Dear Gang:
  It wasn't me, but someone with diabetes whilst with me and about a
dozen others on a group bike ride a few weeks back managed to score a
37 mg/dL (according to the retired doctor in the bunch) towards the end
of the ride. Now here's the LOL part: "Doc" theorized its because the
petite female rider is a spinner, not a masher, and we were going up
Cuyamaca, which is a tougher uphill than it is a crossword puzzle word.
   First of all, going up hill, if you've got the granny gears, its
better for your knees to be a spinner than a masher, especially since
under 120 lb riders can't really mash the way the Clydesdales do.
  Second, let's take a look at our ride. 17 miles of relatively
straight country roads with long uphill and downhill segments from La
Mesa to Flinn Springs. Stop off at a commercial herb garden, then
another 4 miles or so, flat but at speed (we were motivated) to an
Italian place for lunch. Then another 12 miles back to our starting
point (different route, same sort of roads). If La Petite Spinner takes
pancreas stimulating drugs such as glyburide, or is an insulin shooter,
a mismatch between dosage and meal, or a slow-digesting meal (it could
happen even with pasta if you choose a pesto sauce with lots of cheese
and olive oil instead of a red sauce), well, I can think of a lot of
ways for someone, even someone who knows their body, to mismatch meal,
physical activity and medication and pull a 37 mg/dL without "Is is
because she keeps a high cadance?"
  I hope "Doc" was surgeon, not a GP, Internist or endo. I'm
impressed, by the way -- 37 mg/dL and STILL in the saddle and able to
get to the glucose tablets. I'd probably hit the ground and convulse
somewhere around 60 mg/dL or below....

Robert Leone rleone@hotmail.com