Diabetes Ireland, in partnership with Zurich Insurance and ERM Financial Services, has today launched a new private motor insurance scheme, enabling people with diabetes and their families to switch insurer more easily and without the requirement of a medical report from their GP.

With 191,000 people in Ireland living with diabetes, the Private Motor Car Insurance Scheme is available to all Diabetes Ireland members and offers preferential competitive rates for people living with the condition, without incurring additional medical examination fees each time they start a new policy.

Commenting on the new scheme, CEO of Diabetes Ireland Kieran O’Leary said, “People with diabetes tend to stay with the same insurance provider year on year as it is a hassle getting a medical report from your GP stating your fitness to drive. With this scheme they will now have a hassle free competitive choice”.

This scheme, launched in conjunction with Zurich Insurance and ERM Financial Services, is based on the premise that Diabetes Ireland members have a respect for their personal health and wellbeing and thus manage their condition effectively placing them in a lower risk category than the general population. As a result, members will be offered more competitive rates.

The scheme is open to all Diabetes Ireland members and will factor in all the normal benefits applicants would expect from their motor insurance policy.

Conor Brennan, Director of Broker Distribution, Zurich Insurance added, “We are delighted to partner with Diabetes Ireland on this exciting new scheme which will provide those living with diabetes, and their family members, with peace of mind and access to competitive preferential rates on private motor insurance, without incurring the costs associated with GP medical reports throughout their lifetime.”

For further information at renewal time and to compare costs, simply call Zurich Insurance at Lo Call 1890 161 162 to receive an instant quote.

Ok time for another blog update. At the time of writing this I’m actually in the back of an old bus packed with bikes and suitcases and barely even enough room to sit, travelling between Yanyang and Hongcheon in South Korea. I’m not sure if the bus even has suspension because I can feel every little bump in the road and at times I find myself lifted off my seat whenever we hit a pothole or something, grabbing hold of my laptop, so I hope there’s no spelling mistakes!

Since my last blog update, I’ve had a rollercoaster ride of a time. Plenty of travelling, lots of racing and many great experiences. I remember at the time of writing my last piece, I was aiming to achieve a top 10 in the US criterium races I had been competing in almost every weekend if a different state each time. It didn’t take me much longer to achieve that goal as just the following weekend, 18th of May, I got 10th place in the Wilmington Grand Prix, Delaware. I was absolutely delighted with this, as were the team, as it is proof of what can be achieved with diabetes. These short, intense, adrenalin filled races can be some of the most difficult types of races to control your sugar levels during so it was nice to put in this good performance. I also ended up moving up into 10th overall in the USA crits standings which was great news too!

On the day of that race, Saturday, I got word from the team that I would possibly be sent to a race in Germany because a team mate was sick. I flew back to my base in Atlanta on the Sunday, got confirmation and an email with my flights that same day, flew to Germany on Monday and travelling overnight arrived on Tuesday and the race began Wednesday! It all happened very fast, but I was delighted to be there racing in the biggest races of my life against the best teams in the world preparing for the Tour de France.

It was somewhat overwhelming at times racing alongside guys I was used to watching on TV as I followed the Tour de France and other major races. Even the distance of the stages and the difficulty of them were a huge step up for me. It was a 5 day race, consisting of 4 stages of around 200km and then a 32km individual time trial (basically a race against the clock). The weather was horrific, but I was pleased with my efforts. It was an achievement in itself just to finish each day considering the huge step up for me and my far from ideal preparation, still adjusting to jet lag and being used to competing a completely different style of racing in America. I lost a team mate after 2 stages because of sickness, so we were a man down, but the rest of us all made it through to the last day, which was probably the worst conditions I’ve ever cycled in with many people opting to pull out and hop in the car instead. I made it to the finishing town of Nuremberg with a huge sense of satisfaction of what I and the team had achieved. It was even nice to meet another diabetic cyclist at the finish who came up to us and to talk about how inspiring he thought our team was and also to chat about his own experiences with managing diabetes and exercise and the difficulties he was having. It’s always moments like these which give me a good feeling because I know what we’re doing does benefit others, and gives other diabetics a sense of hope and proof that it won’t stop you doing anything.

After Germany, I flew straight home to Ireland to be an unexpected guest at my mother’s surprise birthday party. This went down really well as I was supposed to be in America when I appeared out of my hiding spot in the restaurant toilets! I managed to meet up with family and friends, be around for a few other special occasions, a little bit of training on my home roads before I was off again, this time to Asia for the Tour of Korea. After 25 hours of travelling, including 2 bus journeys, and 2 flights, I arrived in the capital city of Seoul where the 8 day race was to kick off. With 7 road stages and 1 time trial covering a distance over 1,000km all over South Korea this was always going to be a trip to remember!
We started with 7 riders on the team, but after an extremely difficult first stage we already had lost 3 guys who unfortunately were outside the time limit and therefore out of the race. But spirits were still high with 4 riders and 7 stages remaining. I encountered some bad luck myself on the second stage with a crash on the descent of one of the day’s mountains. I thought my race was over, but after some treatment from the doctor I was able to continue and finish out the remaining 80km of the stage. I was lucky to walk away with just a deep gash on my elbow, bruising and road rash on my hip and a sprained ankle.

I was well looked after by the team’s medical staff to ensure I could continue to race on. I fought on, even though each day was a battle for survival with more and more dropping out of the race as each day went on. Stage 5 was a team time trial which where we all pushed our bodies to the absolute limit. Stage 6 started with a dangerous decent down a mountain in rain and fog and then a steep 10km climb where my body simply shut down. My legs had nothing left to give, and there were another few riders in the same boat as me. With 150km still left to go, it unfortunately called for the end of the stage and the race for me, and also the only other Irish guy in the race too.

I was pleased to make it to the 6th day out of 8. I gave it absolutely everything I had, and have 2 team mates left to fight it out for the final stages. And just as I finish off writing this, they have managed to complete the 7th stage, so just one day remaining. I fly home in 2 days time and will always remember my trip to Korea. We received attention from a lot of media at the race for all the right reasons because of the message we are spreading about changing diabetes. We even had the national broadcasting station KBS do a documentary film on us, which includes an insight into 24 hours of life as a professional cyclist with diabetes and also the purpose and aims of this team. It is due to be broadcast sometime in August so once I get word that it has been published I’ll try get a link to view it because I’m sure there would be some Irish people interested in seeing it.

That’s all for now! I’ll be able to spend two weeks at home in Ireland from the 17th of June until the 2nd of July which I’m really looking forward to. During that time I’ll be competing in the National Championships which is a goal of mine, and hopefully be able to organise some sort of charity cycle in association with Diabetes Ireland. It would be great if something like this can be worked out, it’s a plan in the making at the moment!

Ciao!

Stephen

Updated June 2013

I started cycling competitively in 2008 and did just one race as an U16, it was the Kerry Youth Tour and even though it was an extreme introduction to racing with the international field, I loved it and decided I wanted to come back for more!

I then completed two seasons in Ireland as a Junior, and 2011 was my first step up into senior ranks as an U23 which proved to be a great season for me. I progressed through the various categories in Ireland to the highest level, and in the meantime had some good results, most notably my first ever stage race victory in the Charleville 2 day, winning the overall general classification along with the time trial.

As a result of this success, I was awarded ’2011 Best Domestic Based Cyclist’ by Cycling Ireland which was a huge honor to receive and a great boost of confidence. I made the difficult decision to move from my friends and local club Limerick CC to arguably Ireland’s strongest team, Dan Morrissey – Speedy Spokes for the 2012 season. Motivation was high, training was going well and I was in the form of my life, knowing I was going to have some good early season results before things started to go downhill.

I had all the symptoms of diabetes but never realised at the time what was actually wrong until a routine blood test recommended by the U23 Irish Development Squad coach showed up the shocking news. I couldn’t believe it, I didn’t think it was possible and initially thought it was unfair. Why me? I don’t drink, I don’t smoke and I already have to watch my diet and eat healthily for my cycling? The doctors at the time were far from inspiring, saying that my extreme levels of exercise could complicate things. I thought for a moment that my cycling career was over, until I remembered watching Team Type 1 racing on TV and that is where I got my inspiration from. I read team founder Phil Southerland’s book ‘Not Dead Yet’ which gave me the determination to not let it get in my way and live my dreams.

Little did I realise how soon this would actually happen. Only 6 months after my diagnosis I signed a professional cycling contract with Team Novo Nordisk following a few weeks of training and racing in the US with the team. Dream come true. I could not be happier to be part of this team which is Changing Diabetes and providing inspiration to millions of diabetics all around the world. Our partnership with Novo Nordisk is simply priceless, we share the common goal of educating, empowering and inspiring 372 million people affected by diabetes. I have learned so much from the team – my team mates and the amazing support structure which surrounds it – and hope that we can in turn help people to learn from us. This means more than just cycling for me, Changing Diabetes as part of Team Novo Nordisk has the ability to actually improve the lives of many others. What other cycling team can say they save lives? I look forward to the season ahead and showing that nothing is impossible with diabetes!

The world first all diabetic professional cycling team has been competing in events all around the world since February this year. I’ve managed to race in Holland and many states across America so far this season and many more to come, with some pretty consistent results, the best of which has been a top 15 so I’m keen to break into the top 10 and even further, but it’s important to realise this is a huge learning curve and I’m still learning something new about diabetes every day, the demands and managing it as a professional athlete.

It’s ironic that cycling is one of the most difficult sports in the world, diabetes is one of the most difficult conditions to manage, yet I see my cycling as an aid for controlling my diabetes. My exercise is just as important for me as my insulin when it comes to keeping my glucose levels in check, and it just shows how so many people could take this into consideration to help their own situation.

I look forward to sharing my blogs with Diabetes Ireland over the coming months and beyond and hopefully when I am home I will have an opportunity to head out for a training cycle and meet & greet with some of you.

Best regards

Stephen 

Updated: May 2013

**Turn right at Ballincollig rugby club**

SUNDAY 23rd JUNE 2013

12PM TO 5PM

ALL PROCEEDS WILL GO TO
CORK PARENTS SUPPORT GROUP,
DIABETES IRELAND,
TEA/COFEE SERVED

The reason we are having this Fundraising Event is that 2 of our Grandchildren areType 1Insulin Dependent Diabetics and have enjoyed many wonderful events funded by Cork Parents Support Group