[Gordonm]

I slacked off for almost 2 weeks. Don't know why. Just busy and the weather was terrible recently. I did get out for 24 miles today and it felt pretty good. Managed to keep my normal pace and was not sore at all. I guess a little rest is not to bad. It is getting tougher with the short days and soon to be real short.

[Ronin]

Hi Everyone!

The 21st and 22nd of October, here in NJ, have been summer-like days with temperatures in the low 70's.

Yesterday Linda and I tried to keep up with a single rider on his Serotta (not likely -- custom made bikes usually indicate a very serious and strong rider) but we did manage to keep him in our sights for a few miles. That really tired the legs and stressed the muscles. We were more in time-trial/interval mode and pushed some really big gears.

Today we used lower gears and a higher cadence. That made a huge difference. The legs are not a stressed and it felt really good.

On the BG management side of things I'm in my what seems to be annual elevated FBG mode. Looking back at my historical records I see that around this time of year my FBG climbs to the low 100's although the post prandials are never high and the HbA1c's are always in the "normal" range. Perhaps it is my body adjusting to the shorter daylight hours. Has anyone else had a similar experience? FWIW: I have the reverse in the spring when the daylight hours get longer.

Back to bicycling here in NJ: tomorrow's forecast is for the return of autumn temperatures so we'll have to return to wearing more layers and more complete body coverings. Oh well, it was nice to have two October days in short spandex and jerseys.

[Ronin]

Hi Everyone!

Now that we are back on "Standard Time" Linda and I are in what we like to call "Maintenance Mode." While we attempt to ride every day the reality of fall and winter is that we simply cannot do that.

Rain and fallen leaves make for dangerous conditions for bicycling of any kind and the ever earlier sundown has us chasing the sunset and therefore shortening the rides so that we don't get caught in the dark. We do try to ride and have the heavier winter clothing. And then there is the indoor training -- necessary when the weather turns really foul but more of a grind than something we do for pleasure. We look for alternates but we don't ski or snowshoe and really aren't good hikers because of the difference in height/leg length that got us on the tandem in the first place.

On another note there was an article in the NY Times health section today that suggested that exercise without diet modification doesn't result in weight loss. However, reading the protocol of the experiment what the researchers call "exercise" (30 minutes total peaking at 50% of max Heart Rate) certainly will not reduce body weight. I'm out there for 90 minutes running 80+% of my max Heart Rate and I burn through the available BG in the first 15 to 20 minutes and am liver dumping for the remainer of the workout. I don't eat a lot following the workout so my body has to go to stored energy (a.k.a., fat stores) in order to replenish the liver's store of glycogen.

I'm thinking about all my fellow bicyclists south of the equator who are in Spring and thinking Summer -- make me jealous and tell us all about your bicycling adventures.

[Ronin]

Hi Everyone!

Life has been a bit busy lately so I haven't been posting a lot. Linda and I are doing a lot more miles on the tandem and I've been wrestling with FBG's above 100 for the past few weeks.

The tandem does take a lot more energy and my legs often ache, even the next morning despite massage and stretching. A few nights ago they ached a lot (we had matched a PR pace for our 22 mile loop that afternoon) and I took an Ibuprofin to lessen the ache and get some sleep. The next AM my legs felt better and my FBG was back to 90. Could it be that simple?

Other than that nothing has really changed. Linda has her last Physical Therapy session tomorow and she has regained almost full range of motion and is fully functional. We have a new and workable routine that allows for daily range-of-motion exercises and still maintains a reasonalbe schedule.

There is still a lot of autumn yard work and the job of putting in some additional drainiage in the yard to resolve a seepage problem. Life goes on.

[Ronin]

Hi Everyone:

The weather has been -- wet. My basement started to seep again, and after a massive project of installing drains, destroying the lawn, re-landscaping the yard, installing sod, and replacing four sidewalk sections that were broken by the backhoe the place is almost back to "normal." The good news is that it is raining yet again, but a trip out to the drain in the storm sewer where my newly installed drainage system dumps -- it's working!

In the midst of this I managed to pick up a 24 hour bug that made me miserable for a day.

To make it all lousy, I've not been able to throw my leg over tandem or single more than once over the past 10 days. Not only does that drive me nuts, but I've noticed that my FBG's have gone up and my post prandials aren't as "good" as they usually are. I'm chalking that up to my exercise routine being interrupted by all of the other problems of seepage, overseeing the project, et cetera. However, I can't get past the nagging thought that perhaps the infamous "Pre-D Honeymoon" is coming to an end.

Now that I have found the Reli-On HbA1c test kit at my local Walmart I'm back to monthly A1c's (I've found that the bias of this test is really a weighted average that tends to cover the past four to six weeks most accurately) I'll find out in early December if my average BG has changed or if it was just limited to the FBG's.

I'm hoping that I'll get out tomorrow and then get back to a regular routine even if that means indoor training

I hope that the rest of you are doing better than me right now. End of rant and self pity party.

[Gordonm]

I have not been riding as much this month as I would like to. Work and some other projects have taken my time and energy. Tomorrow I am forced to ride. I have a company vehicle and have to take it every 5K miles for service, Well my wife takes off early so I throw my bike in the back of the truck and ride home. When they call up and say it is ready I ride back and pick up my truck. So rain or shine I do it. Only about 7 or 8 miles but I take the long way so it ends up being a 20+ miler. Days are short so the long rides are tough to do. At least it is some exercise.