Most of the time I get to talk diabetes in a very natural and comfortable setting for me - with my bike, when training or racing. I am surrounded mostly by guys who also love the sport of cycling, attempting new races, testing new bling titanium and carbon parts, reading maps, dodging wildlife, dealing with weather, and wrestling with my BGs along the way.
The day before World Diabetes Day, with the launch of The Blue Heel Society, that changed.
A bit.
It's definitely not that the BHS community is unkind. Quite the contrary. All involved, from the co-founders to all the folks awesome enough to post pics of Blue shoes, are the most thoughtful, encouraging, non-judgmental, and courageous people I've ever encountered.
It was just that instead of being surrounded by Trek Superflys with big knobby tires and 100mm of suspension travel, I find myself immersed with delicate Choos and Loubutins with a 5" heel.
At first it was intimidating to say the least. I was completely out of my element. I didn't even know the vocabulary. A Dolly Shoe? A Peep Toe?
Oy.
Then there is the whole looking for Blue shoes, and trying to capture photos and talk to people about them, while out in public. A little bit of a social mine field to say the least.
As time progressed, I began to fit in a little bit with this group made up of mostly women from all walks of life. I learned the buzz words, and opted into conversations about shoes, diabetes, diets, and insulin to carb ratios with them. Heck, I think I even noted once when Nordstrom had a sale.
If you stop and think about it, the social aspect is really JUST like when you or a loved one first get diagnosed with diabetes. You are nervous. Not sure what questions to ask or who has the answers to them. Haven't learned the diabetes vocabulary. Not even sure what styles you like - MDI? Glucophage? Pump? Retinopathy? CGM?
After a while you begin to find your footing. You make close friends in the Diabetes Online Community. You find organizations like the Blue Heel Society and Type1Rider.
You learn. You feel safer. You become more sure of yourself.
And, in the end, your realize that although all who deal with diabetes, in any capacity, are very diverse, we are all very much the same.
So yes. Blue Heels. Size 10. Men....
- Tony
