Kassy

Hiya,

So I agreed to do this ride from Lhasa in Tibet, via everest base camp, to kathmandu next year. It's mainly on hard packed roads so not single track, it takes a month and so figured it counts as touring even though it needs a mountain bike.

Mainly wondering if anyone has done it before and give any advice... and also any advice on training for altitude touring?

Right now I'm really unfit, quite overweight, and I've never been a very good cyclist although I have previously done Ironman and cycled across cambodia and myanmar - it wasn't pretty but I got there.

I would actually like to do this trip properly and have a seriously good crack at it. I just seem to be a bit overwhelmed really... how much riding do I really need to be doing at this point for example? How do I write a training program for this?

I only have a road bike at the moment so been riding that... since the riding position is quite different on a mountain bike, how much use is training on the road bike?

Also, I had my ankle replaced 3 years ago (I'm only 29 now), and need another operation in july. So that will take out a few months for the recovery - will be back to swim training for the fitness asap and also doing weights and use this time to try and build general fitness and lose some of the weight....

I was feeling ok about it... I think it'll be hard, but a great challenge, however, yesterday I just started to freak out a bit that I don't really know what I'm doing or even how much I need to be doing.

Any help would be great!

Kassy

Oh we'll be doing it with a tour so I won't be needing to carry my own stuff! Not sure which tour just yet though!

mjoekingz28

Good luck, I'm kind of in your situation and I'm freaking out over being west of Dallas. The small here in Mississppi are taking a toll on me with my 12 speed.

Honestly, when I say Himalayas I thought you were pro. For training I say start riding up sandy hills. 100s of feet of elevation are beating me at the moment and I'm shooting for 1000s of feet of elevation while you're talking about miles of the stuff.

Dan The Man

It's the altitude that will kick your ass unless you already live in Denver. It will help if you putz around in Lhasa for a few days, then take a few easy days to start. Hopefully your tour accounts for this.

They say that high altitude activity can be simulated by trying to exercise while breathing through a straw. Maybe start with a Slurpy straw (this is just for seeing what it's like, it won't help you train).

arctos

Every person responds differently to reduced oxygen/lower air pressure as elevation increases above 8000 feet. I usually require a week to acclimate to elevations over 10,000 feet. [I live at sea level] This seems true no matter my aerobic condition. Even after acclimation I found that I had less strength when over 5000 meters/16500 feet. YMMV.

No matter what your training over the next year I would suggest arriving early at your starting point, drink lots of water to prevent thickening of the blood through dehydration and see how you respond.

Learn to recognize symptoms of Acute Mountain Sickness which results from too rapid an ascent to altitude and results in headaches, nausea and loss of appetite. The only cure is to descend to lower elevation for a while. Also learn about High Altitude Pulmonary Edema which comes from an accumulation of fluid in the lungs and is very dangerous.

Also learn about Cheyne-Stokes Breathing just for reassurance as it occurs usually above 13K feet where while asleep your respiration rate trails off to almost stopping and this wakes you up gasping for breath momentarily. It is not dangerous but is scary when first experienced.

Some people at great expense use a hyperbaric sleeping chamber that lets you sleep at home with a lowered air pressure surrounding your bed to help prepare for time at high elevation. I do not know if such things work well but the concept seems valid.

Relax and prepare as best you can and remember that you have the option of a sag wagon to carry you if you have a difficult day on the tour. The tour operator may carry supplemental oxygen for clients in distress due to altitude. Have a great trip and report back here please with photos.

sunset1123

hmm... Ankle surgery + Himalayas...

My only advice would be to make sure your training starts out slow, easy, and involves plenty of stretching/range of motion exercises and stability/balance work. Do not under any circumstances "push" your training because you have a schedule to keep, or are concerned about "making" the tour. That would be my number one concern.

You are talking about climbing thousands of meters in very low gears... that's a lot of pedal revolutions.

To paraphrase the Avatamsaka Sutra: "One tour contains infinite pedal strokes, infinite pedal strokes are the same as one tour."

So with all these revolutions, to prevent repetitive injury, your joints need to be aligned, stable, and strong. Worry about cardio fitness later. Research has shown that very fit athletes still have the same - and sometimes worse - problems with high altitude that everyone else can.

With that, have fun. If I had the same opportunity, I wouldn't miss it for the world.

Blue Roads

Buy some travel insurance before you leave. One Web site among many to do so is https://www.insuremytrip.com/.

Read the terms of any policy carefully to make sure it covers medical expenses, medical evacuation, and specifically travel to high altitude locations. $100,000 total coverage is a good amount to aim for. Some policies will specify maximum altitude limits, and some policies won't cover high altitude travel or certain activities. (FYI: To get trip cancellation coverage, I believe you must typically buy the policy very near the date you send payment for your trip.)

A $100,000 insurance policy for a 30-day tour from Lhasa to Kathmandu with medical, evacuation, and high altitude coverage should cost between $200-$300.

Give your insurance provider's phone number and policy number to your travel tour operator. If you are injured and become incapacitated, they can contact your insurance provider to arrange medical care and if needed evacuation.

Lhasa to Kathmandu via Everest base camp is a well-traveled route, but just because assistance may be near doesn't mean you won't need advanced medical care or a helicopter ride. An evacuation helicopter may not lift off without full payment in advance, which from the Nepal-Tibet border to Kathmandu could be $15,000. Even with the acclimatization of a cycling tour, life-threatening altitude sickness is not unheard of at 17,000 feet.

Kassy

thanks for all the replies!

It does have me amused that the ways of training for altitude seem to be breathing through a straw or the really expensive hyperbaric sleeping chamber... so given my budget, straw it is! I live in Hong Kong at the moment, so it's at sea level sadly. I can't pass up the opportunity, but it will seem a lot more doable when I'm fitter, recovered from my operation and have lost a bunch of weight.

I will get my surgeon to clear me for the trip and won't push it.

I read a article about some guys who did the trip independently and one broke his hand, they reset the bones without pain killers or antethesia .... that was in a hospital... so insurance will be high on my list. Interesting about payment up front, I'll have to look into that more.

Ok my first biggest question, because of the different position on a mountain bike toroad bike, how much benefit is there from training on a road bike quite a bit? or does it not really matter?

Kassy

Yeah... I feel a bit of a fraud at the moment, like I should be a pro, and I couldn't be further from it haha

Sandy hills... will try and find some somewhere in Hong Kong... that might be a hard task

Good luck with your ride, I'm sure it'll be fine, then you might be egging for the himalayas yourself!

ScruffyChimp

There's a book on bike touring the Himalayas by Laura Stone. It's available on Amazon. There used to be a website that went with the book, but it seems to have shut down.

If you don't know crazyguyonabike.com, have a browse there. It's a collection of cycling journals, and there are bound to be a few from that area.

I was just reading an interview with a cricket player who has suffered a lot of injuries. He talks about the tendency to try and rush rehab and get back to physical training. He says that it's better to take time and go at the doctor's schedule, rather than suffer setbacks. That seems like good advice.

AdamDZ

Yup, there are several journals from tours in Himalayas on Crazy Guy on a Bike including one where one of the cyclists suffered from altitude sickness. I suggest reading them.

Weasel9

The position on the bike shouldn't change much, but road riding and mountain biking are markedly different. By training on singletrack you'll gain balance and confidence on hairy trails, and by training on the road you'll mostly gain endurance. From what you've described, it sounds like endurance is what you want.

Being from Colorado, I see a decent amount of visiting folks get that hollow look in their eyes while gasping for air. I have to say, it looks awful. The first thing to keep in mind while acclimating is drink water, water, water! Even when you've drank twice as much as you usually do at home, drink a little more! It's the single most important thing while visiting altitudes. Electrolytes don't hurt either, have a salty snack every so often, and potassium if you can manage.

The other suggestion I would have is try to get there a week or two before the tour is to start. You can do everything known to man to prepare, but if you show up in Lhasa and start exerting yourself the next day, no amount of preparation will really help. A week at 11,000 with some moderate rides done every day will do you wonders. If you're anywhere near mountains, consider heading up there for a weekend to try and wake your body up to altitude.

In summary:
-Get there as early as possible.
-Drink (water) like a fish.
-Exercise every day.
-Rest a lot every day.
-Have the friggin time of your life in the Himalayas! That Sounds like an incredible tour!

hardtail

Hi Kassy,

I've done this trip in a 4X4. Met a few cyclists doing it. Road surface on the whole is good. You'll need to be pretty fit though. Definitely spend at least 1 week in Lhasa acclimatising. Be sure to have a comfortable bicycle that you are familiar with. Wind will be as big a problem as gradient. I think Sunset1123's advice about starting your training slowly is worth heeding. Just be sure to train a little each day and build it up. Lots of nice cycling around Victoria Peak!

Enjoy the trip. The scenery is brutally harsh and amazingly beautiful.

fadi

Hi, I am a pilot, and we learn as a general rule that we don't need oxygen up to 10,000 ft

Above about 8000 ft the effects of oxygen deprivation may start to become apparent in some pilots, especially if the pilot is active or under stress. At 10,000 ft supplementary oxygen is required if a marked deterioration in performance is not to occur.

The effects of oxygen deprivation are very personal of course in that they may differ from person to person, and become apparent at different altitudes.

At 14,000 ft without supplementary oxygen, performance will be poor, and at 18,000 ft the pilot may become unconscious; this will occur at lower altitudes if the person is a smoker, or is unfit or fatigued.

The initial symptoms of hypoxia may hardly be noticeable to the sufferer, and in fact they often include feelings of euphoria. The brain is affected quite early, so false sense of security and well-being may be present.

Physical movements will become clumsy, but you may not notice this.
Difficulty in concentrating, faulty judgement, moodiness, drowsiness, indecision, giddiness, physical clumsiness, a headache, deterioration of vision, a high pulse rate, blue lips, and blue fingernails, and tingling of the skin may all follow, ending in loss of consciousness.

Throughout all of this, you may feel euphoric and as if doing a great job. Hypoxia is subtle and it sneaks up on you!

Susceptibility to hypoxia is increased by anything which reduces the oxygen available to the brain, such as high altitude, high or low temperatures, illness, stress, fatigue, physical activity, or smoke.

This is of course not to discourage you at all, but just to share some information that could reveal helpful in case of trouble during your tour.
Obviously you can also train your body for the reduced oxygen but that requires months and months...