Really, there is. A major diabetic fail a week before the High Desert Screamer mountain bike race saw me spend the night in the ER. In 18 years of taking insulin, this was my first severe reaction, and thanks to my better half who saved me with a glucagon injection to wake me from seizures and comatose state and get me the medical attention I needed. God is not done with me yet, thankfully! I've had very tight control on my diabetes these past 18 years. My arithmetic mean, 18 year, average A1C is 5.8, but I'm now second guessing my approach after this episode. May take some time to work through this and really consider everything. Knowing too, there may be no answers.

Gallup, NM: There were no expectations for the race and I was really euphoric just lining up amongst a really large field and seeing all the familiar and friendly faces. This race requires a good start as once on the singletrack, passing opportunities are limited. I got a poor start with at least 20 guys in front of me and another 30 guys behind me in the Cat 2 race. Though my fitness this year isn't as high as a year ago, I actually felt decent on the trail and it wasn't until the steep, switchback climb about halfway through that I was able to slip by about 10 people bobbling on the rocks. I ended up 10th overall to cross the line in the 19-mile loop and 2nd in my age group, and of course am happy with that. I'll never complain about a podium! Blood sugars were very stable and I started the race with a declining BG of 195 and finished with a BG of 150, as I'm erring on the side of caution these days. Fueling during the race was with Hammer Heed and a dab of Montana Huckleberry gel.

This was the most well organized and fun race I think I've done. Great job by all the volunteers. Here's to living life!