Team Type 1 Featured in October Bicycling Magazine

If you're a regular subscriber to Bicycling Magazine then you've probably come across the unique story of Team Type 1 in the October issue.

If you haven't or if you don't subscribe, the issue is worth picking up. The eight-page feature article highlights an extraordinary group of individuals who are role models for those who live with diabetes as well as for anyone who has been hindered from living out a passion.

Reporter Jeremy Katz spent several days with the team at its training camp back in late February, then caught up with the professional squad when it raced near his home in the heart of Lehigh Valley.

The in-depth feature centers on how much someone with Type 1 diabetes must learn to manage their metabolism. Team Type 1 co-founders Phil Southerland and Joe Eldridge are quoted, as well as rider Ian MacGregor, team doctor Matt Corcoran and trainer Rick Crawford. Here is an excerpt:

At the start of a ride, the body relies heavily on stored muscle glycogen. Blood glucose and circulation fatty acids pick up the slack as time goes on. Unless you're highly trained, muscle glycogen cannot be replenished until you recover. You've bonked. A bonk is more serious for an athlete with diabetes, whose body cannot properly compensate for low blood sugar. Without sufficient glucose, your brain and organs stop working. Team Type 1 co-founder Joe Eldridge sums it up nicely, "If I bonk, I die."

Published by Rodale, Bicycling magazine is "the voice of cycling, providing the stories on the personalities, trends, and techniques behind the sport." The October issue featuring the story on Team Type 1 will be on newsstands everywhere beginning this Saturday.