Having diabetes has its down sides: You have to stab
yourself with insulin every time you eat and delicious sweets are not conducive
to its maintenance. Despite this, the needles eventually become part of every
day life and you get to scare your friends by pretending to stab them.
When I was first diagnosed, I was at a race
& collapsed after a relatively short, easy stage. I went to the hospital
and that afternoon I was told I had type 1 diabetes.
When the doctor found out that I raced a
bicycle, she told me that I would have to have a couple of months off and that
it wouldn't be a good idea to go riding long distances. At this point I was
ready to give up cycling and was preparing to sell everything bike related that
I owned.
Then, the next day, I got bored. What else am
I supposed to do? Sit around and watch Dr Phil all day? So I got back on my
bike and haven't looked back.
Since then, I have discovered that what the
doctor told me is the typical advice that diabetics get from health
professionals. Because diabetes affects the level of glucose in the blood, add
exercise to the mix just complicates things and makes it too hard to manage.
In order to combat this misconception, there
is a new cycling team that I am proud to say that I am a part of. Team Novo
Nordisk is the world's first Pro-Continental cycling team made up of all
diabetic riders. The team is based in Atlanta, in the States and will race
mainly in the US, Europe and Asia.
So for me, this means that I am back on the
road traveling again. I am currently sitting at the airport waiting for my
flight to Spain for the Team's first training camp where I will meet everyone
for the first time.
So in the coming months, keep an eye on the
blog... it's time to fire it back up, seeing how I may have some more exciting
things to write about. In the meantime, you can read more about the team at www.teamnovonordisk.com
Nice work
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