Friday, December 21, 2007

Sights and Sounds of a Morning Ride

It was a bit tough to get up this morning at 5:15, but at least there was no rain. Today I would do my favorite local route, Sunrise Over San Quentin.

Here are some of the things I saw and heard on my way.
--Bright stars overlooking the city--refreshing after a week of rain;
--Four lanes of morning traffic coming swiftly into the City as I cross the Golden Gate Bridge;
--The San Francisco skyline from a break in the trees as I descended into Sausalito;
--Frost on the wooden bridges reflecting the light from my super strong bike lamp; water rushing underneath the bridges, filling up the tidal marshes;
--Birds calling in the dark and a few wet-looking ducks hidden in the grasses;
--My bike computer reading 8:21 for my split up El Camino Alto hill--not bad considering the added weight from my bike lamp + heavy battery. I measure my split every time I go up this hill to gauge my conditioning and motivation! I haven't broken 7 minutes yet.
--The sun rising as I rounded the first big corner on Paradise and pink morning light reflecting off of the white walls of San Quentin;
--An older man on a mountain bike who decided to pick up the pace as soon as I passed him, making me work a little to keep my lead;
--Flocks of ducks and isolated white egrets motionless, looking very cold in the water;
--Canada geese stopped on their way south, looking quite content as they searched for food;
--A screech and then loud "Thump!" which turned out to be a car smashing into the rear of a garbage truck that was double-parked;
--The City skyline again but now in full light;
--A guy getting frisked by two undercover cops in the Golden Gate Park, which was a discouraging sight;
--The last few hills to my home. I told myself I'd have to use a harder gear on the first and then could granny it for the rest (which still brought my heartrate above 170)!

My BG's behaved better today as well. Here's the data:
  • 5:34 AM 235, ate banana, 1.5 U Humalog
  • 5:45 AM start riding
  • 6:23 AM 245, no correction, no additional food
  • 7:40 AM 136 (yay!), 20 g carbs (raisins), no bolus
  • 8:23 AM 195, feeling hungry, thought I was low
  • 9:10 AM finish ride
  • 9:28 AM 226, 10 g carbs (raisins), 2.3 U (correction bolus + insulin for raisins)
  • 10:00 AM 258
My pace was moderate, average speed slightly less than 15 MPH on a somewhat hilly route (mostly rolling hills, some flats, a couple slightly longer hills, and a few very steep but short hills). It was cold--when I stopped to take the pictures, I tried to test but got the "Low T" error message. And I was pretty chilled out by the time I got home.

My guess when I tested at 136 was that I was dropping, which is why I ate. I think I was actually pretty stable or just dropping very slowly, so either should have taken a little insulin for the raisins, or just held off. Again, a continuous glucose meter is very handy for these sorts of situations. I would have been able to tell that my BG was more or less stable at 136 instead of having to guess. I wonder what the temperature range on the CGM's is.

2 comments:

Ali Rae said...

Hi Anne! Your bike ride on the 21st sounded great. I hope you're having a good time with your family in SLC. I'm back from Spokane, WA this evening, already missing my baby niece. I hope we can see each other soon in the New Year!

Steve Chop said...

Anne,
Your post inspired me yesterday to traverse 45 degree weather and get outside. Love reading your posts as it keeps things real!
Chop