which is a harder climb...low and humid or high and dry
 

Just for conversation.....I live in Arkansas where the summers offer some very hot temps with very high humidity and dew points. I go to Colorado almost every summer to kayak and bike. A couple of summers ago I take my road bike and ride up the east face of Independence Pass (12,000+ ft). It wasn't as bad as I expected. I ride a 18 lb bike with 53/39 to 12/25. Didn't have to use the 25 till the last few miles but never had to stand and was able to crank up sitting all the way. It was a great ride!! I had aclimated (spl?) about four days prior to this ride.

Now back at home.....a few weeks later some bros and I go on a 60 miler in the Arkansas July heat. We make a big loop that includes a climb over our highest mtn, Mount Magazine, at 2800 ft. Note that the valley floor is prob at 500' so this climb was a solid 2300' in 7 miles of hard climbing. I found this the harder ride than Indy Pass. Both have similar grades.

The difference seems to be the humidity. Everybody has always stated that a lowland rider gets their butt handed to them when they try riding at altitude but I feel that a lowland rider who trains in the heat and humidity maybe has an advantage when they go ride in CO as it's so much dryer. I was so much more comfortable riding in the cool crisp air versus riding in our hot/humid air.

Comments? Opinions?



tomcat

I dunno, the heat really doesn't bother me much. as long as I have enough to eat and drink, 90 degrees with 100% humidity is not a problem to me. I go through water a lot faster, but I feel fine.

Since you aclimated to the higher elevation, you rode well. That might have been a big help.

yes, it helped alot. But why would you think the ride a few weeks later back at low altitude was more difficult? I wouldn't say it was due to me having a bad day as I felt the same on both rides. But, the heat that day in AR climbed to near 100 degrees by the time we finished around 11:00 a.m. It just seems to me that it's harder to ride in high temps with high humidity than at dry crisp altitude. Our summers are more brutal than you can imagine. Gives a whole meaning to the smell of road kill. :)


tomcat

ymmv

Weather is the same here on the east coast - high 90's temp/humidity combined. Does not hit 100 often but does occasionally. I have never been west or at atlitude, so I can't compare. All I know is when we get some west coast transplants they strugle with the humitity and percent of grade.

last year during thanksgiving i went out to visit a friend in portland and noticed a huge increase in my stamina and lung capacity during hard cycling. when he came out to visit me during christmas, he noticed a decrease in his performance, though it did improve after he aclimated. either way, i think the advantage lies in which direction you are going. high elevation to low seems better. that's probably why the olympic training center is here in colorado springs.

4 days in not enough time for any kind of altitude acclimatisation. In fact, your body's response to higher altitude decreases the first 10 to 14 days before full acclimatisation at around 3 weeks. I think your ride was mental/motivationally enhanced by the excitement of riding in a new and cool place.

what's humidity?

I *think* it's transparent fog. We can see our fog so we don't get humidity. :D

Think of riding in a sauna. You sweat sitting in the shade while eating ice cream.


tomcat

I think %100 humidity means that the water evaporated in the air is at saturation point.
Humidity involves the amount of water in the air.

... ha, I'm fairly clueless. I thought I knew better.

What's 3 people who didn't get the joke?

Maybe the same as one person who didn't know that the other three got the joke but keep a conversation going anyhow.

tomcat

acclimatisation

Gotcha!

First of all, you didn't acclimate in 4 days. Maybe enough so that you don't notice a difference under normal circumstances, but even if you were riding hard all 4 days - on day 5 you would be no where near full acclimation. It takes a couple of weeks of excercising to be acclimated to altitude, add to the fact that for most of that pass you were probably at 8-9k feet, where even I (acclimated to 4,800ft in Fort Collins) would notice a small difference I'm sure the heat was the issue.

That said, I'm from NJ. It gets very humid and hot there in the summer (not 100's, but 90s a lot) and its about as close to sea level as you can get without being on a beach. I too think its easier to ride in cooler, dryer climates, and for you the difference might have been big enough to make you feel more comfortable in Co. If you were to take Mt Indy and put it so you were down at sea level at the base, you would do better I think, but if it was super hot and sticky you personally might not adjust well to those conditions and it hurts your riding? I know I feel like a machine when I go down and ride at sea level. One time (the first time I went back to sea level after being in CO) I was pushing literally 35mph on flat ground (without sprinting, just pushing hard.) I was amazed I felt GREAT!!!!! Then I turned around for the return part of the out and back, and realized there was a solid 10mph sustained headwind.... LOL. The ride back sucked, and I had to be back by a certain time so I had to REALLY push to get back (and on top of that the wind picked up another 5-10mph sustained). Not a good day to judge performance LOL. The next day it was calm, and even though my legs were nuked from pushing into the wind without a wheel to suck I still felt better than and average day in CO as far as performance. This was in Virginia though, on the coast and it was about the same temp and humidity as Co.

[QUOTE=jbhowat]First of all, you didn't acclimate in 4 days. Maybe enough so that you don't notice a difference under normal circumstances, but even if you were riding hard all 4 days - on day 5 you would be no where near full acclimation. It takes a couple of weeks of excercising to be acclimated to altitude, add to the fact that for most of that pass you were probably at 8-9k feet, where even I (acclimated to 4,800ft in Fort Collins) would notice a small difference I'm sure the heat was the issue.
/QUOTE]

I am thinking that he meant he finished acclimating 4 days prior to the climb, not that that is when he started. Ur Int3rpr3tation is t3h suck. PWNED!!!111!

Oh yeah, WERD YO!

LOL, sorry. Then I guess it really is the heat and my post could have been a lot shorter and easier to understand.

quote:....."I am thinking that he meant he finished acclimating 4 days prior to the climb, not that that is when he started. Ur Int3rpr3tation is t3h suck. PWNED!!!111!"

Nope. This was my 5th day in CO, not my 5th day after acclimation. I kayaked two days and had one mtn bike ride prior to the Indy Pass ride.

Now....what is the code talk in this quote?


tomcat

oh. guess i'm PWN3D!!!!11!111


I'm backpacking in the sierras this summer...any ideas for acclimating quickly?

quote: "oh. guess i'm PWN3D!!!!11!111 I'm backpacking in the sierras this summer...any ideas for acclimating quickly?"

Sure....you just need to TFKJBU4C!!!37!497. Hope that helped.


tomcat

Ahh yes, TFKJBU4C. Why didn't I realize that before... anyway will do, thanks for the advice!

Be sure to do it in your left ear. Glad I could help.


tomcat

Is that my left ear from your perspective when looking at me or my real left ear, because I would hate to do something like that to my right ear if I could avoid it.