Trainer Time

Yes, it's that time of year, folks, when the weather outside is frightful ( if you don't have studs, that is ) and you're a masochist craving torture. That's Willow camped out next to the bike, waiting to see his master suffer riding the road to nowhere. I wonder if the Beetles were riding the roller when they wrote "Nowhere Man". On the bright side, every minute here is one less minute trying to regain form in the spring. Funny thing, as I write this, a thought hit me: Why don't I have my MTB hooked up instead of the road bike. I have a set of Specialized Fat Boys on the spare rim set ready to go, so why not put them to use. The position would be a bit more upright and I'd save wear and tear on the road bike.

I'd love to have one of the many dedicated trainers on the market, such as the Giant, CycleOps, or even the new LeMond. The folks down the street have the Lemond, but I haven't heard how they like it. The LeMond is a hybrid which uses your frame, but eliminates the rear wheel by having a built-in cassette, so you hook up you're bike like you just changed a wheel. Reviews have been positive, saying it's the most realistic ride feel, but the fan is way too loud. I have a fan drive trainer back in the early '90's, and it was annoyingly loud.

As far as the diabetes goes, it's still an uphill battle. Late afternoon and late night bouts of low blood sugar attacks are frustrating, to say the least. At least I recognize the signs and react more quickly than I used to, so recovery time is much shorter than it used to be. Here's a scenario as to what happens: You suddenly feel hot, even though the temp hasn't changed. Then, a clammy sweat breaks out. Soon, you get spacey, like you're no you, but observing someone else. If you let it go too long, you can end up in a comma. Or, though rare, die. My father nearly did a few months ago while driving. My folks were coming up Haines Road when this episode happened, and don't have a cell phone. My mom got him off the road when a passing cyclist with a cell phone stopped to offer help and called 9111, then he called me to let me know what was going on. I was only 5 minutes away, but by the time I got there, paramedics were already giving him glucose, but it still took quite some time to raise is sugar levels back to normal.

Another problem with these lows is that you get very hungry. Since your mind is in the process of shutting down, you don't realize how much you have eaten and over-do it, then your level goes way too high. From hypo to hyper, it's a vicious circle. When you go low on the bike, it's even worse. I once rode for an hour on empty, thinking to myself that I should stop and take an energy gel, but I couldn't make myself do it. Now, no matter what my reading is, especially if it's in the 80-100 range, I add a Hammer gel or two for safe measure. Reading Team Type 1's blog gave me some insight on this, as their riders tend to start a race at about 180 and add glucose on a specific schedule. It's better to be a bit high than bonking from not eating enough. Lessons learned, the hard way, by me on the road.

Now, back to the road to nowhere......