Messages

1441

General Discussion / Re: biking across america with diabetes

« on: March 30, 2009, 09:08:54 am »

If you think those are my personal conspiracy theories, you have not read the many books out on nutrition. They are written by doctors. If you think I am accusing the food adulterators, you should read what they say. Diabetes has nothing whatever to do with cycling to begin with. If you have a disease, it is your responsibility to determine what you must do to deal with it, and determine if you can do that on a long tour. Diet has always been part of the maintenence regimen for diabetes. The fact is, in some areas of the country you might not be able to get the sorts of foods you might need.  In other regions the foods you should eat are plentiful and always available. You said your diabetes was genetically caused. The Mayo Clinic says no genetic cause has been substantiated for D1. So who are we supposed to believe, long standing experts on the subject, or you? So, you know better than they do? You say I am expressing my personal conspiracy theories when you have not a clue where I got that information. I assure you I have studied about this sort of thing off and on for years. The facts about the adulteration of foods and the resulting diseases it has caused have been fairly well known at least since the 1920s, and before. If you are unknowledgeable on these matters, or indifferent to them, perhaps that is why you have T1D to begin with. Learn the facts before you set out trying to invalidate what someone else has to say. You came here asking a question totally unrelated to bicycling. You have a personal health problem. I tried my best to answer you. The next thing I know I am accused of being a conspiracy theorist and veering off the subject. OK.

1442

Gear Talk / Tough Touring Tire

« on: March 29, 2009, 02:06:01 pm »

I am sure people here can answer this with no problem. What is a really tough, high mileage, tire for touring, long distance touring. And I mean a tough tire, not IRC or those cheap Kenda tires. I want to hear from those who have been there and done that.

1443

General Discussion / Re: biking across america with diabetes

« on: March 28, 2009, 11:13:25 pm »

Yes, diabetes 1, appearing in childhood and young adulthood. It can be very serious. It has to be controlled, and I really am not aware as to whether or not you would be able to cycle 4000 miles across the continent, and still be able to do what is needed to maintain that control. Surely you would be able to. There must be someone somewhere who would know but this.

I was just reading the Mayo Clinic's take on type 1 D. They say you are at higher risk of having T1D if one or both of your parents had it too. Here again, they played down genetic aspect as causative saying genetics may be a cause, with may being an important distinction because may means possibility. They did not verify a sure genetic cause, perhaps because they do not yet know enough about genetics to say one way or the other with absolute certainty. For treatment they centered mostly around weight, exercise, insulin, and diet.

Nutritional experts I have read tend to play down the genetics as cause theories. They claim diabetes is caused by the devitalized, overly processed foods the food adulterating companies have been convincing us through massive campaigns of propaganda are good for us. In other words, even if it is slow poison, if we pay for it and are willing to be duped they will sell it to us, and spend billions of dollars making us believe it is right. I am not a doctor or an expert in this area of knowledge, but I have read medical reports and results of research. They also claim eighty per cent of all cancers could be prevented through diet and exercise, which also translates into lifestyle. The nutritional experts have said if you are raised in a family environment where a diet of highly refined sugars and overly fatty foods were the norm, the diabetes probably came from that. At any rate, the Mayo Clinic reports genetics as only a possible causative factor. They also mentioned something about viruses.

We as Americans do not want to admit that our food industries are deliberately poisoning us for profit. We may not like the idea they are artificially manipulating the ingredients in food to cause addiction to oral gratification, an addiction as powerful and binding as any for many many people, but the fact is that is exactly what they are and have been doing. Study the advertising campaigns of big tobacco, and see the blatant lies. The fact is millions die annually in the USA of diseases that are directly attributable to lifetime habits of ingesting devitalized, processed foods. Do not expect the medical professionals to go overboard trying to alert you to these dangers because it is not in their interests to do so. All these horrific new sicknesses have kept the medical class rich and in business like never before. A normal diet of natural, wholesome, foods should help to alleviate your T1D.

1444

General Discussion / Re: New to Touring

« on: March 28, 2009, 01:35:20 pm »

Yes, it makes sense. To start out, google touring bicycles, bicycle touring, and crazyguyonabike.com. Other than that you need to be a bit more specific. There are people contributing to this forum who have knowledge on equipment, gear, and touring itself. I would suggest reading through the threads on this forum. You may come across answers to questions you never knew you had to ask.

1445

General Discussion / Re: biking across america with diabetes

« on: March 27, 2009, 09:57:40 pm »

It is a medical question. If the pancreas cannot produce enough insulin to help metabolize blood sugar, there could be something wrong with the pancreas or the intake of sugars is too high so that after a period of time the pancreas becomes sort of burned out trying to produce enough insulin to keep blood sugar concentrations at acceptable levels. Something like that. Diabetes can be caused by excessive intake of highly refined sugars over a long period of time, and also by excessive intakes of iron and fats. Excessive urinary excretions have something to do with it too. Diabetes is caused by a long term diet that is incompatible with the human digestive system. There seems also to be a hereditary aspect to the  disease which has been investigated. Some Doctors seem to think the passing along of diabetes from generation to generation is more a matter of passing along dietary habits than a matter of genes and DNA and such. Eating foods that cause the pancreas to over produce insulin to the point it is exhausted, and then taking extra insulin is not the way to go. A special diet, or lets just say a normal diet, has as far as I know always been part of the treatment for diabetes.
In some parts of the country it might not always be possible for you to buy the foods you need. If anyone wants to prevent diabetes to begin with, just eat fresh fruitsm fresh vegetables, whole grains, whole cereals, nuts, seeds, etc. A diet high in fiber is adviseable. World populations where highly refined sugars were not part of the diet were totally free of diabetes. After highly refined sugars became part of the diets diabetes appeared,sometimes in epidemic proportions. The onset seemed to be about twenty years after the beginning of habitual ingestion. Diabetes comes at varying levels of severity. The questions you have and the answers you seek are matters between you and your doctor. Perhaps there is a cyclist on this forum who has the same kind of diabetes you have.

It is only my opinion, but any project regarding diabetes should be aimed at prevention, even moreso than at cure. Medical science does not say dietary habits are the only cause of diabetes, but in the western world dietary habits are by and large the main cause.

1446

General Discussion / Re: biking across america with diabetes

« on: March 27, 2009, 11:55:55 am »

There are quite a few people on this forum who have bicycled across the United states. Use roads that are best for cycling. Be careful. There are web sites devoted much to bicycle touring. I am not sure about cycling with diabetes. Diabetes can be controlled through diet, but I don't know about curing it or erasing it entirely.

1447

Routes / Re: Orlando FL to Houston TX

« on: March 26, 2009, 06:15:14 am »

Great ride. Great ride. Kudos.

1448

Routes / Re: Orlando FL to Houston TX

« on: March 25, 2009, 01:47:52 pm »

So with all their new roads they still will not build a cycling lane.  It's too bad. I guess they have other things to worry about. Come to think of it, I don't remember seeing cyclists in those areas.  I have cycled through there twice, maybe three times. I camped out near Tillman's Corner one night. I always went straight through New Orleans, except for one night when we were invited to stay at a residence. Did you have any problems at all going through Louisiana? I did have every time I went through that state by bicycle.

1449

Routes / Re: Theme based tours

« on: March 25, 2009, 08:19:30 am »

I definitely have been on theme based tours in Europe and the United States, but not by bicycle. All my real theme based tours were by car and train.
I cycle to get out and see the world and the countryside and to have a good time.

1450

Routes / Re: Orlando FL to Houston TX

« on: March 25, 2009, 08:08:26 am »

Just got back from my ride, had a great time, mostly good weather.

For anyone interested in this route, I've mapped out the data from my GPS:
http://www.bikemap.net/route/137115

That's just way too cool for words. I checked the map and the pointers. I know exactly where you went, and I have gone the same route by bicycle myself.

How did you sleep? Motels, stealth, pay camp, friends, a combination of all of the above? What about shelter? Tent, tarp, bivy sack. How long did it take. I am guessing 15 days to 20, but probably less than twenty. Any problems along the way?

1451

Routes / Re: Warning Alert: Southern Tier, Mexican-American Border Areas.

« on: March 25, 2009, 07:58:21 am »

If just over 4000 American troops have been killed in Irag in all these years, and some 7000 people have been killed in northern Mexico in a year, what does that tell you? It is a war zone.

Personally, I think it is safe to cycle the southern tier in the areas along the Mexican border, but the fact is it might not be either.

1452

Routes / Re: Warning Alert: Southern Tier, Mexican-American Border Areas.

« on: March 24, 2009, 10:53:01 pm »

Front page www.yahoo.com, 25 March 2009. If you are planning a ride on the southern tier bike route, and somebody tells you it is all safe, andthe problem is in Mexico, keep in mind they are not going to be on that route, You Are. There is much more to the article you see here.
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WASHINGTON — An epidemic of drug-related violence that has claimed thousands of lives in northern Mexico and begun to spill over into U.S. border cities has once again thrust Mexico into the first tier of President Barack Obama's security concerns.
The administration announced Tuesday that it's sending more federal agents and high-tech equipment to the U.S.-Mexican border in an attempt to blunt violence in both countries. One aim is to stanch the flow of U.S. weapons into Mexico , which Mexican officials say is fueling the drug wars

1453

General Discussion / Re: House Bill 3008 Oregon

« on: March 24, 2009, 07:56:39 am »

They can make laws all day and all night. I am not going to pay an annual tax on my bicycles.Period.

If they build safe roads for cycling, I'll pay.

1454

Routes / Re: How much to save to do the TA

« on: March 24, 2009, 07:39:20 am »

I can tell you. The way you describe your tour, you can do it for thirty dollars a day for absolute sure. There is no question about it. Some days you will spend quite a bit less, and other days more, and that is only as you described your intended trip. Thirty will do it.

When you say you will be camping a majority of the time it leaves a lot of room for error. For example, for a trip of ninety days a majority could be fifty days, leaving forty for motels, in which case you can throw the thirty estimate out the window. If you want an estimate you have to be more precise about what you are planning to do. If you camp a majority of the time and stay with pre-arranged free lodging other nights, that is something else again. If you camp a majority of your nights, what will you do on the minority of nights? When I cycle coss country I average about $30.00 per day, and that is with occasional days in motels, but not many. One a 66 day, 3700 mile tour, I cycled 54 days, and spent about six days in motels, three days at homes , and three days elsewhere free. In this case the majority of nights camped out is large compared to other forms of shelter for the night.

1455

Routes / Re: Warning Alert: Southern Tier, Mexican-American Border Areas.

« on: March 24, 2009, 07:30:24 am »

We are aware the southern tier of ACA's bicycling route is totally within the boundaries of the United States. It also runs very near the border. It is right at the border for quite some distance. Below this paragraph you see thge latest warning about the border lands. Posted on www.yahoo.com on 24 March 2009. There is quite a bit more to the story.
==========================================================================================================


WASHINGTON – Members of Congress may be alarmed by the surge in Mexican drug violence and its potential to spill across the border, but they grow silent when the talk turns to gun control as a solution.

With related kidnappings and killings occurring in the U.S., the Obama administration is likely to shift dozens of enforcement agents and millions of dollars to the fight against Mexican drug cartels.