During the 2013 Tour de Cure ride, my friend Marty was active on various social media sites … he frequently used the phrase “Not dead yet”.

As it happened, I recently finished a book that was recommended to me by a fellow type 2 diabetic.  It was “Not Dead Yet: My Race Against Disease: From Diagnosis to Dominance” by Phil Southerland.

When Phil was a child, he was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes.  His mother was told that he would either be dead or blind by the time he was 25. Despite this prediction, he went on to be a world class professional cycle racer and founded a professional cycle racing team: Team Type 1 (now Team Novo Nordisk).

I found the book to be very good and quite enlightening … on multiple levels.

First, and foremost, it gave me a peak into the life of someone with type 1 diabetes.

The struggles of managing blood glucose levels on a daily basis are daunting … even more so for a professional athlete.

Secondly, it gave me insight into the world of professional cycle racing.  Even though I’ve gotten more seriously into cycling … I never really paid attention to pro racing.  This book actually inspired me to record the Tour de France on the TiVo.

I would recommend this book for anyone who …

• has diabetes (type 1 or type 2).
• is interested in cycling.
• would like to read a very inspirational story about overcoming adversary.

Or any combination of the above.

You an purchase the book at amazon.com here.