Miles, Mountains, and Blood Sugar

Imagine a 395 mile cycling race in East Texas where most of the roads are unpaved and often hilly. You generally have to camp out so you have to carry all your gear with you. By the end you’ll have climbed 17,000 feet through the East Texas Showdown. On top of it all, the bikepackers are timed with prizes for 1st, 2nd and 3rd places. It’s not for nothing the race website describes the race as, “an opportunity to look yourself smack in your own damn face and see what you’re made of.”

Impressive as that all is, now imagine doing that while managing your Type 1 Diabetes. That’s what Stephanie Hall, Vermont-based off road ultra-cyclist, does with every race.

She’s been riding consistently since she was 16, but found her groove in ultra-distance events starting in 2021. “Earlier on in my riding journey, I just kept taking longer and longer rides alone or with friends,” she explains. Thanks to a partner, Hall was introduced to the world of bikepacking, which is under the ultra-distance event umbrella, which includes ultra-cycling, which is generally on roads, and gravel races, which are typically on gravel roads.

Hall began with the East Texas Showdown and later participated in faster races such as Gravel Worlds Long Voyage, a self-supported 300-mile gravel race in Lincoln, Nebraska, but found that those events felt less exploratory. Bikepacking can involve a variety of terrain—including gravel, dirt, and paved roads—whereas gravel races typically take place primarily on gravel and are often one-day events. Bikepacking may also include sections where riders must hike while carrying or pushing their bikes. 

In 2024, Hall found her stride with the Vermont Super 8, a 649 mile gravel bikepacking race that crosses the state in the shape of an eight. During the five days of the race, Hall felt like she was riding strong, resting well, and taking care of herself.  She also noted that she loves off-road cycling not only because she enjoys nature, but because she feels safer. “You get tired and fatigued and I feel a little bit safer being in that state in the middle of the woods where it’s only really myself that can injure me, versus a car,” she explains.

The Vermont Super 8 is one of Hall’s favorite races so far. “I think there is something really special about traversing your own backyard and exploring areas of a state you live in,” she says.

Training for the Race

The Hellenic Mountain Race , Hall’s second favorite race, was her first time racing abroad. It’s a 599 mile ultra-endurance bikepacking race that takes place in Greece. While she was sick during the race and ended up having to scratch, she felt that she learned a lot. “Sometimes you learn more from the failures and the successes, and I feel like that was definitely the case,” she says. It was much more challenging than she expected but she found Greece “insanely beautiful” and it was eye-opening to see so much of the country for her.

But the best part of any cycling expedition is that feeling when you start descending a hill or mountain, Hall says. It makes her feel “a little kid on a bike again.” Or when she gets to see a sunrise or sunset during training or a race, especially when it’s at random places on the route. “It’s just such a unique life experience,” she explains.

To train for these events, she’s riding 10-15 hours a week. When the seasons change she’ll add hiking, snowshoeing, skiing, as well as functional lifting—moving a cord of wood and shoveling her driveway several times of week thanks to the snowfall—to vary up her regime and help build bone density. 

In addition to training your body’s stamina to participate in these ultra-event races (generally 125 miles and up), athletes also have to train their bodies to take in enough carbohydrates to keep them going.  That can mean eating 60 grams of carbs per hour or more, whether you want to or not if you want to keep going and prevent injury. Plus with bikepacking, there’s the added complexity that bikepackers may have to pack their own food and/or rely on what food they can find at gas stations and other commercial places along the way.

Managing Diabetes on the Road

On top of the challenges of bikepacking, Hall has the extra challenge of managing her blood sugar as a Type 1 Diabetic during these races. She wears a Continuous Glucose Monitor, which tracks her blood sugar, and an OmniPod pump that delivers insulin as needed. But she also always carries back up, such as a traditional glucose meter and syringes and vials. “The deeper you get into sleep deprivation," she explained, “things are really more challenging, and control gets harder. You almost get a little bit more sensitive.” 

It can be a challenge to find the right balance. For instance, if Hall is struggling with high blood sugar, she may be hesitant to eat, but she knows she has to keep fueling to keep going. “It can send you on this roller coaster of high and low blood sugars,” she explained, “I really practice compassion with myself. Sometimes that means taking extra time to figure out what’s the right dose [of insulin], what’s the right fuel, or getting some extra sleep in the longer events.”

When she’s on the road, she does carry a fair amount of food. Hall generally opts for “real food” instead of gels or drinks, but that can mean junk food like Cheez-Its, ice cream, or pizza. Hall looks for foods that mix carbohydrates and fats, which are "slightly more stable for blood sugar and good for feelings in general.” They may not be the healthiest of foods but the combo of fats and carbs will keep her energized. She’ll occasionally use CARBs fuel, a high carb gel, which can be a big help if she’s dealing with low blood sugar. 

Sometimes stopping can be a challenge to maintain blood sugar, food intake, and insulin. “If I want to stop for a long time, sometimes I'll end up overdosing [insulin] for the food, because I want to [account for it], but if I eat fast and then get on the bike, my blood sugar starts dropping so then I need less insulin,” Hall explains. She’s worked on getting into the habit of taking her insulin when she stops before she starts eating to control the wave of blood sugar.

When asked why she is so open about her diabetes, Hall explains that it’s part of her life and impacts her decisions. “It is something on the forefront of my mind to stay healthy." Both her twin sister Kayla, who is also an ultra-cyclist, and their mother also have Type 1 Diabetes so Hall is used to talking about it. “I was kinda blessed with this built-in support system but I know not everyone is. I think that hearing what others are doing or can do with [T1D], is inspiring,” Hall noted. 

Similarly, Hall is very open about her mental health on her social media, notably her Instagram. There’s still a stigma about mental health, she notes, but more people are still talking about it, especially some high visibility people, like athletes. Unlike a physical injury, you can’t see what someone is going through or how they talk to themselves with their mental health. “I also know [that] when I really wanted to seek help, I almost felt too in the thick of it to even know where to start and get help,” Hall recalls. It takes time to find a good therapist and right treatment. As with her Type I Diabetes, she hopes that it may help others feel less alone.

Filthy Fridays

Through off-road ultra-cycling, she builds strong friendships, whether it’s on a training ride or a whole weekend of riding with people and getting to know them. She’s also created her own community ride, which she calls "Filthy Fridays.”

When she moved to Vermont, she wanted to meet new people and participate in more off-road biking. She started these rides to create “challenging, adventurous routes that also brought the opportunity to build friendships.” That means traversing mountain bike terrain, old roads and snowmobile tracks during the winter. These rides also helped her develop stronger technical riding skills.

Initially, she chose Fridays for the weekly off-road cycling because Saturday morning there is a gravel ride. She also figured that Friday feels more relaxing, which may draw people in. Plus she just loved the alliteration of “Filthy Fridays.” They’ll start meeting in April until it starts snowing, since there’s not enough of a crowd for winter rides.

***

Since she started bikepacking and participating in ultra-distance races, Hall says there is always more to learn. In 2025, she did a winter overnighter with her bike, which was a whole different game than the other races she’s participated in. Hall is also upping her mechanical skills so she can work on her bike.

Looking ahead to 2026, she’s planning on continuing the Filthy Fridays and possibly traveling to Turkey for a new  bikepacking race: Taurus Mountain Race.

In addition to honing her skills, Hal hopes that more women will consider getting into bikepacking and ultra-cycling. “ It can be intimidating, but also it can be whatever you make it,” Hall says, “One of the best things about riding a bike is that  you could go 10 miles down the road and go camp in your friend's yard or you could have a really grand adventure.” The best part of cycling, she says, is that you can adapt it to your own lifestyle.