The weekend saw Ann and I in the land of pump jacks for our niece's wedding, so the bikes stayed at home. Before leaving though, got to let the wheels run free in the foothills Friday morn. Saw some cool stuff too. That's Albuquerque locked in fog. Don't see that happen very often. Though I've seen lots of Tarantulas in NM, this is the first one I've seen in the foothills. The clouds were really cool over the Sandias too. Fall has arrived. It's good.

My bike takes me to great places.

more places my bike takes me...

So, what’s in your camelback? Here’s a few of the extras I have to carry, in addition to the normal stuff. I hate carrying a camelback while mountain biking but it’s a necessary evil on long rides; insulin and associated paraphernalia, glucose tablets, medic alert info., glucose test strips and glucometer. That’s the one that really bugs because the technology and the engineering expertise is out there to produce a reliable, continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) system that can be easily used in every day life and in the rigors of competition. With the millions of insulin-challenged people in this country, there is certainly a profitable market for this. What I envision is a CGM system that interfaces with my Garmin Edge, providing a constant stream of data, much like my heart rate monitor provides, or one that works along with a Polar type watch unit. Of course, this doesn’t alleviate the need for balancing insulin intake and nutrition while doing an endurance activity, but it sure would be a useful tool to increase performance for diabetic athletes.

So, I got my routine blood work done last week and though the results are good, I’d like to see better. My A1C was 6.1, which I actually thought would be lower this time, since I felt like I should have been back in the normal range again. My 14 year, arithmetic mean A1C however, is still a very good 5.77. It’s only been in the last 2 years that the A1C has hovered around 6 for me and I’ve identified two primary reasons: The first is I’m using a new long acting insulin called Levemir. Though it’s a good insulin, my body doesn’t like it as well as my old Humulin Ultralente, which the manufacturer quit making. Why you ask? Follow the money. My old insulin retailed for about $25 a 100u bottle while the Levimir is retailing for around $300 for the same amount. The next biggest factor has been my cycling. Why? I’ve only been seriously training for endurance the past 2 years, and for proper training, I need to eat carbs, lots of them. Prior to my training regimen, in all honesty, I was primarily a weekend warrior, and I consumed an extremely low carb diet. Ultimately, I believe the benefits of the endurance training far outweigh the slight increase in the A1C, and we can only hope for new and improved technology and one day a cure for those that struggle with this issue.

Hope everyone avoids the couch this weekend!

Little-used singletrack leads to this beautiful spot. Been a long time since I've been here but I'll be back soon. Big rocks and some steepness keep it interesting.

While most were sleeping Saturday night, this guy was pedaling 125 miles or so on his way to SS victory in Salida, and the entry list reads like a who's who of endurance racing. Look forward to reading the race report.

Days are getting shorter, but you can still fit in a nice ride in the mountains after work without having to turn on the headlamps. Here’s climbing Lower Pine, and I saw this good sized horny toad running across the trail and took this blurry picture. I love the way the light hits the trails in the fall, my vision becomes sharper and I pick better lines and everything seems to flow.