Doping In The Peloton

[sdorrity]

Originally posted by Beastt

As far as increasing the number of red blood cells through altitude training, etc., certainly this works but it's a natural process and isn't likely to leave you with blood so thick that the heart can't pump it efficiently.

Thats what one part of altitude sickness is, 50 years ago no one could survive at altitude now its quite common with the right training and acclimatisation

Originally posted by Beastt

Lastly, if you can ride the Tourmalet at all, I'm envious of you. Not that I've had the chance to try but the local mountains I ride are bumps on a pickle in comparison and still leave me struggling. Something like the Tore-my-legs-off would also rip out my lungs, buckle my knees and burst my heart like a soap bubble.

I'm going again this year we are doing the coast to coast 740km and 10,000m of climbing in 6 days as a 46y/o overweight male I have some work to do!

Last time we were loaded with camping gear and it made me realize that it was not the best way to tour the mountains so this time its a supported tour. This is me at the top last time http://www.guernsey.net/~sdorrity/photos/P10.jpg

my other problem is that I live on an Island thats 90m high and 100km is three times around the coast so training is going to be a challenge.

Tail winds

Steve D

 

[el Ingles]

Just as a side issue there´s a condition ( hope I spellit right ) called " sleep apnia " where people stop breathing while asleep and then sort of wake enough to snort and restart breathing .This is quite common but in some cases can cause death - if not previouslly diagnosed the death could well be very difficult to define as nothing would show at an autopsy .

hope I´ve got my facts right , can any doc´s out there give more details ?

 

[Beastt]

Originally posted by el Inglés
Just as a side issue there´s a condition ( hope I spellit right ) called " sleep apnia " where people stop breathing while asleep and then sort of wake enough to snort and restart breathing .This is quite common but in some cases can cause death - if not previouslly diagnosed the death could well be very difficult to define as nothing would show at an autopsy .

hope I´ve got my facts right , can any doc´s out there give more details ?

A very good point and something I hadn't thought of. Sleep Apnea kills approximately 30,000 people every year, however, I would think in a team situation it would be diagnosed by team members under conditions where members are sharing rooms. The Sleep Apnea sufferer will sometimes wake suddenly during a massive gasp for air. (It feels much like when one is swimming toward the surface and underestimates how far one has to go. It's that same painful ache across the lungs.) Anyway, that's a very interesting point to consider.