... Taxi ! ...

My wife always reminds me to ‘not go too hard’. Sure, not every ride should be hard. But when it’s ‘game on’, my limit is whatever my body will physically let me get away with. I can go pretty long under my threshold HR (about 163), limited time above 170-ish) an only short hard efforts at MHR.
I also train with power, and can use that to self-regulate my efforts as to keep me from going too deep into the red on either climbs or hard pulls. Whenever I burn a match, I absolutely must recover from that, which usually translates into getting dropped.
Finally,
I (try to) use polarization training (easy days easy, hard days hard) to be fresh when it’s needed. Otherwise, I’ll be fatigued and utterly worthless on my bike.

I don't shy away from hills. Climbing the uphills is my favorite outdoor activity. I don't pursue speed anywhere, but the satisfaction and thrill of pushing myself kinda puts things into perspective.

I don't go to doctors. If I die from the exertion, that will be ok. Sitting around is the prelude to death. I'd rather pedal to eternity.

I really like these last two posts.

Oh my, Mr Maelochs, I do believe I'm blushing.

Not quite so simple. A stress test showing an "abnormality " can, and often does, result in life altering medications, and activity restrictions. Plus, they can instill fear that prevents a person from intelligently living their life.

Interpreting electrocardiograms is as much an art as a science. At the same time we are still learning about the parameters of a "normal" heart.

Add in the doc's desire to limit liability and a wrong test can, in essence, ruin a person's life. Plus, never forget tests like this are merely snapshots. Plenty of examples of people dying shortly after "passing" a standard stress test.

As I stated, an abnormality that shows up in a stress test will usually lead to additional tests. I know in my case, a second test, this time with a radioactive agent, showed a 60% blockage in one of my heart arteries. As a result, my "life altering medications" include a baby aspirin and cholesterol medication daily.

If you don't understand your risks, how can you go about "intelligently living" your life? When dealing with a potential heart attack, ignorance is NOT bliss. I don't have any statistics, but I would wager that more people have died as a result of needing a stress test and not having one, than having one and dying anyway.

I don’t know about anyone else ... I noticed problems at least a year before I bothered with testing. I first thought I was working too hard in the gym ... then I thought I could fix whatever was wrong with diet and exercise.

Finally I found that I couldn’t walk fifty yards at a quick pace without sending my heart rate over 220.

I finally broke down and saw a doctor ... and was immediately scheduled for emergency surgery.

I have no idea how much harm I might have done to my heart during all the times I pushed until I felt sick. I don’t know how many times I nearly had my own emergency situation because I thought I could just push through whatever I was feeling.

I know I had a few literal heart-stopping moments from over-exertion. I just didn’t take them seriously until the time I took my pulse and couldn’t count fast enough.

Avoiding a stress test to avoid treatment is an option it could be a fatal option.

Get the test,. if you don’t like the outcome get a second opinion. If you don’t want to don’t take the meds (I stopped all my meds a few weeks after surgery (much to my doctor’’ dismay) and I haven’t died yet.)

But find out. You might just need to exercise more ... or you might have a 60 percent arterial blockage or some other life-threatening issue that will not heal, no matter how hard you exercise or how harshly you diet, and which will kill you before your time.

Just my opinion.

I have no idea what my limits are. I just keep riding. No doc advice asked or given. Yesterday was a typical ride - 29.1 miles with headwind all the way home. Over 50% of ride time HR was over 140 and cadence avg was 87. Age does not mean much to some of us. Guess I am lucky.

I'm guessing that everyone that keeled over from over exertion thought they were within their limits. I mean really. The only way to really know is push till something goes bad.

I've been satisfied with making slow progress and hopefully am not pushing myself to anywhere near my limits.

did an hour on a treadmill last week & played with my heart rate between walking & running, on varying inclines. HR ranged from 155 to 117. it was a good hour

Maybe. Maybe, like me, they knew they were pushing but had no clue how close.

I know the closer I get to any kind of limit, the more unpleasant things get, won an asymptotic curve, so the unpleasantness ramps up sharply.

Can't say I am satisfied ... but that's also my choice. I don 't often push to any sort of "limit" because I don't see that big a reward.

I'd rather take a day off because my legs or sore than take three days off because I went so deep into my capacity that I can barley hobble ... but for some, Not going that deep isn't worth it.

Different strokes (of course, the way I do it is correct. )

These are my exact thought when I originally asked this question. I thought I might be the only one who knowingly backs off from going too deep but its comforting to know I am not alone...

some things are worse than being alone ....

I am 58, fit and like hills and faster group rides but I have had a couple of episodes while road biking, one a very minor heart attack and the other a lot more serious. Both times I was pushing myself to try to keep up and push through it when I was not feeling great. It is very hard but important to know when to say when. My wife says I still have not learned my lesson.

As my wife is fond of chiming in whenever discussing Maximum Heart Rate...

"of course, that number is theoretical!"

I would hazard a guess that the amount of people who keel over from "over exertion" is minuscule in comparison to the amount of people who keel over from "under exertion" or "no exertion".

Each to their own I say........Limits are oftentimes expressed as "comfort zone".

In it, out of it, whatever floats your boat I say.........

q.f.t.