Hey friends,

This past Saturday night, a friend asked if I was interested in participating in a century ride held by the Charles River Wheelmen called "Climb To The Clouds". I was weary for a few reasons. First, climbing is not my strong suit as a rider. I'm a better sprinter as people my size tend to be. The name of the ride intimidated me, as did this paragraph from the ride's web site:

Terrain:

All routes are hilly. The long rides from each start point, the 100 from Concord and the 60 from Bolton, include a one mile climb at a steady 9% grade to the Visitors Center at the State Park and then a climb up the mountain access road to the summit at 2,000 feet above sea level.

The other routes are rolling and very hilly with no major climb.

Climb To The Clouds is NOT for beginners.

Second, of course, was wondering how to handle my insulin given that this ride would surely be tougher than my usual long distance weekend rides are.

I decided that the challenge would be good for me and Sunday morning we drove out to Concord to sign up for and participate in the ride. I am really glad I did. While the climb up the mountain is the most difficult thing I've done on a bike thus far, going back down it at 40+ mph was a real thrill. I was happy also to discover that despite not being the best climber in the group of approximately 800 cyclists, I also wasn't the worst.

On to the other concern I had. I am very glad to say that my blood sugar levels remained steady throughout. I had taken about 75% of the lantus I usually take, which made it so that the exercise related drop was steady and predictable and that I could eat a GU packet/banana/granolla/whatever every 40 minutes or so to get the calories and carbs I'd need to have energy for the ride. I think next year when I do this ride I'll take 65% or 70% instead of the 75 because I did get down to 77 once before eating.

Each ride like this is definitely a learning experience, but its been a long time since I had a particularly low blood sugar on one of them which makes me less nervous each time I attempt one.

Anyway, I highly recommend the CRW Climb to the Clouds next year for any cyclists in Massachusetts or New England.

Next weekend I'll be doing the charity century ride, Cycle For Shelter. More info at http://www.firstgiving.org/maxg . I'll let you know how it goes!

-Max