Hey guys. What I've found out may help you guys. I have been training for a 100 mile bike ride called "Tour de Cure" in Colorado it raises money for the American Diabetes Foundation.
The first thing I do when I wake up in the morning is take my blood sugar reading and it's usually around 80 to 130. Then I eat a Power Bar with 30mg of carbs, take no insulin, get ready for my ride. If I'm going on a long ride I take my blood sugar about half way through the ride and usually my bs goes down kind of low so I eat another power bar 30 to 44 carbs and at the end of the ride my blood sugar's usually around 80 to 120. Then after the ride I have a little snack. So, on the days when my ride goes too late to eat breakfast I don't even take any insulin and my blood sugar is low to normal.
On the days when I go on an easy ride I still have a Power Bar in the morning without insulin but after these easy rides I eat breakfast and take insulin right before breakfast. I wish I could go on a long ride every morning so I could just skip my morning insulin all together but time is an issue.
Just be careful if you try doing something like this. It took me a while to figure this out. When I first started training for the Tour de Cure I was riding 2hours after taking insulin and eating dinner and I would have low blood sugar every time during my ride. I like riding in the morning better as well. I also would call my endocrinologist every day at first when I was trying to figure all this stuff out. I've been doing this for more than a month and my blood sugar has been so good, much better than before I started riding since I've had type 1. Another nice thing is my doses of insulin have gone down from 9 units of insulin before each meal to 4 units and my night time dosage have gone from 14 units to 9 units so the exercise has a good affect all day on my blood sugar. I also eat much more now and yes, more carbs to prevent low blood sugar.
Just to let you know, I'm not on a pump. I take 4 units of Humilog before each meal and 9 units of Lantis before bed. I also take my blood sugar reading 5 to 8 times a day.
So, I hope this helps somebody out there. Let's not be held prisoner of this horrible disease.... LET'S LIVE LIFE THE WAY WE WANT TO!!!!!!!!
It just feels so good to do something like this. I've always have loved working out and riding a bike is one of my favorite things in the world.