Monday, March 17, 2008
Lanterne Rouge in Taiwan
Congratulations to Phil Southerland who finished the Tour of Taiwan in the Lanterne Rouge position while supporting a fifth-place team finish for the first-year pro cycling team, Team Type 1.Southerland is one of four riders on the team who face the grueling challenges of bike racing at the professional level while simultaneously managing his blood sugar levels for Type 1 diabetes. (There is an additional development squad of nine riders, all with diabetes).
Southerland was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when he was seven months old. With the guidance of his mother and his own competitive attitude, he maintains that he is not living an adjusted life, but rather a normal life with small adjustments. Phil says: "I have never said 'no' to anything because of diabetes, I just made the adjustments so I could say 'yes'."
Southerland was one of the founding members of Team Type 1, created in 2004 to inspire people living with diabetes to take a proactive approach to managing their health and overcoming the obstacles often associated with the condition. In just its second showing in the annual Race Across America (RAAM) last year, the team took home the victory – beating every other team by more than three hours.
Southerland maintains a blog where he talks about his approach to combining high-level cycling performance and management of diabetes. He hopes to continue the successes of the team and take it to a Tour de France entry one day.
Photos courtesy of Marco Quezada.
Labels: Southerland
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Phil never gives up! I am glad to see his fame is attributable to cycling and not diabetes this time!
bigmamajo
bigmamajo
Cool! Love the quote about his adjustments so he can say YES.
I'd like to think of my life choices as making adjustments to choose YES rather than no, too.
I like how your blog highlights how much work and dedication it takes to to even be able to qualify for the Lantern Rouge. Thanks, Nancy.
Go Phil!
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I'd like to think of my life choices as making adjustments to choose YES rather than no, too.
I like how your blog highlights how much work and dedication it takes to to even be able to qualify for the Lantern Rouge. Thanks, Nancy.
Go Phil!
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