I was sheltering from the scorching midday sun on a beach in Italy when my phone pinged. It was an email from Jerry Gore, co-founder of Action 4 Diabetes. “Hey Dougal, have you done much mountain biking?”. Memories of catapulting myself over the handlebars and ending up in A&E came to mind, but worried that such incompetence might exclude me from whatever was coming next, I replied with a vague yes.

Fast forward two months and I’m in the car with Jerry, driving from Turin airport to the Haute Alpes, a chunk of France the size of Snowdonia, Dartmoor and the Lake District combined, that we’ll be traversing on mountain bikes. 360kms with over 17,000 metres of climbing (more than double Everest) – this is the INSULIN 360 challenge. I’m going to look like a right idiot if I can’t keep up.

This is the first time we’ve met and we’re probably both conscious that for the next week we’ll be together 24/7 while pushing our bodies and minds to the limit. A recipe for becoming great friends or never speaking again, depending on how things go. But as soon as we get chatting, I feel like I’ve known Jerry for years, and before we’ve even left Italy the conversation has turned to some of life’s big questions.

Compared to other challenges on Jerry’s adventure c.v, insulin360 is nothing crazy. Most of his life has been spent climbing up huge walls of rock or ice at altitudes where breathing becomes difficult, sleeping in those tents that hang off the cliff face. From Madagascar to Russia, he’s climbed new routes and made first summits, having epic adventures along the way.

It’s easy to forget just what he has achieved, perhaps because he is such a modest guy, or maybe because I’m still getting my head around how he does all of this with type 1 diabetes. Plus he asks me questions like ‘How many cereal bars are you packing?’ or ‘Do we need a rainjacket today?’ and then I remember some of the stuff he’s done and just wonder ‘Why are you asking me ?!’.

We arrive in Vallouise, a little village surrounded by alpine meadows and stunning mountains that has been home to Jerry and his family for the last 20 years. I’d arranged with Jerry that I’d be camping, but thunderstorms were forecast, and I had no tent. You see although I had a week at home to get ready for this trip, for some reason I decided to lay around all week and then panic pack on the last night, staying up until 3am to find everything, which included finding all the kit I was missing, such as quite essential items like a tent, which I then had no time to buy. I’ve said it before BUT THAT IS THE LAST TIME THAT HAPPENS! (Edit – it happened again :/)

Luckily for me, Jerry and his wife Jackie kindly invited me to stay in their chalet, meaning that I wouldn’t be exhausted and smelly for a change.

The third member of our team was Ilonka Biermans, a dutch wonder-women who seemed to always look fresh while Jerry and I arrived at the top of each hill as sweaty, panting messes.

But as a team without egos, we climbed never-ending cols in the roasting heat, flew down technical single-track littered with rocks and roots, all the time dealing with tricky diabetes control. On day one I arrived at the top of a never-ending gravel track first, and sat down to wait for Jerry. After 15 minutes when he hadn’t appeared, I began to get worried. I raced back down, kicking up a trail of dust, to find Jerry sat on the trailside. Everyone responds to low blood sugars differently and Jerry becomes disorientated and confused. In this state his brain shuts down and he doesn’t eat. Leave it much longer and he’d go unconscious. I tested his blood glucose and gave him an energy bar to eat, and we were soon on our way.

It was the first time I’d exercised with another T1D and if I’m honest, been able to share the struggle with someone who actually understands what it’s like. No self-pity felt, that’s just how it is and we get on with it.

The scenery was stunning, changing from dramatic alpine vistas to softer hills as we travelled south, and I became addicted to speeding down the trails – so much fun.

And finally, the whole point of this challenge – saving the lives of kids in Asia with T1D. £360 is enough cash for Action4Diabetes to supply a child with insulin and education for a year. It was fascinating learning more about A4D from Jerry and I’ve finished my fundraising with a total of nearly £5500 – thank you to everyone who contributed.