Beyond the borders with Bruce McLean SIXTY-two year old Newcastle man Bruce McLean has completed the biggest adventure of his life, all thanks to good management of his type 2 diabetes. Bruce took on motorcycle tour of Europe and Russia after leaving from Japan with travel buddy 59-year-old Stefan Dinov from Sydney in 2004. Bruce was diagnosed with diabetes five years previous and put on Diaformin and NovoNorm tablets to control his condition. I was referred to a specialist who gave me the ultimatum: change my diet to lose weight - and exercise - or I would soon have to go onto insulin, Bruce said. He took the doc’s advice and changed his diet and lifestyle, which enabled him to drop 15 kilograms and reduce his diabetes tablet intake by a third. It gave me a new lease on life… so I thought I’d use it, Bruce said. Bruce visited Vladivostok in Russia and then head for London before touring 14 countries including China, Mongolia, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Austria, Germany and France. Having returned to Australia, Bruce reflects on his four-month journey of a lifetime: My goals had been to undertake a trip that - while achievable - would provide a challenge for me. A trip that would give me the opportunity to put myself under enough pressure to find out a few things about myself, at this late stage of life, without being able to fall back into my comfort zone. And to be able to prove that it is possible to do such a thing with diabetes. The trip was undertaken with Stefan Dinov as far as Serbia, who up until the planning stage of the trip, I did not know. This meant being with a relative stranger 24/7 for three months. The fact that we were still friends at the end of that part of the journey showed that we were able to settle any differences and assist each other through difficult circumstances! In all I travelled 20,000kms through 12 countries, I had 12 flat tyres but no mechanical breakdowns. I came off my bike twice, once in the dirt and the other on a wet greasy road and was also hit by a truck that overtook me and cut in on me, but I was able the stay on the bike as I ran off the road. The trip had a number of highlights, firstly the people of Russia. We were told before we left that we would most likely encounter trouble and be robbed or worse, but it could not be further from the truth. We had a contact in Vladivostok who we had not met but who met us off the boat from Japan. He helped us with getting our bike through Russian customs and amongst other things gave us a list of contacts in other towns and cities across Russia and when we would arrive in one of these places, they would come and meet us, help us in need and invite us into their homes. These were complete strangers who could not have been more friendly or helpful. There were times when we were stopped on the side of the roads either fixing a tyre or just resting and the Russian drivers would always stop and ask if we needed help or give us a friendly wave as they passed. Even the police that would stop us at their checkpoints would just check our documents and let us through without ever asking for money. They even locked our bikes up at night in two towns. They also have an optimistic outlook, particularly in Moscow and the European part of Russia which appears to be thriving and prosperous. Second was the beauty of the countryside. I went to Russia thinking Siberia was a desolate wasteland and this was so wrong. It was green, fertile and beautiful. Hills, fast-flowing rivers, forests and farming land. Mongolia was wonderful and just like in the picture books with Gers dotting the countryside and the Mongolians on their horses tending their flocks of goats, sheep, cattle and horses. Then there was the emotion I felt at various stages in the trip… riding up to Red Square in Moscow with a tear in my eye thinking about how I had made it that far… setting off by myself for the last 3000kms of the trip… and having my wife waiting for outside our friends home in London as I arrived, were all unforgettable. I discovered that diabetes is a growing-problem in Russia, but at this stage they do not appear to cater for the dietary requirements with no low fat or sugar products being available. My Blood Glucose Levels remained good in the 4 to 6 range, helped by only being able to get basic food such as borsch and goulash at the roadside cafes with no sweets or extras. Thank you Diabetes NSW for the interest you have shown in my journey, I hope that members may be inspired by it to live life!
Posted on: Wed, 10 Dec 2014 11:19:01 +0000
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