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“Diabetes didn’t stop me” – cycling over the Andes and into the Amazon
In August 2005, Gavin Wright, who has been a Type I diabetic for over forty years, cycled over the Andes in Peru, on the highest surfaced road in the world, and out to the Amazon city of Pucallpa. In 2002 Gavin completed his first mountain cycling trip – a solo ride over the Annamite Mountains in Vietnam and Laos. On returning he decided he really wanted to show that diabetes wasn’t the major hurdle on such a trip and so he looked for the hardest road – and the best ride – in the world. It may not really be the hardest road, but it certainly was an eventful journey. Apart from the severe difficulties of cycling at high altitude (the road reaches 4,818m), Gavin had to circumnavigate gun-toting cocaine farmers on the Amazon rim and was in Pucallpa at the time of the tragic plane crash. What proved not to be a major problem – once more – was diabetes. “I have found that once I am trained to heavy exercise my blood sugars are generally more normal,” says Gavin. “Getting over the Andes was very hard, but I’m used to very heavy training and it wasn’t ultimately that different. The main point is that diabetes didn’t stop me – and it never will.” read article...