# Pedal for 7 Day 3 my ride with Team Novo Nordisk



## Matt Cycle (Jun 11, 2018)

Very early start today for me (I was up at 4.30am ) for the Pedal for 7 Day 3 Rochdale to Stoke ride with Team Novo Nordisk.  Dry and warm with plenty of sunshine.  

Got there in plenty of time in what turned out to be a fantastic day.  We met the Novo Nordisk and Event staff and the core riders who are doing all 7 days.  The TNN riders riding today were Justin Morris now a team ambassador and current pro rider Sam Brand who took also part in the recent Commonwealth Games.  Spent plenty of time chatting to both whilst riding asked them about managing T1 as a pro cyclist - really good people.  Plenty of other T1's on the ride with around 25 split into 3 groups.  A great bunch of friendly people.  We set off from the hotel for the first stop at Manchester velodrome for a photoshoot.  

We then travelled on to Winsford for the first break.  Travelling through familiar territory for me we then stopped for lunch at Middlewich.  The afternoon stop was near Nantwich before hitting a few hills and finishing south of Stoke.  After having a bite to eat with everyone at the hotel and saying my goodbyes I then had a mad 7 mile ride ride on my own back along the A34 to get to Thomas Raeymaekers (the other team rider who wasn't riding today) talk at the hospital.  Thomas gave an inspirational talk about being a professional cyclist with Type 1.  One of the Novo Nordisk people then very kindly gave me a lift with my bike back home.  A very enjoyable day. 

Strava stats are 93.0 miles completed at an average speed of 15.5mph and elevation gain of 3256 feet.

Levels were all over the place.  I started on a TBR of 55% but increased that to 60% part way through.  I was using a Libre today and most people on the ride had Libres or CGMs crucial when riding in a group like that to know what your blood glucose is doing.  Stress at the start pushed it up to 16 and after correcting at the velodrome it was hovering around 11 before falling to 8.  It wasn't until I got back to the hotel at the finish it finally dropped to the 5's.

Sam Brand of TNN and me outside the velodrome (no it's not my bike!)


Sam Brand at the lunch stop at Middlewich


Some of the riders at Middlewich


Me at the finish with Justin Morris


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## HOBIE (Jun 11, 2018)

Well done Matt. Good numbers & Pics. I was talking to the pro rider from Belgium. Nice bunch


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## Northerner (Jun 12, 2018)

Terrific Matt! Sounds like a really fantastic day, and very inspirational!  These guys do a great job, and what a fantastic idea to include members of the public in an event like this!  Really chuffed you had such a great day!


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## Matt Cycle (Jun 12, 2018)

HOBIE said:


> Well done Matt. Good numbers & Pics. I was talking to the pro rider from Belgium. Nice bunch



Thanks Hobie. The Belgian pro was Thomas Raeymaekers now a team ambassador.  He wasn't riding yesterday as he gave the talk at the Medical Institute.  I spoke to him after the talk and again a really nice guy.


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## Matt Cycle (Jun 12, 2018)

Northerner said:


> Terrific Matt! Sounds like a really fantastic day, and very inspirational!  These guys do a great job, and what a fantastic idea to include members of the public in an event like this!  Really chuffed you had such a great day!



Thanks Alan.  Yes, it was a brilliant day with some fantastic people.  The team started off as Team Type 1 before becoming Team Novo Nordisk with a mission to 'inspire, educate and empower people affected by diabetes'.  They certainly do that.


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## Northerner (Jun 12, 2018)

Matt Cycle said:


> Thanks Alan.  Yes, it was a brilliant day with some fantastic people.  The team started off as Team Type 1 before becoming Team Novo Nordisk with a mission to 'inspire, educate and empower people affected by diabetes'.  They certainly do that.


Indeed  I have Phil Southerland's book 'Not Dead Yet' waiting to be read on my bookshelf, must make a start on it


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## Stitch147 (Jun 12, 2018)

Great stuff Matt.


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## Matt Cycle (Jun 12, 2018)

Stitch147 said:


> Great stuff Matt.



Thanks Stitch.  Still buzzing from the experience.


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## Lisa66 (Jun 12, 2018)

What a fantastic event Matt! Shame it doesn't get more publicity, or maybe it does and I just haven't seen it. As Northerner says, inspirational. If I had a hat on, I'd take it off to you...yet again, well I might as well just give you the hat! Think that buzzing may take a while to go!  Well done.


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## Matt Cycle (Jun 12, 2018)

Lisa66 said:


> What a fantastic event Matt! Shame it doesn't get more publicity, or maybe it does and I just haven't seen it. As Northerner says, inspirational. If I had a hat on, I'd take it off to you...yet again, well I might as well just give you the hat! Think that buzzing may take a while to go!  Well done.



Thanks Lisa. The ride itself seemed to be publicised through DSN's/clinics and the TNN website etc.  Quite limited but I suppose it's a specialised audience.  I guess it would be quite easy to miss if you don't check these things.  @christophe is on today's leg from Stoke to Worcester but I think he heard about it on here? (Hope he's getting on ok  ).  My DSN mentioned it ages ago but only because she knew I liked cycling but I then had to chase it up and contact Novo Nordisk to get the details.  One of the T1's on Strava who I know also sent me some of the details through.  The talks by the riders are open to all and my DSN did send details through for that but I wonder again if it's because I like cycling.  The talk itself was relevant to all.  On the ride itself the riders were a broad range of people - different ages and backgrounds and apart from a love of cycling all shared one thing in common.  Some of the stories were inspirational - there was a lad of around 14 with his Dad who had only been diagnosed in January and he there was there covering 86 miles.


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## Matt Cycle (Jun 12, 2018)

A few more photos now on the TNN page.  Found myself on the front - leading the peloton? Nah, just holding them all up. 

https://www.teamnovonordisk.com/pedal-for-7-day-3-rochdale-to-stoke-on-trent/


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## Flower (Jun 12, 2018)

Good stuff Matt, what a great day of cycling and a lift home for you and your bike at the end.  I love reading inspirational things like this


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## christophe (Jun 12, 2018)

Hey @Matt Cycle and everyone else watching..
Just got back home after a lot of train/car and bike mileage. Got 90 miles on the bike which was the important part, had a lot of fun and got to see a bunch of different approaches to the same problem.
Was the young lad and his dad from Stoke?
If so they were on today's ride as well on matching Pinarellos.. we had a bit of a chat because we could but also we were both diagnosed within days of each other.. his and some of the other riders approach to food was on a different planet to mine.. I have a lot of information to process..
Sam Brand was at the start this morning so I got the chance to talk to him about his red shoes! Luck would have it wr take the same size so for a while I was literally in his shoes! 
A lot of fun and silly speeds on quiet country roads.. the Novo Nordisk people were all nice to a fault but I never got a lift home!! Rode a handful of extra miles with the two Stokies into Worcester and that was it, all done..
Honestly I was swinging for the last 10 miles. We had a few breaks but on the road we were going pretty well.. anything that needed the small ring was a proper grind but we had a lot of undulating big-ring stuff that we motored through. Legs buzzing for that reason if nothing else! 
Got to do a text to all on the contact card tomorrow to say thanks.. a very good day..
Numbers were fine.. Premier Inn breakfast tried to disrupt that but I caught it in time, a couple of downward arrows on the road but i fed with dextrose and frusili.. had to get a couple of jelly babies at the end. The whole day start to finish between mid 3 and low 8 
Mostly 5 to 6.. very happy with that.
Now feed cats and sleep


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## Lisa66 (Jun 12, 2018)

Matt Cycle said:


> A few more photos now on the TNN page.  Found myself on the front - leading the peloton? Nah, just holding them all up.
> 
> https://www.teamnovonordisk.com/pedal-for-7-day-3-rochdale-to-stoke-on-trent/



Everyone's smiling...always a good sign. 

Really interesting site. What a truly inspiring group of people...that includes you @Matt Cycle and @christophe . Very well done again, to you both.


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## christophe (Jun 12, 2018)

Lisa66 said:


> Everyone's smiling...always a good sign.
> 
> Really interesting site. What a truly inspiring group of people...that includes you @Matt Cycle and @christophe . Very well done again, to you both.



It was just plain fun for me I am afraid! 
I have to give a proper amount of credit to Matt for getting me out there both on this ride and just generally.. went from baby steps over 30 miles to going out on my own with a pocket of needles and carbs and just riding because I can.. there were a lot of perfectly normal T1 people out today, very relaxed towards handling the issues.. gives me a lot to think about..


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## Matt Cycle (Jun 12, 2018)

christophe said:


> Hey @Matt Cycle and everyone else watching..
> Just got back home after a lot of train/car and bike mileage. Got 90 miles on the bike which was the important part, had a lot of fun and got to see a bunch of different approaches to the same problem.
> Was the young lad and his dad from Stoke?
> If so they were on today's ride as well on matching Pinarellos.. we had a bit of a chat because we could but also we were both diagnosed within days of each other.. his and some of the other riders approach to food was on a different planet to mine.. I have a lot of information to process..
> ...



Well done and good figures.  Yes, the lad and his Dad on the matching Pinarellos Dogmas are from a place called Stockton Brook not far from me.  Good on them doing today as well.  I think the lad is going for a trial with the development team.  Our ride was fairly flat until the last 20 miles when we hit a few hills.  From the sounds of things day 2 from Masham to Rochdale was a bit lumpy!  I think I must have had the cheapest bike there.  Still, it got me round.  One of the Pinarellos had Corima wheels which alone are about 5 times the cost of my bike.  Plenty of stops on the ride.  When our group leader announced we were stopping in another 20km for lunch Sam Brand couldn't believe it and said it wasn't that long since we had stopped before for the morning break!  The worst bit for me was getting to the talk on time as I was then on my own and had to go along the A34 (busy road) with handwritten directions!


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## Matt Cycle (Jun 12, 2018)

Flower said:


> Good stuff Matt, what a great day of cycling and a lift home for you and your bike at the end.  I love reading inspirational things like this



As you know T1 can be a real b*tch but also very isolating.  What I enjoyed about it was nearly everyone was in the same place.  We could talk about bikes and riding or talk about blood glucose, pumps and managing T1 or both and everyone would get it. (We did talk about other things as well  ).


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## Matt Cycle (Jun 12, 2018)

Lisa66 said:


> Everyone's smiling...always a good sign.
> 
> Really interesting site. What a truly inspiring group of people...that includes you @Matt Cycle and @christophe . Very well done again, to you both.



That's for the camera.  You should have seen the grimacing going on when the camera wasn't there.  No, just kidding I really enjoyed it.


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## Northerner (Jun 13, 2018)

christophe said:


> Hey @Matt Cycle and everyone else watching..
> Just got back home after a lot of train/car and bike mileage. Got 90 miles on the bike which was the important part, had a lot of fun and got to see a bunch of different approaches to the same problem.
> Was the young lad and his dad from Stoke?
> If so they were on today's ride as well on matching Pinarellos.. we had a bit of a chat because we could but also we were both diagnosed within days of each other.. his and some of the other riders approach to food was on a different planet to mine.. I have a lot of information to process..
> ...


Excellent @christophe !  Sounds like you had a great day and larned a lot at the same time  Well done on managing your levels so well


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## christophe (Jun 13, 2018)

Matt Cycle said:


> As you know T1 can be a real b*tch but also very isolating.  What I enjoyed about it was nearly everyone was in the same place.  We could talk about bikes and riding or talk about blood glucose, pumps and managing T1 or both and everyone would get it. (We did talk about other things as well  ).



I hadn't actually thought about being isolated as a T1 but yesterday was a bit of a contrast to any other day in respect of having people around who didn't need to be told about all kinds of things and had things to say, just off the cuff remarks, that struck a chord..
Makes a change to be honest.. there were a lot of health- care people out, a good few people from different departments of Novo Nordisk and a few end-users of the product..
I don't think anyone cared how expensive or otherwise anyone's bike was! Especially as, like Matt's route..all the climbing was packed into the last 20 something miles. All that mattered was getting back into the group and keeping the momentum up..we had a couple of people (the two mentioned and another who needed to get trains home so the schedule was a bit.. tight, after so many tea stops and so on!


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## christophe (Jun 13, 2018)

Benny G said:


> Thanks for sharing @Matt Cycle and @christophe I have really enjoyed reading about your inspirational cycling adventures. The thought of you riding with a type 1 group puts a big smile on my face.



Not everyone was type one but there was significant group of us.. the back-up medic was type 1, chosen specifically or otherwise I thought that was nice..
Normally there is a little clatter of clicks and electronic beeps as a group of riders clip in and start the garmins, now there are intermittent bleeps and buzzes from the libres too!


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## Matt Cycle (Jun 13, 2018)

Benny G said:


> Thanks for sharing @Matt Cycle and @christophe I have really enjoyed reading about your inspirational cycling adventures. The thought of you riding with a type 1 group puts a big smile on my face.



Similar to Chris' ride we had 9 day riders and 8 were T1 with the other being a Dad riding with his T1 son.  Sam and Justin from TNN both T1 and I'm not sure about the 10 core riders but some are T1.  So a significant group in ours as well.  I think everyone I knew about who was T1 who was riding had a CGM or Libre.


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## HOBIE (Jun 14, 2018)

I am a noise nutter. Car & house alarms, Fire alarms setting  tones & insulin pumps all have a type of warning tone. Its part of my Job but I was in a house last week & the person also had a Pump.   (too many buzzes)


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## stephknits (Jun 14, 2018)

Great to read about your amazing days, many congratulations.  And to think I was patting myself on the back for getting off my arse to to join a yoga group...


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## HOBIE (Jun 14, 2018)

stephknits said:


> Great to read about your amazing days, many congratulations.  And to think I was patting myself on the back for getting off my arse to to join a yoga group...


Well done Stephknits. Every little helps


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## christophe (Jun 15, 2018)

Pat yourself again Steph @stephknits .. I might be able to ride a bike for a few hours but I am sure I couldn't survive a yoga class!


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## christophe (Jun 15, 2018)

HOBIE said:


> I am a noise nutter. Car & house alarms, Fire alarms setting  tones & insulin pumps all have a type of warning tone. Its part of my Job but I was in a house last week & the person also had a Pump.   (too many buzzes)



Did an install of a conveyor system.. customer asked for an alarm to alert for lane-full conditions. It was an add-on that we hooked up using bits and pieces from RS.. all worked apart from we had chosen the exact same tone as their fire alarm...


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## Matt Cycle (Jun 15, 2018)

Did they not take any official photos on day 4 @christophe ?  On the TNN website they've got photos from every day apart from 4.  Perhaps you were going too quickly!


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## christophe (Jun 15, 2018)

Matt Cycle said:


> Did they not take any official photos on day 4 @christophe ?  On the TNN website they've got photos from every day apart from 4.  Perhaps you were going too quickly!



Can't be sure of any official photos.. there were a few group shots at a couple of points but they were people with phones I think.

Maybe too ugly rather than too quick?!


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## HOBIE (Jul 6, 2018)

Benny G said:


> Thanks for sharing @Matt Cycle and @christophe I have really enjoyed reading about your inspirational cycling adventures. The thought of you riding with a type 1 group puts a big smile on my face.


Well said Benny G. Its positive


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