleeveless vest, I already had my knickers on and I threw on my warmest long sleeve tog, I also had my bandito mask on! Past one mile, the cold was no longer an issue! The gloves did their duty! At one point a couple of cars were coming up from behind me at a high rate of speed and when I made my hand face their headlights, I could hear them let off on the gas!

Remember: BezzyT2D.com for Type 2 Diabetes Support! I'll be there too!

Joe Friel: This just in...

So I recently bumped up mileage or kilometraje and I decided to give my body a break. 

For two months almost, I have been working out everyday! One stress. Then last week I bumped up my mileage. Stress number two. Yesterday, on a ride that I was supposed to be lollygagging on I managed to get the same time I had done on the previous day when I was doing multiple ladders, my guess more than five! In other words I was working my ass off! Stress number three! 

Today, crack of dawn, my resting heart rate that had been on a steady decline, jumped up twelve points! Translation, I was beginning to get overtrained! Overtraining is when the body doesn't get enough down time to recover from my daily exercise bouts!

Why Joe Friel, well, I just caught up on a lot of his recent articles yesterday and had it drummed in to me, you slow down to speed up! One has to rest! Working out everyday has a fatigue compounding effect!

In this picture, one I forgot to smile, so my true expression made it to social media. Two, I believe I look tired! When in doubt leave it out. So todays steady state workout is not going to happen!

So, it happened again...Bike Bank

So, it happened again, I passed on the 12th bike in 2 years to my friend Jesus thanks to the generosity of Shari and Larry O'Brien who donated two mountain bikes on Sunday, here a week later Jesus has a bike for his son N. I met Jesus online and then at the BGDB Pink-Out Ride for breast cancer last year! He got a mountain bike, a Trek 6500SLR with quite a few upgrades! 

The Bike Bank, getting friends and family back on their bikes. Give away your bike and give your bike new life! Thank you all for donating one of the twelve bikes in the last two years!

Today I gave away my 11th bike in 2 years! St. Jimmy, famous for sagging for years for the Tuesday Worlds that was more like a crit race than a training ride! He got a mountain bike racer that got a second place at the collegiate level!

 This is the Bike Bank, this bike was donated on Sunday and here on Wednesday the bike has been given to a good home! Give your bike away so that it goes to a good home! (501C3 status in process)

How the Pandemic Saved My Life with Bike Clubs and Speed Appendix

First year of the pandemic I lost 36 pounds when we were home bound! I even won the weight loss competition on my campus! Once we went back to campus so did my bad habits! I had an 8 month plateau that I had no idea what to do to break it. Before that year my heart doctor had suggested I was diabetic! That year I escaped the guillotine! FF to this year, I took 3 months off the bike to move from a 5 bdrm house to a 2 bdrm apartment (still in process but oh so close) and my health went to hell. Mid September the guillotine caught up with me and was diagnosed type 2 diabetic. I was just like everyone else in my family! About this time our current health provider decided I was not to be seen, still working on that one! I, with the help of my bride, have cut all that is bad out and kept all that is good in a new to me strict lifestyle change! Recently I had a 36 hour period where all my blood sugar readings were below 100, I now know that this is exceptionally good! My new low blood sugar reading is 83. Yeehaw! Thx for letting me share!

Large and in charge, still not on diabetic medication, but doing what I can to get to better health with the bike! My scale is packed away I don't know where! My cycling clothes are packed away! This kit is one I found in my bugout bag. I know this one kit is my largest and most versatile! I don't know what I'll do when it gets cold this weekend! I guess I'll freeze my ass like Ralphie does on our group rides with The Street Ratz of San Antonio! 

Appendix

BTW the speed tree for groups in San Antonio are: for beginners: Action Bikes their Sunday Ride the 7 am section from Alamo Heights to the Alamodome and back. The Street Ratz of San Antonio Saturday 7 am ride, and the Greenway Trail Riders. All other groups start at speeds of 14 or 15 mph up. With the Cyclones there is a C group (14 to 16), I wish there were a D group. With Chain Reaction there is a Puppy Pack (15 to 17) and I wish there were another group slower than the Puppy! What's smaller than a puppy?! Fastest group is the Tuesday Night worlds. Speeds up to 25 mph and faster! Then it's a toss up between Action Bikes the 4 am group, the Cyclones, Chainreaction

MTCCSA-Major Taylor, Bike Heaven, and The Wheelmen! All these groups regularly clock rides at 20 mph and faster! Don't go if you can't hang or you'll be riding alone and you'll wake up in a ditch four hours later not knowing what the hell happened! Sorry wheelmen, but your stay together rides are not! I personally have gotten dropped on three occasions. No one's perfect! The Grennway Trail Riders, the Street Ratz, Team Taco, 210 Riders, the 700c Group (famous for city to city rides on the weekends), The SouthSide Wild Boars, the Lobster Crew, the Air Force Cycling Club, the Bike Ninjas, the Crackles, plus some more are truly no rider left behind. Just for fun groups exist as well like the Social Ride (now SAs longest comtinuously running ride since the Bike Mojo succumbed to the Pandemic), the Beers and Gears group and the Low and Slow Riders. Some groups I don't know about, but know they exist: Cannibal Racing, and the San Antonio Mountain Bike group, etc.

There are individuals that will coax you through an Imperial Century like Mark Nobblitt, and Danny Vega.

Red Rider: Preparations and Machinations

Now that I see providence with which group I am riding, I realize that the preparations and machinations for this very moment started over six years ago when I was happily coaching soccer with the Krueger Kiddos and cemented by my actions on the pitch! God is in charge of the long-game! God invented the long-game!

Today after my ride it became vividly apparent that my riding with the San Antonio Street Ratz is providential! God knew way back when what I would need at this time and worked His/Her way! God knew that I would need to ride with Steve, an accomplished Red Rider, so I could learn from him on Saturday! He knew how hard-headed I tended to be and simple solutions would just prolong what I was doing and would not prepare me for what I needed personally! He knew that there were only a couple of groups that would accommodate the build up I would need after six years of trying to recover from what happened on the pitch with my soccer kiddos where my desire and enthusiasm got the better of me and put me on the path of recovery. He knew how hard it would be to overcome the imjuries sustained.

Red Rider: One month in, almost.

Dealing with Type ll Diabetes

So after two weeks walking I went and pulled my bike out of storage! I walked to the storage place and rode my bike back home then went for a ride on the Salado Creek Greenway (SCG) with an ultimate plan to ride regularly for an hour and a half. The last few rides have been two hours long and I could go longer. This morning's Sunday Ride, normally a relatively fast ride with Howard and his friends and followers of Action Bikes, I totally expected to lose it, blow-up, hit a wall, but that never happened! Right at the end the guy behind me came up and immediately got in my head! I was trying not to be the caboose! He managed to demoralize and conquer with truthful words! Now, he was not being mallicious at all. He was trying to be helpful! Surprise, I was a little defensive and then I was thankful! I know surprised me also that 55 years of cycling experience did not rear its ugly head yet I took his suggestions to heart and to the bike! So before I got home I made the adjustments he suggested of things that I knew, but alas had forgotten! Immediately, the pain in the front of my knees was gone. My ass still hurt, but my knees were nimble. Ha, ha! This is a miracle because I blew out my knees two and a half months ago.

I have to say something about speed because speed is relative! Many of the guys on this "fast ride" when they do our section of the ride are taking a breather in a way! They are still cooking with gas, but it's only on warm as they complete an Imperial Century having started at four AM at lightning pace. Haha! The most I do is 12 mph. I have used this group to bridge from 10 mph to 14 mph! I am extremely thankful for Action Bikes, again one of two groups citywide that one can use to improve your skills at this speed the other are The Street Ratz! It's not about the speed! One friend today said, "Ride Slow, Look Pro!" Love it, and it has been a joy to pick my cycling back up!

Picked up my walking for two weeks with 2 to 4 miles, my feet suffered, but the work was done. The exercise helps me burn the sugar out of my system. It is all such a mystery! I have managed to totally revolutionize my eating habits! I thrive on high protein mostly cold food. My oatmeal in the morning is piping hot. Gayle found a sugar I can use made from palm, an organic product. That is the only sweet in my diet! I eat nuts, cheese, and cold cuts. Roast Chicken and salads with chicken are welcomed and I look forward to them. I have a legume salad with pieces of meat that I go to when I am feeling peckish! Water and fizzy water with flavoring have taken the place of everything else that I used to drink! On the bike, I have gone back to Nuun products that are perfect for short distances!

 We are still having trouble getting in to see a provider! None of my providers can see me! WTH! Since there are new challenges with the Type ll Diabetes (T2D) we may use this opportunity to shop around or push the coverage once we are in the appartment! 

We are becoming very aware of the Dawn Phenomena, where a T2 Diabetic awakes with high blood sugar levels likely due to the inactivity of the last 8 hours. Today was the second time since this started that my blood sugar was below 100! Now if I could do this everyday that would be something special!

So, after a hard bout yesterday, not fully recovered, but feeling the pressure to get something substantial done today, I was able to knock out one mile, barely! I ran across one street and pop the recovery work of the past two and a half months, gone! Cold and heat therapy done and wrapped with my Cho-Pat! Ready to go do my early voting duty at the library.

Red Rider 1 Week In

So today, 9/28/2022 late eveening something scary happened. My leg went numb for no reason. I was sitting up in bed, relaxed, and watching Merlin! My right lower leg was feeling like it was asleep! I raised the foot of the bed for a while to try to get the feeling to go away. Waited, and it still felt like it was asleep! So, then I changed my whole position to a more lying down position with my head still slightly raised and that did the trick! Sensation came back, but without the feeling of ants in my leg when the leg or other limb falls asleep. 

One of the things I forgot to mention to Gayle in the middle of the night was that I had the feeling of pins and needles in the soles of my feet. This has been going on for a while, but I thought it had to do with my heart issues.

So there it is, it is now Thursday, and on Saturday, the 24 th, I went to see a doctor Vance with what I thought was an infection in my unrinary track and came out with a diabetes type 2 diagnosis that literally rocked my world. I had already given up sodas the weeks before because of the article about fake sugars affecting heart patients. I was already off breads because I was trying to get rid of my panza! Then it was a matter of changing the rest of my diet. I am eating chicken and eggs amd a lot of lettuce. Yesterday at the store I did buy some cheese and cold cut turkey for wraps. My cereal is protein based and we're playing with that. I am eating nuts as a snack. Still drinkin' a ton of water because I'm trying to stay hydrated for the UTI thing. Evidently UTIs in men, not common, that's why immediately we were talking about diabetes! Here I am the Red Rider!

Dreamin'

So, I woke up with a startle this morning! I'm 60+ and I've always known that you shouldn't pee in your dreans because you'll pee for real while sleeping! This morning, in my dream, I was peeing on a piece of carpet in an area where there was also dirt and grass nearby! In real life I got up startled and checked the bed to see if it was wet and nothing there! Now, I'm reconsidering all the things I know to be true!

Obligatory Bike Note or OBN (OBN): So, I rode my bike on Saturday and on Sunday I was sore! GAS was not happy I rode and pushed me to do more on the move. 

Where I Find Myself

Today: I find myself, as I try to regain past speed and fitness, in a group unlike any other I have been in since 83 here in SA. The Street Ratz of SA are welcoming slow and fast and do short rides and long rides welcome svelte people and welcome big people. It feels really good to know "Once a Rat always a Rat!" One can come and go without issues. 

 I can only manage 13 mph on average speed these days at my very best effort and the Street Ratz do anything from 10 mph to 14 mph. Cyclones has a C group that goes as low as 14 mph. I was going to stop riding with groups until I found Las Ratas as I call them, but they were so friendly and welcoming I had to persist. I know I'm a social rider, I can do long solo rides, but I have to be able to look forward to a group ride on Saturdays. The Pandemic and its variants have made this difficult as well, but we pretty well know through Science that droplets lose their umph when outside and we only need to mask up when we're in closer contact than what we do in cycling. Belonging is also critical; it goes to identity and the larger context of life.  

Action Bikes Sunday 7 am ride from Bike World AH is also accepting and attainable if you're riding at slow speeds! The group and Howard the manager/owner at Action Bikes makes sure slow riders stay in contact on a set course. This group does a 100 miler most Sundays by starting at the buttcrack of dawn and going until they knockout 100 to 130 miles at a time with various stops to regroup. The 7 am portion of the ride is a slow piece the other times from Four to Six are faster paced and the portion from 9 to the end are faster paced as well covering a good portion of San Antonio in the process!

I can see myself graduating to the cyclones slow group someday. I can also see myself leading a slow group as part of one of the other groups. I have lots of experience and people say I don't show that I'm struggling to maintain speed or stay connected to the group. 

I have had lots of invitations of late to join their groups TEAM TACO ('22), MTCCSA ('21), CYCLONES ('20), CYCLE LOGIC ('19), but I know I can't keep up and I like to hold my own! 

It hurts my independent streak when someone pushes me from behind (actually pushes me hand on my back and such)! Plus, groups with sags, they would prefer you to take the sag than to have you try to finish on your own! Cycle Logic was my team for whom I raced, but nowadays the slow guys are fast and us used to be fast guys can't keep up and that makes the rides difficult because we lose contact and regrouping is a challenge. When I ride with them, I know I'm keeping the fast guys back and that hurts too! 

I have a long way to go to get back to where I was, my weight-loss journey is on hold (see below in the postscript), but I know a lot and can help with no drop rides for groups that are looking for a 'D' group.  

PS (Currently our family is in the midst of a slow move, meaning we need to vacate soon, but not until we're in a place where we can move in to knowing we're in a place that will keep us comfortable for the long run! While packing is still going on and have yet to pack the bike room and biggest factor is my weight-loss achieved by the fall of 2021 has all but disappeared. Finding a balance between carbs and no carbs to fuel my rides has proved to be more difficult than I can fathom. I know I can't do it in a ketogenic state. Those of you who are achieving great success with Keto and going sugar-less power to you! I will have to revisit this at a later date! Perhaps doing more through walking, running, and swimming is the solution for me. Currently, the move has given me enough to handle and think about without worrying about every little thing I eat!)