For those of you who might be interesting in the equipment I have with me on my bicycle tour, I have posted a page which lists details about my bicycle and also the major pieces of gear I have with me.
Here’s the address of the new page:
http://www.livingwellwithdiabetes.com/blog/alaska-tour-equipment/
It’s also at the left-hand side of the page, titled “Alaska Tour Equipment”.
I intended to make it as far as Madras today. Certain events which I shall describe shortly transpired to prevent that and I’m staying in Prineville.
I arrived in Prineville about lunchtime. It had had been a long morning ride. I started it in Mitchell at about 6:30 AM. It was cool and calm and I was enjoying the moderate conditions that I knew would not last long. And they didn’t. Within five miles of Mitchell, I had started a long, hot 3000 foot climb up Ochoco Pass. Ten miles and an hour and a half later, I was at the summit.
I was looking forward to a long descent somewhere during the remaining 30 miles to Prineville. Instead of a big descent equalling the ascent I had just made, it was a very gradual one to two percent grade against a wind that seemed to get stronger as the morning went on.
By the time I got to Prineville, I was pretty tired and not looking forward to the remaining 30 miles to Madras. I decided what I needed was a relaxing lunch break in the shade of a tree in one of Prineville’s city parks.
The one park I found had plenty of shade and picnic tables, but the entire, and I mean the entire, park was being watered. There wasn’t a single dry place to sit except at the very corner of the park, on the curb, next to the sign that read “Ochoco Creek Park”. No matter. It was shady and the lush green grass was too tempting.
I had just sat down in the grass to have lunch. I had even dialed in a bolus on my insulin pump. While it was delivering, I could hear the click, click, click of it’s servo motor measuring out my dose. Then, all of a sudden it stopped and a long, continuous tone began. Uh oh. That’s not a good sound. I hoped it wasn’t the pump. I looked around for a possible source. I looked at the screen of the PDM (Personal Diabetes Manager, the handheld unit I use to program insulin delivery). “Occlusion detected. Pod deactivated. Would you like to activate a new pod now?” it said, or words to that effect. A “pod”, by the way, is a one-time use insulin pump which I attach to my body and program using my PDM. When a pod is activated, a cannula is inserted subcutaneously. After three days, the pod deactivates and I have to apply a new one. This process has worked flawlessly for the entire tour. Until now.
“Well, to be honest, no, I don’t want to activate a new pod right now, but since you’re not giving me any choice, why do you even bother to ask?” was my reply, but it wasn’t listening.
Instead of lunch, I proceeded to unpack the stuff I need to activate a new pod. A pod (obviously), alcohol swabs, Skin-Prep, and insulin. I looked around, wondering if I could do this discreetly here at front corner of the park. I didn’t know where else to go and I was getting everything laid out when I decided against it. A city park is not a place you want to be seen filling a syringe, not even if it’s just insulin.
So, I made quick management decision to not ride to Madras today. Instead, I searched for the nearest motel and went to the front desk, hoping I’d be able to check-in early. Fortunately, I was, and was able to get a new pod attached. My blood sugar never got above 146 for the whole episode and I consider myself very lucky that things turned out so well.
This entry is a day late because I stayed in Mitchell, Oregon last night and Mitchell didn’t have internet access or cellphone service. In fact, it didn’t have much of anything except some very friendly people and a city park with a designated camping area.
I arrived in Mitchell early afternoon after a mostly flat ride from John Day. During my ride, there was one long ascent as the road wound its way through a canyon. Just past the summit, I met the very first touring cyclist I’ve seen on my tour. He was sitting on a rock at the side of the road, eyeing the stream. He had a water filter in hand and he was debating whether or not to venture into the weeds and down a steep slope so he could filter some water. I advised him to wait, if he could, until past the summit where access to the stream was better.
Strangely, it wasn’t but two or three miles later that I saw another tourist, heading the opposite direction I was. He tipped his hat (no helmet!) and I raised a water bottle to him as greeting.
The ride to Mitchell finished up with a very long and steep descent into Mitchell (that’s another rule of bicycle touring: it’s always downhill into town). After a short nap in the shade while I waited for the park’s sprinklers to finish their cycle, I set up my tent and went to the country store for dinner supplies.
I had just finished cleaning up after dinner (about 7 PM) when two bicycle tourists rolled into the park. Wow, feast or famine, I guess. I haven’t seen any touring cyclists at all and then I see four in one day!
They were delightful people, Liz and Scott, from Kangaroo Island in Australia. They called themselves “Wallies on Wheels!” and we spent the rest of the evening exchanging bike touring stories (they’ve toured nearly everywhere in the world).
Below are some photos I took during my ride on this day:
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