Brava, my approach is similar to Bryony's.
For rides longer than an hour or so I use a combination of fast acting and slow acting sugar/starch to my keep my Sugars up. I drink Ribena or Hi-Juice and eat things such as Malt Loaf, Banana Bread, Tea Bread, Fruit Cake, Scones, Flapjacks, etc.
Personally, I find a mixture of low and high GI food/drink is a good balance for cycling. So I will consume at least 500ml of drink per hour that contains between 5% and 7% of sugars i.e. an isotonic drink. As well as this I will eat a small handful piece of food after each hour. If I'm on a long ride such as an all day Audax I will also eat a meal and take a very small amount of insulin. If riding a Sportive then I probably wouldn't get the opportunity to stop for a meal with insulin so I will just snack all day.
The effects on your Blood Sugar levels could last up to 24 hours if you've been on a very long ride. You'll have to give us an idea of the type of cycling you do i.e. intensity and duration.
This is what I would have said too.
There are general guidelines like this to follow, but it's also about trial and error to see what works best for you personally.
Other points that come to mind that have worked for me are…
Keep testing regularly before / during / after exercise to spot trends (have you got the software that analyses your digital blood readings?).
Also analyse this alongside an exercise / food diary – a pain in the backside, I know, but it really does help to see trends of what works and what doesn’t, so well worth the investment of time.
Ask to speak with somebody at the diabetes hospital with experience of adjusting for exercise, to help you do this analysis and ensure your glucose levels are in the right target range before / during / after exercise.
Ride slightly within yourself at first to see how your glucose levels react –consecutive full-on efforts (e.g. if riding around steep hills) can deplete glucose levels very fast!
Watch your glucose levels carefully for several hours after a hard ride – they can still be falling fast as your muscles suck in glucose to restore glycogen reserves for your next ride.
Until you get used to things, ride with others as a safety measure in case you have a hypo (and let them know in advance what signs to watch out for and what to do), and try to avoid long solo rides in remote areas.
Carry ID with you saying you are a diabetic with emergency contact, etc.
Take more sugar products with you than you think you need just in case (images of filling up my bidons with table sugar at a café with
@400bhp spring to mind here, when I forgot to take my carb powders with me - tut tut!).
Increase your distance / intensity gradually as you get used to managing your levels.
BTW - I’m nowhere near perfect at doing all of this all of the time, but even doing half of these things most of the time helps immensely.
Best of luck,
Gaz
