And so, it begins. Last night I went on what I’m calling my first official training ride for the JDRF Ride To Cure Diabetes. It was a humble little ride…very humble. Like, 5 miles humble. In my own defense, I had 3 kids with me. Grace, 3, in a seat on my mountain bike, and Emma and Ben on their single speed beaters. Taking 3 kids on a 5 mile bike ride is sure to provide some drama, and Benny didn’t disappoint. We had just started going down the little hill on Paw Paw Drive, when I heard Benny screaming behind me. Emma was also screaming for me to stop, saying, “Benny’s gonna die, he’s gonna die!” I got my bike stopped and turned around just in time to see Ben veer off the bike path, bust through two scraggly pine trees, and ditch it in the grass. His chain had fallen off and, on his older coaster brake bike, that meant no brakes. He does have a front hand brake, but in the panic of the moment, he forgot about it. All things considered, it was a pretty soft landing. Ben was a little scratched up, and he was very upset because he thought he’d have to walk home. But I, dad, fixer of all things, was able to get his chain back on and we continued from there.
The rest of the ride was uneventful. Grace rode silently in the seat behind me, just taking it all in. Emma and Ben had to walk their bikes up the big hill on 16th street, but otherwise they did great. I have a feeling that it will be very hard for me to get away and train on my own this summer, but I don’t mind. The kids had sooo much fun. What I should probably do is put Grace in the Burly, then put Anna in the seat behind me. That would be really good exercise.
Another interesting item to note about this ride is the effect that it had on Ben’s BG numbers. For some reason, we totally forgot to have him check himself before dinner, and didn’t realize until we were ready to leave on the ride that we hadn’t covered any of the carbs that he had just eaten. I decided just to keep an eye on him. I had his kit along with glucose tabs, candy, and his meter, so we had everything we needed to treat a low. I didn’t expect a low because we hadn’t covered his supper, but you never know. When we got home, he checked himself before he ate a snack and he was 102. That’s perfect! A perfect number without covering supper just 90 minutes earlier. That’s cool. I knew that exercise affects your body long after the activity has passed, so I checked him before I went to bed at 10:30. He had dropped to 89, so I woke him up and gave him a little drink of orange juice. Just to be safe, I set my alarm for 2AM and checked him again. He was 130…another great number. I was very pleased to see the positive effect that this exercise had on him.
Anyway, that was my first of what I hope will be many more bike rides this summer.
The rest of the ride was uneventful. Grace rode silently in the seat behind me, just taking it all in. Emma and Ben had to walk their bikes up the big hill on 16th street, but otherwise they did great. I have a feeling that it will be very hard for me to get away and train on my own this summer, but I don’t mind. The kids had sooo much fun. What I should probably do is put Grace in the Burly, then put Anna in the seat behind me. That would be really good exercise.
Another interesting item to note about this ride is the effect that it had on Ben’s BG numbers. For some reason, we totally forgot to have him check himself before dinner, and didn’t realize until we were ready to leave on the ride that we hadn’t covered any of the carbs that he had just eaten. I decided just to keep an eye on him. I had his kit along with glucose tabs, candy, and his meter, so we had everything we needed to treat a low. I didn’t expect a low because we hadn’t covered his supper, but you never know. When we got home, he checked himself before he ate a snack and he was 102. That’s perfect! A perfect number without covering supper just 90 minutes earlier. That’s cool. I knew that exercise affects your body long after the activity has passed, so I checked him before I went to bed at 10:30. He had dropped to 89, so I woke him up and gave him a little drink of orange juice. Just to be safe, I set my alarm for 2AM and checked him again. He was 130…another great number. I was very pleased to see the positive effect that this exercise had on him.
Anyway, that was my first of what I hope will be many more bike rides this summer.
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1 comment:
Chad,
Great news about your son's blood sugar numbers. Our son is now 16 and was diagnosed at 6. When he was in grade school he played soccer and basketball. His numbers were always great after sports even without any coverage for the halftime "snacks".
Keep training with the kids and try to join us for one of the group rides this summer. They are a great way to put in some big miles after hauling the kids around all week.
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