Kick off Ride

We had our official Kick off Ride to 2012 yesterday. After a week of mid-70s beautiful NY spring weather it was looking great, but the weekend brought in dark clouds and rain. Despite all of this we had almost 15 people show up for our first ride of the season. It was great!

Our structure and skill has changed a bit this year, so yesterday we headed out on a 40 mile ride from Manhattan's upper West Side to Piermont, NY and back. We split up into groups of riders and teamed up with a coach, it was a great approach to work with a group of people that have similar skill.

Yesterday we worked on pacelining- one rider leads doing the work for the group, the others follow close on the wheel and then we take turns, work and recovery. It makes for fast and fun riding especially when you are pacing with Aly, she is so competitive, just have to keep up.

Great way to start the season!

Oh Mondays here

This weekend started was good. Saturday morning, despite the cold we bundled up and got in my first non - park ride in of the season, battling the wind and cold we rode from Fort Lee to Piermont and back.

Saturday night brought lots of friends to our house for a last minute get together filled with lots of food (mini meatballs, homemade pizza , homemade ricotta and lots of cocktails.

Sunday brought a wonderful sunny Brooklyn Day and a long adventure walk with Otis and myself we hit up the park for some stick playing and digging and we strolled down to the Brooklyn Waterfront, along Columbia street and to Pier 6.

Monday is here and not too excited about that.

Riding 2012

We are off and riding for this year! The official JDRF Ride to Cure opened registration at the end of January and it has been a very busy month. Our NYC team is working hard on recruiting and as of today we have 37 riders signed up! We have a kick off ride at the end of March and a lot going on between now and then.  Personal fundraising letters to put together, fundraisers to plan, people to get involved, weather to improve, miles to ride, lots to do! 

It is going to be a GREAT year! I am returning to Burlington on July 14, even Otis is excited for this adventure again! 

The Ride- Delayed Post

Well, it has officially been over 2 months from The Ride, and I have neglected to post a re-cap update since!
There has been a lot going on.... mainly that we got married! Yes, that is right, on September 17, I married the most amazing man and became Mrs. Lianna Durney.
But before that, at the end of July we returned to Vermont and once again had a fabulous Time. We had a turnout from the New York Crankees and together as a team we raised over $100k. Amazing!
The ride was a personal best for me! I spent time riding with Lewis Runnion, Aly Levine and Brian Rafferty and when we hit the 100 mile mark, we had just over 6.5 hours of Bike time. We minimized our breaks and maximized our speeds! together we Rocked out the course and had an amazing accomplishments! Aly completed her firs Century ride, showered and returned to work to put on the best of the best Ride Program as usual.
This program, challenge, event series has made such an amazingly positive impact on my life. I have learned more about my diabetes than ever before. I have set and accomplished more personal challenges than ever before and I have met some of the most amazing people that I know will be a life-long part of my life! I can honestly say that finding The Ride program not long after moving across the country has made me feel at home. It has given me a sense of belonging and self in a new and different place. I am grateful for this and the people that make this happen.

It is starting to get cooler in New York and as time passes the bike will be shelved for the winter- I cannot wait to get started next year on my 3rd year of Ride to Cure and to see what lies a head for us!

Inspiration

What pushes us to set goals and achieve them, to find strength and pride in accomplishment, to become proud of who we are, what we do and what we represent!

Yesterday, Sunday July 24th, my friend and fellow T1D Jen Davino, became and Iron(wo)man. Yes an Iron man: 2.4 Mile swim, 112 Mile Ride and 26.2 Mile Run!

I just got the chills writing that because I am so proud of her, of this accomplishment, of her pure drive to take a challenge and not give up- an Inspiration to all of us!

I incessantly checked my computer and phone yesterday tracking her progress, and although athlete tracker was not helpful, returning to her Facebook page multiple times we got small updates from people on the course and witnessed the overwhelming support and community that she has and she deserves it all!

This weekend, I will ride my 2nd Century for JDRF- I will be driven by her strength and inspiration, and I hope that soon we are able to Ride100 miles for a Cure together soon!

Rough Patches

I am still trying to recover from last weekend so I have been absent from writing.
I am torn, because although it was the hardest ride I have ever conquered (yes!) it wasn't the riding that has left me drained from the weekends events- this time it was the diabetes!
Exhausted, frustrated and pissed off!!! Rarely do I feel this way, but this weekend I did!



The ride was great, we did 65 miles and climbed 5,900 feet! There were a few personal challenges that I had with previous routes in this area that I overcame, which was a huge accomplishment! Out of aprox 12 riders that started with our group, only 5 of us that made it to the top of - another accomplishment! However my diabetes and my medical equipment failed me big time and that sucked!

About 50 miles into the ride, while climbing a hill I felt like I had hit a brick wall- I looked at my CGM and it read 317 ^^ (double arrows up) this was not right because only 20 minutes before I had given myself insulin- I looked at my pump and the screen read BUTTON ERROR- and was frozen, it was dead! Minimed pumps are apparently not built for heat or sweat (athletes beware) I stopped on my bike for a minute, and luckily I had syringes in the SAG support car, gave myself a few units through a needle, ripped the pump of and continued to ride! We had another 15 miles to the top of the mountain and about 10 of them were climbing. My blood sugar came back to normal and then started to drop as I was in the final 2 miles of the Ride, again thankful to our great SAG support I was able to do drive by sugar pick ups and not have to stop!

I felt good after the ride, physically strong, but diabetes weak! From Saturday afternoon through Monday evening everything was off! I had 3 'bad' lows, bad like the kind that just hit you, then you are stuck, sweat dripping from your body, dizzy, delirious, the kind of lows that knock you out and take a while to recover from- the kind of lows that are scary especially when they are during the night, which one of mine was! The kind of lows that people do not wake up from- I am lucky I did, but low blood sugar is frightening and exhausting!
On Sunday evening, I had low blood sugar that led me to a complete break down on being frustrated with my diabetes- again while sweating profusely and crying this time I gathered all of my Diabetes STUFF which included 3 broken pumps (mine, an old one and a loaner- all that didn't work) infusion sets, resiorvors, needles , insulin, meter, CGM, sensors and on and on into a pile and put them on the kitchen counter and started yelling- 'look at all the stuff I need to keep myself alive...' ok I had lost it. Finally I was able to stabalize and normalize and get a few hours of well needed sleep.
Work was hard on Monday, I hadn't taken long acting shot from the night before because my replacement pump was arriving that morning and I couldn't have the insulin on-board- so my blood sugar ran high during the night then dropped in the morning. I had another low on my way out the door and that combined with the heat this week in NY- it was a rough morning. I went home on my lunch break to pick up my replacement pump and while re-setting all of its functions it dawned on me a little as to why things were so difficult. I have somewhere around 25 different settings on my device: there are different carb to insulin ratios for different times of the day; different sensitivity (how fast my body absorbs the insulin); different target rations (day and night) and active insulin time. All of this is imputed and then CALCULATED by the device; something that I rely on it to do. The more in control I am, the more settings I have to mimic how the pancreas and body actually work, the more work it is for my mind and the more exhausting it is!

On Monday night, my pump site got kinked and my blood sugar had risen to almost 400 in the night, I had to switch my site and bolus enough to get me to Normal!

That was my weekend and my Monday- the crazy thing is that I had a really good weekend- I had a great time on the ride, I had fun hanging out with Billy and bowling with some of his friends, but the scary thing is that I had a really rough and exhausting time with my diabetes, I rely on these devices to help me manage my condition- no let me re-phrase that- I rely on these devices as life support to keep me alive and when they fail I fail, I fall, it becomes exhausting and I get frustrated!

I don't like to use my diabetes as an excuse, I don't like to feel controlled or limited. I hate having to explain to people WHY I am having problems with anything- that I am not weak! I hate that I have to rely on machines and devices to live! I hate it that many of my fingers have no finger print from years of multiple daily finger pricks! I hate it that I have no idea what normal is! II hate it that I have a condition that requires a charity- multiple charities! I hate it that people feel sorry for me or always have to be concerned for me! I hate it that although there is treatment for us diabetics, it is NOT good enough! I hate it that I fear for my future, my families future! Sometimes, I just HATE IT....

But I am thankful for all of the support, for almost 29 years and a lifetime to come! Next week I will Ride 100 Miles in Vermont for JDRF's Ride for a Cure! Together we are doing what we can do to bring us closer to a CURE and together WE WILL RIDE until we are there!

(yes this is a graph of our Saturday "training" ride)

Getting Close

I have been riding a lot more than I have been posting, and we are getting close. In 2 weeks we will be up in Vermont enjoying the pre-activities of The Ride. Taking in the sights and enjoyment of Burlington, the company of the other riders and the Energy of everyone who is there to support finding a cure for Type 1 diabetes!

This season I have enjoyed a lot more time spent on the bike with the New York Crankees and we have over 15 riders going to Burlington. This year Jon Reitzes came back on board as a coach and has done a tremedous job on leadership, communication, recruitment and retention of the team. Together the Crankees have raised over $85,000.00 for JDRF- it is really amazing!

This weekend is our Ride of Passage- Bear Mountain! Tomorrow we will return upstate to do a 66.5 mile ride through Westpoint, Harriman State Park and will end on with a grueling climb up Perkins Memorial Drive.

I have done pieces of each of these rides in my 2 years cycling- Perkins was one of my first challenging rides last year: I felt superhuman that I could climb a mountain on my bike until I learned that my coach rides hill repeats on that- he took the win on superhuman; I did the Westpoint ride in a thunderstorm- the rain was literally chasing us. and to have them incorporated into one will be Awesome! There will be very challenging climbs, amazing lookouts and views, great descends and overall I couldn't imagine a better way to get our final miles in before the Century!