HypoActive

Sarah Fisher has lived with type one diabetes for a number of years. Once regularly active, she was hit with a mystery illness a few years ago which severely affected her health and changed her life forever.  Despite these setbacks, and as a way to assist in her recovery, she has set an impressive challenge for herself: to complete the 2010 JDRF Ride to Cure Diabetes and to raise money for research into type one diabetes.  Here is her story of the 2010 experience. 

2010 JDRF RIDE TO CURE DIABETES
 
Friday
 
Arriving at Adelaide airport we were greeted by Em and the other JDRF staff before getting on the bus to the Novotel Barossa Valley Resort. Once we arrived and set about registering for the ride, we got our bikes set up and checked in to our room. As we had some time we decided to try and ride into the nearest town (Tanunda) and were told that it was about 5 minutes away. What we weren’t told was that it is 5 minutes by car, driving at 80km/h! It was quite hot, and we were a bit tired, so we didn’t get very far. At that point we weren’t feeling too confident about the ride, and knew that we would struggle. However, despite this, I was determined to complete at least the 80 km event. We were there to ride, not to give up.
 
At the event briefing, the course was explained to us in further detail, including the ‘Steve Hodge’ corners, as well as the safety aspects of the ride. Special jerseys were presented to the riders who were completing their 4th, 5th, 6th or 7th ride. We then attended the Welcome/Carbo Loading dinner. The restaurant was packed, as everyone piled pasta and bread onto their plates. I took some extra insulin to try and cover, hoping that it would be enough.
The rest of the night was spent getting ready for the ride the next day, making sure that we had everything that we needed. I managed to fit a bag of jelly babies, my blood glucose meter, mobile phone, pain killers (for my feet) and a small tube of sunscreen. I also had three energy bars to go in the back of my jersey.
 
Saturday
 

South Australian sunrise
 
We woke early as we had to be at the start by 7:30am to register for the ride. I woke to a blood glucose reading of 17.1, just a little higher than I was hoping for! I decided to reduce my long acting insulin by 1 unit, but leave my short acting as per my usual dose as I was planning to eat a reasonably big breakfast, and didn’t really want my glucose levels going too much higher. After breakfast, we got changed and applied sunscreen as the forecast was for 29C. I also wore calf guards as I knew it would get hot, and swelling in my feet and legs becomes more of a problem when the weather heats up. We were running late and as a result we missed the start, but only by a couple of minutes. Soon after we set off the Fat Boys (a local cycling club that provides support for the event each year and ensures all riders are safe in each ride distance category) caught up to us. A bit further on, they stopped to help a couple of riders who had mechanical issues, so we weren’t last!
 
After a lot of hills (both up and down), there was a nice long flat section, which helped us to make up a bit of time. It wasn’t long before we passed through the town that we had attempted to ride to the previous day. It didn’t take long for the riders with mechanical issues to overtake us so we now had the company of the Fat Boys. We reached the first aid station at Angaston at about 9 am, so we were on target for the average speed that we needed to maintain. Blood glucose level had dropped to 9.7 which was much better than 17.1! After a few jelly babies and some Gatorade we set off. The next section was a bit hillier than the first, so our average speed slowed considerably. We were about half way between the first and second aid stations when Andrew realised that his back tyre was slowly deflating. He found a small piece of glass, but didn’t think that it had actually punctured the tyre. He pumped up the tyre and we continued on, but it wasn’t long before we had to stop again. Moments later, the Fat Boys appeared and stopped to help. The mechanics were called and fortunately they weren’t too far away so they arrived within minutes and replaced the tyre. We continued on, chatting to the Fat Boys as we rode. 
 
 
Springton refreshments
 
At the next aid station (Springton) my glucose levels were down to 5.3 so I had an energy bar as well as some jelly babies and Gatorade. At that point, I was asked if I wanted to get on the bus, to take me to the next aid station, about 17 hilly kilometers away. I considered it briefly, mainly because my knee was starting to swell and stiffen up, but turned it down. I came to ride, not sit in a bus! We set off again, along with the Fat Boys. They were very encouraging, the whole way, and provided a helping hand (literally) when needed. And no, they weren’t pushing me up the hill, they were just stopping me from rolling back down the hill!! It wasn’t long before my hands went numb, making it very difficult to change gears and brake. I kept changing hand positions, as much as I could and tried to move my fingers as often as possible (the joints had swelled and it was very difficult to move/bend them, as well as being very painful). Occasionally I would get some brief relief, but it never lasted for more than a few seconds. We arrived at the last aid station well behind schedule, and far too late to start the second lap for the 160 km. But we didn’t care. We knew that, realistically, it was extremely unlikely that we would be able to complete the 160 km (if the course was flat it would be a different story) as we hadn’t been able to do anywhere near enough training for it, we hadn’t even done enough for the 80km. I did another blood glucose reading, this time it had risen to 8.1. We only had about 15 km to go, and the majority was flat or downhill so I just had a couple of jelly babies and a bit of Gatorade before we continued on towards the finish. As it was mostly flat or downhill, we were able to make up a bit of time. We still had the Fat Boys with us, still encouraging us and keeping the conversation going. It must have been difficult for them to ride so slowly!   My hands were still numb and stiff and by that stage, changing gears and braking were almost impossible. A few times, I almost asked Andrew to change gears for me, as I just couldn’t do it.
 
 
At the finish
 
We arrived at the start/finish area at about 2 pm, tired and sore, but happy. It was a challenging ride, but also very rewarding. We went to the registration tent, to let the staff know that we had finished, then went over to the massage tent for a well-deserved massage. With the event staff boxing our bikes up for us, we caught the shutte bus back to the hotel and had a quick swim before getting ready for the Superheroes/Celebration dinner at Chateau Tanunda. Most people had dressed up, some put in more effort than others. There were lots of traditional superheroes, such as Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman etc, as well as some not-so-traditional ones, such as Mario & Luigi. I had wanted to go as the giant purple Jelly Baby, but getting the suit and massive head over to SA would have been extremely difficult. After considering a number of options, we decided to go as Agent 86 and Agent 99. 
During the dinner, the highest fundraisers in various categories (individual, team, corporate team etc) were announced, along with details of what they did to raise the money. The total amount was also announced, being $1.1 million! Andrew and I raised about $8,500 of that money. The Spirit Award was also presented… to me! I was surprised, but also very happy! Trying to get out of my seat and then up the stairs to the stage wasn’t easy (legs were very sore and stiff!), nor was getting back down the stairs.
 

Chateau Tanunda, Agents 86 and 99, and The Spirit Award which was presented to Sarah
 
Glucose Levels
 
During the ride (other than the start), my glucose levels were fine and I didn’t have any hypos. It was after the ride that the fun and games began. For the rest of the day, and the next few, my glucose levels were like the Ride course – extremely undulating, usually shooting up or dropping very quickly. Prior to heading over to SA, I had been concerned about what my glucose levels would be like during the night (on the Saturday) and also that I didn’t have a Glucagon kit. I didn’t need to worry as my glucose levels spent a lot more time up than they did down (but when they did go down, they did so very quickly).
 
For anyone considering doing the 2011 Ride
 
If you are considering doing the 2011 Ride, my advice is to go for it. It was an awesome weekend and very rewarding. The course is tough, but there are three distances to choose from – 35 km, 80 km and 160 km. It’s a very well run event, with excellent support. If you happen to get stuck at any point, help is never far away and the bus is always just a call away if you need it.
 
Make sure you do plenty of training. There are training guides available on the Ride website, both beginner and advanced, for all distances. I have copies of the 160 km beginner guides is anyone wants me to email them a copy. We didn’t do anywhere near enough training, partly because a lot of our time was spent fundraising, but also because we weren’t organised enough. Depending on how much and when you work, it can be difficult to fit it in. Remember to consider options other than just riding on the road/bike track. If you have a windtrainer or rollers, make the most of it, especially if the conditions outside aren’t particularly conducive to riding. If possible, ride to work, even if it’s just a few days a week. In the months prior to the Ride, we did a spin class each week, which definitely helped me increase my leg strength a bit. Make sure you do some hill training as there are a lot of hills! Some are worse than others and you definitely need to do some training for them.
 
In terms of the fundraising, start early! Start now if you can, it doesn’t matter that registrations don’t open until July. You can still hold events (or at least start planning them) before registering for the Ride, you just need to fill in an Event Registration Form (contact JDRF for one) prior to the event. Although we were fundraising throughout the year, two of our major events were held two weeks apart, which was far too close. They both required a lot of work, as we had to sell tickets and source items for prizes/raffle prizes/auction items etc. For the second event, the majority of the work was done in the two weeks between the two events, which was far from ideal. 
When planning events, make sure you give people plenty of notice so that they’re less likely to already have plans, and try to spread them out as much as possible so that you’re not constantly asking the same people to attend events. Make the most of the tools provided by JDRF and anytime you’re stuck, just give your account manager a call. They’re always happy to help.
 
If possible, try to get a team together. Although the total amount you’ll need to raise will be higher, you’ll have more people to help plan and run events, as well as a much bigger network of contacts. There are heaps of resources on the internet for running fundraising events, and JDRF also has lots of information. 
 
Fundraising is hard work, but it can also be a lot of fun, and very rewarding. There are hundreds of ways to raise money, you just need to work out which ones are most likely to work for you, and make sure you have enough people helping you. If an event doesn’t go as well as planned, don’t give up. One of our events was pretty much a disaster, and there were many times when we thought that we’d never get anywhere near the minimum amount needed (didn’t help that a few people told us we’d never make it), but we managed to exceed the minimum. Just because an event doesn’t work the first time, doesn’t mean it can’t work the next time. We learnt a lot from all our events, even the most successful ones, and have a record of all the things that we should or shouldn’t do in order to make the event even more successful next time.
 
For anyone interested in doing the 2011 Ride, please feel free to contact me at any time if you need any help with fundraising (or anything else). Andrew and I are happy to have some extra team members, so contact me if you want to join our team.
 
Finally…
 
A massive thank you to everyone who supported us in any way, be it donating money and/or goods, helping at events, providing support and anything else that helped us in some way. It is greatly appreciated.
 
Special thanks to everyone at HypoActive who provided support. At one of our events, HypoActive members and their friends and family members made up more than half of the total number of attendees! Andrew and I are extremely grateful for all the support that you all have provided over the past year, it made a huge difference in so many ways. THANK YOU!!!
 

See also

http://www.hypoactive.org/content/2010-ride-cure-supporting-sarah-fisher

http://ride.jdrf.org.au/