Wow, 5,500 ft sure does make a difference.
 

I've been tooling around the Berkshires (1500 ft) all summer on my bike. I took a 15-20 mile ride through rolling hills a couple times a week after work and felt great. I took a 40 mile ride one day and it was tough but I did it. I've just moved to Santa Fe and my bike arrived UPS yesterday. My 3 mile commute today felt like the air was full of chlorine or sand. Can't wait to go back East and fly like the wind!

Man, I had no idea Santa Fe was so high. The best part about riding at higher altitudes is that you'll smoke your friends when you visit.

bk

give it about 2 weeks and you'll be fine. Your body needs to make more red blood cells.

I spent 4 months in Quito, Ecuador at about 9200 ft. The first few days I could hardly walk up the stairs :o

STEAK TIME! - Pump up your red blood cell count.

Same here on Denver. Give it some time

What did you move to Santa Fe for? You like it so far?

I LOVE the old downtown neighborhood, and excellent climate! i try to get down there from Denver once a year.

I've visited the Atomic energy museum in ABQ and Los Alamos and both very cool. The Atomic energy museum is mostly staffed by veterans, so excellent place to learn about that part of history (the good and bad stuff)

I've found traffic on Friday/Saturday nights in Sante Fe tends to have lots of "cruisers" revving around, but I think that's only the main drag.

part hype, part real. That's why Oakland and Seattle don't like playing in Denver. Not adjusted and hits you the second half.

It takes about 1 week to get adjusted. 2 weeks for high physical activity. First days you definitely need lots of water as your body thirst trigger will be too low.

So you didn't know you were using the high altitude training program pro's use to get ready for races????

Hey everyone,

I moved to Santa Fe to try a different lifestyle and to take classes at the Yoga Source Yoga studio. I've only been here for a week and I've been busy working and moving so I haven't even made it to the old part of town yet. So far Santa Fe has been great. It's been easy to get where I need to by biking or walking and the people are really nice. The biggest problem I've had so far is living in places with insufficient insulation.

Since my commute is so short and I consider myself in fairly good physical condition I thought I wouldn't notice much difference. We'll see what happens on my first real ride!

Ha ha. A year after my bike was stolen--a year of inertness--I was visiting my in-laws in Colorado--around 7,000 feet. They live next to some public lands that are used for hiking and biking so I decided to rent a mountain bike and do some riding. I hopped on the bike and, by the time I reached the trailhead, I was completely dead. I couldn't string two words together I was gasping so hard. Humbled, I coasted back to the house and returned the bike.

I got a new bike a couple of months ago and have been trying to get back into shape. I'll be with the in-laws again over Christmas and I am taking my bike. I plan to just do some easy rides around the neighborhood since I am not equipped for the several feet of snow that would be on the trails. We'll see how it goes.

Yep we are at 7000 Feet. Folks tend to think of NM as being all low desert. Not true here up north...

joesmohello,

Glad to here you are rolling again. Give yourself time to adjust. As others have said it can take about a month or so (but it only takes a few days to loose all the red blood cells you gain once you go back down).

Chip

I spent a week in the Tahoe area back in October [elev. 6225'], and was pleased to not pass out when I got out of bed. We were staying in a condo at the top of Heavenly, and did most of our riding at around 6500+. When I got back home after a week, I didn't feel any faster, but I pretended anyway.

That's a big problem here in California, also. Lots of energy wasted.
One person I kknow stayed in Tahoe for a couple of weeks before going to Colorado to ride the Triple Bypass.

Famous railroad? Hacking cough, Topeak, er and the Santa Fe. Something like that, anyway

Man, you guys are scarin' me. I'm spending the holidays in CO with family (Sister, and an uncle in Denver, Brother in Boulder), and I'm signed up to run the Resolution Run 5k in Denver, with my sister, on New Years Eve. I'm not much of a runner to begin with (Been running about 30 min. 3x/week for the past 3 months or so as off-season cross-training.), so between the altitude and the cold I might have signed on for more than I bargained for.

But then, I've never really noticed the altitude *that* much when travelling to ride in places like Tahoe, and Crested Butte, so maybe it won't affect me that much...

-Trevor

It's not the altitude! It's the dry air, you get so many boogers you cant breathe.

Red or Green?

Trevor........OD on water when you get here...you will be fine.

Red, but my new humidifier is helping that.