INSULIN360
20-26 August 2022 - we cracked it!
On 26th August 2022 I completed my seven-day mountain bike challenge - the Insulin360. It was a really tough one - we cycled 60km a day with up to 2,500m height gain, all on technical single track terrain in temps up to +35C. We had three cyclists who completed everything - myself (61yrs, Type 1 Diabetes), Ilonka (two times Dutch Triathlon champion aged 48yrs - an amazing mum who has 3 children!) and Dougal Gaisher (22yrs, Type 1 Diabetes and international surf ski adventurer).
Insulin360 was also a great triumph for me personally as it coincided with the fifth anniversary when I was knocked off my bike in August 2017. I broke my neck and lost the deltoids muscles in my right shoulder (see photos below). It took me years of training and physio. But on August 26th 2022 I completed my hardest bike challenge ever. We cycled the entire La Grand Traversee des Hautes Alpes - 367 Km and 13,400m of elevation on normal mountain bikes (not electric!).
The aim of Insulin360 is to create awareness about Diabetes and raise funds for Action4Diabetes (A4D). My personal message is that we are defined by what we do, not by the challenges that we face. Our target is to raise £25,000 for A4D. We are at £13,088 but we still have some way to go to get to our goal. £25,000 will cover the cost of medication, education and support for more than 80 children with Type 1 Diabetes. A4D has new patients admitted to their clinic support programme every week, year round. Without insulin these young children just die slowly and painfully within 6 months. So the need is very real and urgent.
Full details about Insulin360, including how to donate on this link: https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/Insulin360-A4D-Challenge
In South-East Asia, the diagnosis of T1D is a death sentence for the vast majority of young people…
But A4D is rapidly changing this situation. A4D is a UK-registered charity giving health and hope to disadvantaged young people living with Type 1 Diabetes in South-East Asia. It is the largest diabetes charity in the whole region covering a land mass of 4.5 million km². The charity has partnered with 27 clinics across seven countries: Myanmar, Cambodia, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Laos and Vietnam. The charity now supports over 700 young people with T1D with free lifesaving medical supplies and essential equipment. It is a big project and requires a lot of support.
The reason for the title "Insulin360" is because not only does it relate to the total distance of my challenge, but also to the message that A4D provides complete all-round support for the children with T1D on their programmes. In addition to insulin, A4D gives young T1D’s education, psychosocial counselling, and peer group support, for them, their family members and their carers. A4D also gives comprehensive training for the health care professionals who work with A4D.
Insulin360 will be one the toughest challenges I have ever faced. It is a longer, harder version of La Grande Traversée des Hautes-Alpes (GTHA). It is the highest MTB trail in France and traverses the entire Hautes Alpes region of the French Alps. The maximum altitude we will reach will be 2,642 m. and at the end we will be only 570 m. above sea level. We will cycle through many different areas including Pays de la Meije, Grand Briançonnais, Pays des Ecrins, Queyras-Guillestrois, Serre Ponçon lake, Champsaur and Valgaudemar, the Gapençais valleys, Devoluy and finally the Buech-Sisteronais region on the borders of Provence. We will start in La Grave (off-ski capital of Europe) and finish in Laragne-Monteglin in Provence and stay in local gites along the route.
The challenge will run from 20-27 August 2022, and our team comprises six riders (UK/French/Dutch) including Charlotte Bankes, World Boarder Cross champion, and Lucas Dauge, a cyclist on the pro team Novo Nordisk, and who is also T1D. Plus our loyal and hard-working two-person support crew.
I started training for this challenge in November 2021. Now, at the age of 61, injecting more than six times a day, Insulin360 will push me to my physical limits; Each day we will climb over 2,000m. as the route weaves in and out of this mountainous region, over technical and challenging alpine terrain
OR donate directly to Action4Diabetes direct from their website: https://action4diabetes.org/donate/
In summary, A4D is changing the face of diabetes healthcare across South-East Asia, and I want to help. Please support me, and by doing so, directly help save innocent lives, and give back hope for a better future.
Click on this link to go straight to my Insulin360 fund-raising page and donate from a choice of currencies: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Jerry-Gore360