Phil Southerland photo

Phil Southerland

PHIL SOUTHERLAND is the founder of Team Type 1, a team of championship bike racers. He and Team Type 1 have been profiled in numerous cycling and diabetes publications, the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, and the Atlanta Journal Constitution. He lives in Atlanta, where Team Type 1 is based. Visit him online at www.teamtype1.org.

JOHN HANC teaches writing and journalism at the New York Institute of Technology. He is a long time contributor to Newsday and a contributing editor to Runners World magazine, as well as the author of The Coolest Race on Earth. He lives with his wife and son in Farmingdale, New York."


“We never did figure out why that overnight spike had occurred; perhaps it was a reminder that sometimes, diabetes management is an ongoing experiment. No matter how perfect the system, how good the technology, your disease can sometimes take an unpredictable turn. The way to handle it? Don't panic. If you can't figure out a reason, don't worry, just figure out a solution.”
Phil Southerland
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“We were riding to make a statement on behalf of 1.5 million people who have a disease that's constantly in thier lives, relentless, unceaseing, and unforgiving--so how could we be anything but?”
Phil Southerland
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“After the mountains, I found that when my blood sugar levels were between 140 and 180, I was strong during my pulls--and felt refreshed and ready to go for the next ones. Same with Joe. This was a vital piece of information for all eight of us and we immediately spread the word among our teammates. Working out the diabetes strategy was as important as our race strategy. Bike-racing teams ahve to worry about a lot of things; Team Type 1 has to worry about all those same things plus a potentially life-threatening disease.”
Phil Southerland
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“We were stereotyped the way many athletes with disabilities or illnesses are, particularly in participatory sports such as biking, running, and triathlon. After a while I could pretty much fill in the thought balloons over these people's heads. "Oh, look at these heroic young people, courageously struggling to get themselves across the finish line, in order to raise money for thier cause. How inspiring!" Don't get me wrong; while we appreciate the good wishes and realized that they were usually genuine, something in that attitude rankled me, and still does. We're athletes, dammit, and we want to be accorded the same respect as other competitors. That's how you treat somebody with illness or disability, in my opinion. Not as a special-needs person, but as a person.”
Phil Southerland
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