Hi, Kitty! That's cool that you've gotten into cycling. Don't worry that you made the mistake of leaving your gear on 3, instead of 1; I did the same thing when I first started cycling, again, as an adult. Like you, I also mistakenly thought that keeping it on a higher gear would help me become stronger at climbs.
I've also had challenging hills on my routes; despite having my gears at the lowest, I still had to walk my bike up them, sometimes. But, recently, what helped me finally overcome them without feeling I had to walk my bike up the hills, was allowing myself to cycle up them as slow as I needed (because I usually have a problem of trying to push myself to cycle up them as fast as possible, especially when there's traffic).
That's great that you've already had advice from your doctor, regarding diabetes and cycling. I don't have that, but I've discovered that having enough hydration and snack or two in between riding, when cycling for hours, has helped keep my energy levels up while cycling.
So, I'm sure, with diabetes, it's definitely crucial to keep an eye out on when cycling.
Last edited by anon06; 08-05-19 at 07:16 AM.