One minute, Brian was pedaling along on his standard bicycle, enjoying a California summer day. The next minute, he was stretched out on a lawn trying to figure out where he was, and who he was.
Sound terrifying? Brian had not fallen; but his blood sugar had. His blood glucose level had bottomed out, leaving him dazed and weak. It left me, his biking companion and longtime girlfriend, terrified.
Brian is a middle-aged type 1 diabetic, diagnosed when he was 11 years old. He is sometimes at the mercy of his condition, which is especially true when he’s active. “I try to keep my sugars level,” he says, “but exercise can affect them, and sometimes unpredictably.”
After apple juice and sugar tablets, Brian recovered enough to hop back on his bike. But I was still frightened. We were a few miles from our starting point, and I wasn’t sure he could make it. He understood my concerns, because dying from an extreme blood sugar low has always been a chilling fear for him. “High blood sugar affects your health in the long-term,” he says. “But an extreme low can kill you pretty fast.”I made him check his blood a few more times while we cautiously pedaled back.
We didn’t bike again for a year. I missed the wind in my face. And we both needed low-impact exercise for our health. That’s when Brian mentioned e-biking. Eventually, we purchased a set of Pedego electric bikes, and now we pedal 25 miles in a day without problem. We both feel more secure that he can make it home safely. He chooses how hard to work and can better control his blood sugar. Thanks to Pedego, we’ve become much more active, and we’re both enjoying the sweetest time of our lives.