Time has been REALLY flying the past couple of days, with TONS and TONS of "things" going on.

First and foremost I am happy to say I am feeling much better since switching to a new antibiotic last week.  The actual wounds are almost gone, and my BGs are really close to normal so I know the infection is almost gone.  It is still a little black and blue, and, it sounds weird, but when I jar it I can feel some discomfort deep inside my arm somewhere.  The swelling is completely gone, and I have full range of motion and feeling in my hand and fingers.  So I say this event is behind me now.

I got back on the bike this past Saturday for the first real ride I have had in over a week.  I felt very recovered so I was able to really get on it for over 3hrs on the Superfly.  Felt great, but I was feeling it on Sunday for sure.  :)

Sunday was awesome as my good friend Cricket Butler came up from Charlotte.  I know some of you know Cricket via the organization she runs called Team Up For Type 1.  She is very quick on the mountain bike as well, finishing 2nd in the Trans Rockies 2010 and was the 1st woman finisher in this years Tour Divide. (Yeah, that is an impressive resume for sure).

It had been a while (in fact ever) that we got a chance to talk to face to face at a non race event.  I was very fortunate that she volunteered to drive up for a visit.

I am attending a JDRF Mountain Bike Skills Clinic in Charlotte which was setup via her organization.  It was fantastic last year, and I am looking forward to getting down there again this September 25th.

My oldest started kindergarten last Thursday, so that has been a HUGE transition.  Much more for me and Kirsten, and less so for him.  It has been great so far, and he seems to be liking it.  We are still working out all the logistics with drop off and pick-up and training and working, etc....  Gotta get that ironed out soon, as not having a set schedule is making me a little edgy.  :)

With all of this stuff I haven't gotten on my bike since Saturday.  I hope to have a chance to ride tomorrow before the hurricane Earl hits.  I am sure that will bring big rain, but hopefully cooler temps, to the region.  

But truthfully, I am really just happy chilling right now.  It has been a long and difficult race season for sure.  So much so that my friend George Scott and the guys at Trek Raleigh have renamed Murphy's Law, Cervati's Law.  

Hopefully they will still want to ride with me... I am not sure the blast area of a meteor strike, but I will advise them to stay well clear of that.

Look what I found on the web... FINALLY proof there is a mountain in Italy with my families name on it.  I wonder if I could ski there for free if I showed them my passport...  :)

So some good news, and not so great news.

The swelling is down, and my fingers and hands are about 75% back to normal feeling. I actually picked up a cup with my left hand today. Yeah!

The puncture wounds are mostly closing and it's looking better.

The not so better news is that I think I have a deep rooted infection. My BGs are running crazy, I'm running a fever, and I am dragging. On top of that my arm is a very unhealthy color.

Heading to primary care Dr. today to see about changing to a different antibiotic, and seeing what else we can/should do.

If I can get the infection under control, I should be able to ride given how my hand and fingers are feeling today.

Luckily no races on the schedule for a bit, so I have a little cushion.

Thanks so much for all the positive vibes and the messages. I truly appreciate them!!!! :)


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Had a VERY productive and relaxing day today. Those two items don't usually occur in the same time frame, but yet, they did.

Got caught up on some phone calls, emails, and meetings, and made appointments for some things that have been hanging around for sometime.

My fingers are starting to come around, and the swelling in my arm is subsiding. Hopefully, that trend will continue. Might firm up that appointment with the neurologist for next week anyway. I've got to be sure this is healed up right!

The antibiotics I am on, have been making my BG CRAZY!!! I have another 7 days to go, so I think I just need a 140% basal rate all the time!!

Thanks everyone for the text messages and email! I appreciate it!!! Not sure how long it will take to get back on the bike, but hopefully just a week or two (MAX).

Thanks Again!!




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Definitely got over the post ride BG spike. Last 6 hours couldn't be better.




No feeling in my hand and fingers yet, but the pain in my arm has subsided. To help relieve the swelling I'm icing and elevating.


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It is heartbreaking to say that the arm injury I received last night was worse that I had anticipated.

Although the discomfort was manageable, my wrist, hand, and fingers on my left arm went completely number near the end of the first lap.

I was unable to feel the grip, use the front brake, or make front gear changes.

I attempted to ride lap 2 with only my right hand, but that was not great as I ended up putting the bike on the ground a couple of times.

Luckily my support person was there to drive home, as my hand and fingers are still numb - can't do anything - open door, grip a cup, nothing.

Although bitterly disappointed I know Accidents happen, and I will race another day. 2010 has been so much more trying than i could have even imagined.

I hope the rest of my 29er Crew teammates have a great conclusion to their race. It was amazing seeing everyone there!!

A special shout to Danelle and Greg!! Good luck in the second half!!


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Funny how the outcome of the race could possibly come down to air-bubbles in the tubing. That's what I was thinking as I filled an insulin pump reservoir this morning.

I have inserted two new infusion sets too. One is there as a back-up in case a fall (or other incident such as catching my tubing on a tree branch) occurs, resulting in the current infusion set getting ripped out.

As the photo shows, I have plenty of spare "parts" ready to. This includes another filled reservoir, batteries, an infusion set, 2 meters, a syringe, spare tubing, and a bunch of extra strips.





All neatly packed into little cases.

I look like a cyborg today too - with the aforementioned double infusion sets and the Nav sensor, along with double ace bandage wrapped forearms covering the injury dressing, as well as the bandage covering the Td and antibiotic injections.

What I really need to do is get some espresso, and that's up next.

Wow.  The past 8 days have just FLOWN by.  They have been so busy with work, training, life, and future event planning.  I am just going to combine all my notes together (in abridged format - I heard that sigh of relief) to get caught up so we can post real time for the next couple of days.

On Sunday the 15th I was able to put in a solid 4.5 hours of ride time on the Single Speed.  Had some issues with my right food (again), so we have 6 days to figure that out.  Fingers crossed.

Other than that is was pretty solid, and I feel like I pretty close to were I need to be for the 18 Hours of Scouts Honor on the 21st-22nd.

Picked up some new shoes during the week to see if it would help my foot issues.  A new set of Bonty RL in Grey (ya know, with the cool orange plaid on the inside).  These helped out a bunch with the two rides this week.  I also picked up some extra padded wool cycling socks to use as well.  Just need to get through the upcoming weekend, and then I will spend some time trying to figure out what to do.

Had a GREAT (albeit HOT) recover ride this past Monday.  My legs really needed it too.  I felt horrible beforehand, but just fantastic and relaxed afterward.  I road the Superfly to check out the new bottom bracket I had installed (yeah, Dave, I know.... not the Red One. Sorry).  Thing felt great and ready to go.  The new saddle and bar position I have been running also felt fantastic.  All of the mtb's are set up the same, and I find I am much more loose and relaxed for longer with the new setup.  Again, the proof will be in the pudding this weekend.

Did some hours on the road too, in, shocker, a thunderstorm, on Wednesday night.  I love riding in the rain, even if the road bike is steel and the lightning was very close.  I can hear the more weather savey among us saying "its the distance of the arc between the wheels, not the material of the bike that is most important". I can tell you when the hair on your neck is standing up all the scientific mumbo-jumbo doesn't matter a lick.  ;)

I got all the grocery shopping done yesterday for the race this weekend.  Once again, I was amazed that I only purchased 3 small snack sized back of M&Ms.  Yeah, that sounds humorous, but it really is a tesitiment to how confident I feel with my race nutrition.  BIG props to Chris Newport, again,  for helping me get to this point.  I know what to expect, and what to do to stay on target.  No emergency funds required.

I am feeling a bit nervous about the race, but not overly.  A little nervousness is always a good thing. 

I want to thank my friend George Wayson for volunteering to be my support for the event.  George has been a long, long, long time supporter of mine, and was one of the first people to learn to about the creation of Type1Rider.  It will be his first overnight race event, and I hope he has a good time. 

My plan is to post my BGs around the clock during the race.  So if you are up at 2am ET on Sunday, take a peek.  The BGs will show up here on my blog, or on my Twitter account at twitter.com/type1rider. 

I installed a new Navigator CGM sensor this morning, and am looking forward to using it during the event.  It's such a great addition to the tool box.  I have tested it a bunch with the iPod Nano arm bank covering it, and it seems to work flawlessly.  As long as the weather doesn't get to rainy, we should be good to go.

I owe a bunch of folks return messages: Mariana Gómez Hoyos, Grason Littles, etc.  I am sorry I have been delayed in getting back to you.  I will do my best to reach you before the end of the day, or by the end of the weekend.


As usual, thanks for all the support!!  

It's GO!! time.

Denelle - yes, I have the Snickers.  Snickers, a bike, and a helmet.  Yup.