Yes, I'm crying while I write this!

Hi Y'all just had to share, I'm very close to remission with my diabetes! 60 day blood glucose readings average is at 111 which for me and one of my doctors is 5.5 A1c and is Remission! My 90 day average is at 111 too as of 10-29-2024! I'm doing my darnedest to stay there or drop even more! It's unbelievable after my numbers not budging for 18 months! What is different water intake! Water, the miracle cure! Drink your water! Yes, I ride my ass off and small portions make a huge difference, but water regularly brings down my glucose levels by 30 or 40 points! 7 day average yesterday 98, 14 and 30 day average 102! 60 day average is 110! I need to get ready for my numbers to get even lower! Wow!

Very Close to Remission, Yay!

Hi Y'all just had to share, I'm very close to remission with my diabetes! 60 day blood glucose readings average is at 111 which for me and one of my doctors is 5.5 A1c and is Remission! My 90 day average is very close to that at 112, one little point away! Thank you Gayle Sharpley for helping me get here! Thank you to everyone else that said a word of encouragement, said that's the best way to do it, and on and on, y'all got me here! I'm doing my darnedest to get there and then stay there or drop even more! It's unbelievable after my numbers not budging for 18 months! What is different water intake! Water, the miracle cure! Drink your water!

Healthline Interview

Athlete Spotlight

So, this passed week yours truly was interviewed by Healthline! Healthline is the parent company to BezzyT2D the website and application! I have been working as a volunteer, an ambassador for BezzyT2D for 14 months now and it fulfills my need to help others! This role will soon be expanded and I look forward to the future possibilities!

Link to Healthline

Anxiety After Imminent Danger Is Hard to Overcome

Sure enough the first revolutions were sketchy while still in the parking lot and looking for my friends. But I had a job to do in support of my friend and follow through on my plan to get passed the previous week's 'did not finish' (DNF) and rescue off the HWY 46 which was terribly unsafe with a light rain on all those precarious inclines and cars just inches away from where I was on the two foot shoulder!

As we spun up the slight incline at the beginning of the day's event my fear fell away to curiosity and ambition and what the heck, let's try fueling this ride differently!

By the last few miles we were up to 12 mph. And a new plan emerged not to simply get by and overcome, but to finish strong and conquer!

Numbers are meaningless but give true to life plans concrete substance.

I was excited and terrified of this unknown ride. I was looking at 30 plus miles at speed. Beforehand, I had prescribed the load and planned on spinning comfortably.

By the time we got through the first few turns with great communication and pleasant repartée I had an indication of what a positive experience this was going to be! 

We soothed each other's fears, propelled ourselves faster than anticipated, and had great success in our fueling strategy!

Every once in a while we were greeted with the friendliness of the volunteers and the positivity of team: The Street Ratz of San Antonio! 

Met Mark, a Type 1 Person with Diabetes on an insulin pump whose blood was cgecked every five minutes during the event! We were wearing the same exact jersey and so many parallels! #weridetothrive

After the event I met up with a rider from the previous week's horrendous experience on Le Petit L'Étape where I had to be rescued by my beautiful wife Gayle, I was informed that she bailed at the last stop on the road to Bandera and that while we were on HWY 46 with the light rain a car had spun out due to the conditions that day and careened passed the two foot shoulder where all of us riders were riding and into the barditch! There by the Grace of my God, Yahweh, go I! Thank you Lord for keeping us safe!

Thank you Tim Walker and Whitney Wilson for your kindness and perseverance and allowing me to step in at a moment's notice! 

Thank you Tour de Castroville for a well organized and well run event where participants were informed, cared for, and kept safe from the elements and Saturday traffic! The post ride feast was excellent! Thank you volunteers for everything!

Stress Test and T2D Lonely Journey

So, two weeks ago I had a minor heart issue, tightness on the right side of my chest, (tighness on the left side means a heart-attack, seek medical attention ASAP), I was going to blow it off, but folks at Ironheart Connect on Facebook and Nurse Karen on BezzyT2D set me straight and told me to go get it checked. Yesterday, I took a stress test, Bruce Protocol, which I've done many times but not like this!

I aced the test! Did it in it's entirety without any blood pressure issues! My rating was over ten METs or above average and felt like I was running for my life!

7K on the bike did the trick! Sean at Heart Clinic of San Antonio said, "all that exercise is paying off!" Thank you Sean, fellow musician, and thank you Dr. Colligan!

Today, I ride again!

"Only You ☝️ can prevent forrest fires 🔥!" From Smoky the Bear

In this case the Forrest Fire are rising blood sugar numbers! As a representative, an ambassador, and a sharer of T2D knowledge, I have a responsibility to my community! Yet, I'm back to using food to celebrate accomplishments! Yesterday, after Acing the stress test I went and had two tacos and a vanilla coffee and later at night I had two ounces of my favorite fruity trail mix! This morning's blood sugar numbers 141! Yowza! I have been trending up since being off the bike for two weeks, but it's the food as a celebratory means that really chaps my hide!

I tell our community members that, "it's a combination of everything that really brings one's numbers down," but if the exercise component (done in the way that is beneficial to you personally) is missing, then of course you will continue trending high! 

If you continue not exercising like you should and using food in a celebratory fashion then you will continue getting the results you are getting! Only you can make the difference in your numbers. It's not lonely in the sense of "I don't have any friends!" But lonely in the sense that the singular most important factor in your diabetic T2D remission is you! You control what you put in your body! You control how you exercise!

Thanks for coming to my epiphany Ted Talk to myself! If this helps you great! We are all in this together, but making a difference in a very solitary manner! Thanks Smoky for helping me put out the fire!

Time to ride!

Gregório's Circle of Life Memorial Ride

Quick before heading out on Greg Wilson's Solo Memorial Ride! We were riding buddies when we were kiddos! I didn't know how much his life and death would affect me. I spent the first half listening to Rock n Roll and the guitar riffs just kept flooding me with memories even now! The second half I fell on Samba de Janeiro another high energy song list! The energy was needed to tackle hills like this:

Luckily for me those hills were at the beginning at the one hour mark! Strava was glitching due to fog and interference from powerlines!

Smileage was 67 smiles in 6 hours at 11.1 smiles per hour! I had a feeling Synday's rides might be affected by the dangerous weather and flooding that was forecasted. Like Danny Vega says, "Ride when you can!" And today we couldn't! Maybe after a few hours of heat and sun we can try the SCG to Bullis - Eisenhower; I hope so!

The beast is different now:

48 lbs. Down since incorporating weights 3 or 4 days per week. I could feel the strength during the 67 miler, speed is still elusive!

Endurance Athletes Serving the Community by Giving the Gift of Life

I gave whole blood yesterday and three people will benefit from my gift!

Eight weeks ago I suffered adverse effects from giving platelets through a process called aphereses by no fault of the local blood bank or their top notch phlebotomy technicians, but by the ignorance of the athlete, namely me!

 I knew I had to take it easy the day of giving blood and work diligently to regain my fluids that day and that night!

But that's not all, unfortunately I did not know how long and involved the process really was and foolishly went ahead with training plans that had me straining at every spin! 

The scary one was the day after when I joined a local legend while he and a friend did the fourth installment of the five 100 mile attempts he was completing that week for Earn-a-Bike! I was working above my level which I wanted, but was unconsciously putting myself in harms way because soon I would be suffering gastric distress and some mild vertigo! So at the half-way mark I decided to dial it back (I had set a PR for 25 miles but at what cost?), but by the time we stopped at the 3/4 way stop and it still had not dissipated I decided to just subsistence ride it back home and bid my farewells to my friends and legend. Despite these symptoms I was still clueless, after-all, "I am Batman!" 

The next day was a regular Street Ratz Ride and I thought nothing and volunteered to do the traffic blocking since Rapha was at Earn-a-Bike! I thought, "no big deal! It's just a sprint here and a sprint there!" It took way more out of me than I anticipated! Good work Rapha! Thank you! That is some hard work!

On Sunday I arrived at the Boyz Ride spent, yet we decided to do Babcock and Scenic Loop! Spinning up hills, no problem! I had no get up and go for the OofSs (Out of Seat efforts)! Monday is regular day off although this year I have been riding almost every day and racked up seven thousand plus miles so far!

Tuesday is normally speed play and I went in to Hollywood Village to practice bikes, with nothing but poor results so after an hour and a half of torture I gave up and rolled home! That Strava post it finally dawned on me, "it must have been the blood donation!" Duh!

Yes it was the blood donation! But not just any blood donation! BTW the center's app can provide you with all the details of your donation! The blood draw was supposed to be a triple platelet, but we strated having issues and the draw was amended by asking me would you mind doing such and such and of course not thinking I said, "nah, go ahead and do whatever!" 

Well, whatever was a double platelet, a double RBC, and a plasma! 

One recovers from a plasma pretty quick, in 24 hours! Platelets are next with a 72 hour recovery! But the RBCs, or Red Blood Cells, the ones that carry oxygen to your muscles, take the longest with four to six weeks recovery! Although one can start checking the fires in the furnace at the end of three weeks according to Judd et al! The rest of this information comes to you from the Red Cross and the NASM and these guidelines are specifically tailored to Endurance Athletes and Performance!

So, yeah, I gave blood yesterday whole blood which puts me eligible to give again in January! No Prob! Today's ride less than twenty in less than two hours at a comfortable ten plus smiles per hour. Again, no prob! So now I have recovery rides through three weeks from now and then I can start checking and seeing if I am up to par to start building back!

This mistake cost me in pain and suffering! I overstressed my calve, my quad, and overworked my back and still uncertain if it was sciatica (which I have had and it did not feel like that this time), a disk issue, or an extra vertebrae in my back due to a vertebrae not fusing on my tail bone! This costly mistake was definitely not worth it and I have resolved to be more cautious until this is ironed out and possibly go back to giving platelets regularly.