Full Fat Festive 500km Audax

Even I agree that this ride was a bit insane. broken rear gear cable at 50km, stopped at 65km for fry up breakfast at Premier Inn. Carried on to Oxford, thankfully relatively flat section. Visited Bike Zone in Oxford and nervously had a coffee in their cafe while they looked at my bike. Happily they managed to replace the rear gear cable within about 30 minutes and I was back on the road again. Next stop Winpole where I caught up with a few other audaxers. Really tasty cheese, pickle and salad sandwich from farm deli, one of the highlights of my ride! Then on to Cambridge, stopped at Wetherspoons for fish and chips. Next section was cycle path alongside guided bus route to St Ives, I rode most of this with another audaxer. As I was approaching St Ives glucose dropping to 4. Another Wetherspoons, his time just a packet of crisps, no insulin. Ride from St Ives to Northampton was tough into an icy headwind. Finally arrived in Northampton at 12:45. Checked in to travelodge, glad to be on the ground floor. Fell asleep before injecting and woke with glucose of 19. Correction dose plus quick mug of coffee and I was back on the bike by 04:20. Hypo'd a couple of hours later and ate my way through my glucose tablets and flapjacks. Stopped to change batteries in garmin and reached Gaydon services 3 minutes within time limit. Glucose had rebounded back up again but I was glad of the opportunity for some breakfast and had 2 yoghurt and granola pots plus a coffee. Next few hours were a glucose rollercoaster as I swung continuously from hypo to hyper. Eventually stopping just outside Gloucester I ate another flapjack and half a pack of glucose tablets and just let it run high for the rest of the ride.  Finished with about an hour to spare and tucked into a much needed plate of dhal and rice. Overall glucose control good for first 300km. This seems to be my limit at the moment. I haven't managed to maintain focus beyond this point on a long audax to keep glucose in range. An aim for 2019!

Loop of Brum 200km DIY Audax

Loop of Brum (Brum200) for the third time. Anticlockwise from Berkswell, beautiful day for a ride.
Sat outside cafe at Cannock chase for a couple of penguin bars, a friendly group of runners gave me a mince pie. I guessed insulin dose at 2.5 units. As I rode the next few km I did the calculations in my head. Total carbs divided by 7 and multiplied by 0.25. Calculated insulin dose 2.57 so I was pretty happy with my guestimate. Stopped at bakery in Penkridge for a packed lunch, egg may sandwich and rhubarb and cherry cake. My favourite section of his route is the ride to Ironbridge. The bridge itself was freshly painted and a sat in the sunshine eating my picnic lunch. My watch vibrated several times during ride to Bewdley but I was climbing the hills fine. I stopped to do a blood test which was reading 2 mmol/L above my Xdrip cgm. I recalibration Xdrip from the blood glucose result and carried on with a perfect glucose of 5.8. A pot of yoghurt and water bottle top up in Bewdley. The last 50km always appears hillier than expected, lots of christmas lights in the villages I past through and a stunning full moon to round off a great day of cycling. Glucose in range for the full 200km, I think that's the best yet.

Kings, Castles, Priests and Churches 200km Audax

Early start for train down to Tewksbury. Breakfast at 4:30am with normal insulin ratio. Short ride into town where I met up with Piotr to catch the train from New street. Coffee at the start at wetherspoons, 4 units of levemir at 7am. Quite a few familiar faces from the previous week's 300km ride, including Matt. A slice of orange and almond cake with a pot of tea at Bromyard. 2 units of insulin, probably slightly too much as needed half a flapjack an hour later. I joined up with Liz and Barbara and we rode together to the next cafe at Ludlow. In preparation for the hilly section of the ride I had apple pie and custard with 3 units of insulin. Liz and Barbara stopped in Presteigne for food but I pushed on to the next cafe control at Kington. I was a bit short of time but ordered a brie and cranberry panini. I left Kington with Piotr but he was slightly faster and soon enough he disappeared out of sight. When I reached the final garage control it was almost dark. A stamped card and a flapjack and I was back on the bike again. Finished in time for a curry at wetherspoons before riding back to Ashchurch with Piotr to catch the train.Thankfully no Rugby fans this time!
Probably the best glucose control for an audax so far. Peak at 12:00 is the apple pie, 11 units for the curry worked well although glucose increased overnight.