As always my brain is thinking about a way to bring diabetes and endurance sports to the forefront.  For the past six years this has been my goal since starting this blog.  My goal is to show how much exercise helps blood sugars, and how it improves the quality of life.  I can write day in and day out about my life with diabetes but that has been done.  In fact blogs have been a huge help to anyone living with diabetes.  Team Novo Nordisk saved my life, taught me that anything is possible with diabetes, they also taught me to enjoy life and most of all they taught me to chase my dreams.

For a long time I didn't know what my dream was.  After a dinner with a very good friend I was asked "What do I want?"  I didn't have a straight answer.  I was then asked why I have a blog and write about the things that I do.  The truth is I use the blog to show "Minnie" and "Sharky" that anything is possible.  I never expected to see thirty, I thought not taking care of myself for ten years would shorten my life considerably.  This blog is my way of not only helping those living with diabetes but it is also my indirect way of showing my children what is possible.  That no matter how bad things get, if you work and believe in yourself anything is possible.  I race for them, the races are painful both physically and mentally but again if you keep working you get to the finish.  It is never easy.

My friend and I ate our dinner discussing ways to do something different that would help the diabetes community as well as inspire "Minnie" and "Sharky".  What we came up is something a little tough to pull off but we also thought getting a professional hockey team to join a diabetes partnership was impossible.  We made that happen and now we are on to our next project.

Reality television shows and documentaries are favorites for anyone.  Who doesn't like a good tear jerker reality show or movie.  That was our ah ha moment!!  My diabetes story is one that many share, my personal life is one that has a good story and my determination to complete a 50 mile trail race is what would make the documentary.  

The two of us love the idea and as of 3pm today 12 more people thought it was a great idea as I posted a poll on Twitter (@CyclistDiabetic) My question to anyone reading this blog is what do you think of a documentary about my year long battle to finish the JFK 50 mile race in October of 2018?  Would you watch it?  Would your friends be interested in it?  Would the people you know that have diabetes want an inside look at my life?  The documentary would be an all access pass into my life as an endurance athlete living with diabetes.  Please comment or contact me if you have any ideas or if you love or hate the idea.  

We have professional athletes, pop stars, actors and actresses, a former miss america, and a member of the supreme court all living with diabetes.  It is no secret that anything is possible when you are living with diabetes, the sky is the limit.  On this Presidents Day, I sit at my desk wondering what the world would be like if the President of the United States had diabetes.

I believe that a candidate running for president would garner a lot more attention than it should.  Yes the diabetes community would get a lot more attention, but with that attention would come negativity.  Not everyone likes or approves of the president, a president living with diabetes would have meme after meme made about them because of diabetes.  Imagine a president living with diabetes that decides that the legal drinking age should be 18, within minutes you would see picture of the president at the podium and text above it saying "I apologize about changing the legal drinking age, my blood sugar was low, the drinking age is still 21"  Sadly that is the world we live, no matter what a person does a number of people will not agree and make fun of this person for their choice.

Enough about the negative side of a president living with diabetes.  For the diabetes community it would be huge for the President of the United States to be living with diabetes.  Personally a cycling team made up of athletes living with diabetes has changed my life.  For fans of music, people such as Bret Michaels and Nick Jonas are very successful and living successful lives with diabetes.  Almost any professional field you look at you can find someone living with diabetes.  For the lover of politics having a president living with diabetes would be interesting but also very inspirational not only for those of us living with diabetes but to each and every citizen.  

For many of us living with diabetes that love to run or cycle we look up to all of the athletes that makeup Team Novo Nordisk.  What we don't understand is how much each and every member loves being a part of Team Novo Nordisk.  As a blogger I have taken an odd road to Team Novo Nordisk and diabetes.  This blog might be good as a diabetes blog, and it might be a decent diabetes blog.  If you look you can find much better diabetes and cycling blogs than mine, however I don't think you will find a better blog that shares the story of the athletes of the team.  The daily diabetes management that they are presented with on and off the bike.  My goal as always been to share their story and let anyone that reads this blog know that diabetes is the same for the team as it is for you.  

Many members of Team Novo Nordisk have their own blogs and share their experiences as they run ultra marathons or as they race all over Europe on their bike.  This past week another member of Team Novo Nordisk started a blog.  As always once I saw a blog by a team member I had to click on it and read what he shared.  

Andrew Kerr a member of the Team Novo Nordisk Elite Team started his blog on Thursday and wrote his true feelings in his first post, which can be read here.  What you learn very quickly is that Andrew is human, like anyone that rides a bike we remember the moment we fell in love with the bike.  He then shares his personal experience of his diabetes diagnosis.  For anyone that is living with diabetes this paragraph gives you goosebumps.  Just like Andrew we can all go back to our diagnosis and be hit with a waterfall of emotions.  

Then we get what I like to call the Team Novo Nordisk effect.  Before becoming a member of Team Novo Nordisk Andrew was like me or you.  Team Novo Nordisk motivated him to be a better athlete and person living with diabetes!!  It doesn't matter if you're an eight year old child newly diagnosed or a thirty-four year old male that has had diabetes for twenty-six years, Team Novo Nordisk motivates all of us.  I'm 34 and dream of running ultra marathons with a Team Novo Nordisk singlet that.  I don't know if I will ever live that dream but just like an eight year old I dream of being like Andrew and being a part of the team.  The team is a family and they are inspiring, educating and changing diabetes for everyone!!

A special thank you to Andrew for sharing his story and for giving us a little insiders look at Team Novo Nordisk!!  I personally look forward to future blog posts and will be adding the blog to my favorites on my browser.  

A weekend out in the sticks of New Hampshire was sandwiched between two big snowstorms. It was also one that taught me a little bit about being prepared for anything. As Kate and I packed for New Hampshire in the middle of a blizzard on Thursday we made sure that we packed everything that we needed. This included all of my diabetes supplies. Nothing is worse than forgetting a meter, test strips or insulin.

We checked and double checked everything that we packed. What I forgot to pack was some Gatorade and a snack to have before bed. I always believe I can get that stuff wherever we are staying. As we got into Leabanon, NH at 9pm everything was closed and the closest town was about thirty minutes away. Luckily I had glucose tabs, juice and some animal crackers in the car. I always have these in the car, the glucose tabs for me and the juice and crackers for Sharky and Minnie.

I was was lucky to have everything in my car but I learned that no matter what I need to have an extra food and drink stash in the car for situations like this. I'm happy to report that the weekend went very well and that even a run up a mountain kept my blood sugar in range but on the lower end which is always good!!

New England Patriots-6.9 million followers on Facebook
Chicago Cubs-3.4 million followers on Facebook
Team Sky-851,166 followers on Facebook
New York Rangers-1.5 million followers on Facebook
Golden State Warriors-10 million followers on Facebook
Team Novo Nordisk-5 million followers on Facebook

How does a team made up of athletes living with Type 1 diabetes have more or around the same amount of fans on Facebook as the popular pro sports franchises?  The answer is simple, inspiration.  Team Novo Nordisk is proof that anything is possible in life.  A large number of athletes on Team Novo Nordisk were told that they could not be pro athletes because of diabetes.  The teams CEO was told he wouldn't see his thirtieth birthday because of diabetes.  Team Novo Nordisk is full of athletes that are living amazing lives with diabetes.  

They're an inspiration to a child in Denmark living with diabetes that got on a bike because of Team Novo Nordisk.  Team Novo Nordisk is inspiring each and every person that lives with or knows someone living with diabetes.  It is no secret I wouldn't be alive if Team Novo Nordisk was not created.  I absolutely hated diabetes before Team Novo Nordisk, I was having a pity party everyday using diabetes as an excuse.  I couldn't start on the high school team because I had diabetes, was that true? No!!  I couldn't start because I didn't put the work in to care for my diabetes.  I lived twenty years of my life making excuses and hating my diabetes.  I was lucky enough to see an ad for Team Novo Nordisk and was inspired.  If they could ride their bikes with the best in the world and do so with diabetes I could do the same.  That saved my life and has saved thousands of lives all over the world!!

It doesn't matter if you want to be a surgeon that is living with diabetes, or if you want to be the president of the United States that is living with diabetes.  Anything is possible with diabetes and no matter what anyone does with diabetes everyone owes a very sincere thank you to Team Novo Nordisk.  They are an inspiration to everyone with diabetes.  They are showing us everyday what is possible.  Team Novo Nordisk never complains about anything when it comes to diabetes, the patriots made it famous but Team Novo Nordisk does their job!!  Diabetes management never changes, a pro cyclist with diabetes and a seven year old living with diabetes are the same.  It is a full time job managing your diabetes, there are no excuses!!

 5 million people are inspired by Team Novo Nordisk, that is an amazing number but personally I'm not happy with that!!  I want to see seven million followers on Facebook for Team Novo Nordisk!!  Team Novo Nordisk saved my life and so many other lives, if you read this blog be sure to share what you know about Team Novo Nordisk with anyone you know.  You never know who will be inspired by Team Novo Nordisk and all that they do for each and every person living with diabetes. 

It is no secret that living with diabetes can be very challenging day in and day out.  Sometimes a random high or low blood sugar will bring with it a lot of second guessing.  When that happens we will sit and be angry with ourselves because we believe that we did something wrong.  After a day or week of blood sugars that are out of range we want to throw in the towel and quit, that is not an option however.  Each and every day we have to fight diabetes with all that we have.  

We often look at our blood sugars or our A1C and think that we are failing, what we often forget is how far we have come.  The video above exemplifies that perfectly, no matter how tired or sore we are we have to keep fighting.  We need our friends and our families to cheer us on and give us motivation when we need it the most.  With the help of the ones we love and the never say die attitude anything is possible!!