Are you fit for riding at high altitude?

[samueleuk]

So now you're flogging it here

I think mike54 knows how it really is

Sure. If I get an heart attack, I will follow your advice and consult a professional photographer instead of a Professor of Cardiology who has studied the subject for 25 years and published his research on Circulation, the British Medical Journal, and the Lancet. And, of course, if I need photos of my wedding, I will ask the cardiologist to come over with his mobile phone. It has a camera in it, and he likes to take photographs.

P.S. Do you miss me so much that you follow me on a different forum?

[Wilso122]

Well kinda interesting but does it not really tell someone to suck eggs? Pretty obvious if you want to do 'any kind of adventure' altitude or not it will be easier and more enjoyable if you are a little fitter, but at altitude it makes bugger all difference, which demonstrably you state anyway making the science almost mute.

Some very fit individuals get AMS at high altitude whilst some very unfit individuals do not. Even the same individual can get AMS one time but not the next. It is a very unpredictable illness.

Seen and experienced this first hand on climbs at 4k plus. So just go for it, acclimatise and enjoy....

The only predictable thing is that, by developing and maintaining your aerobic fitness, riding a motorbike off-road at high altitude will be easier, more enjoyable, and safer because you will become less fatigued.

Kinda obvious right?

Really there should be a follow up / summary note & links on how to spot signs and deal with it as that is probably far more relevant and saves lives.

[samueleuk]

Really there should be a follow up / summary note & links on how to spot signs and deal with it as that is probably far more relevant and saves lives.

Thanks for the suggestion. However, if you read my post properly, you will find a link to a very good and free book on travelling at high altitude written by medical experts. It contains all sorts of information on how to spot signs and deal with AMS.

With regards to aerobic training (one of my areas of expertise), I will publish several articles about it in the future (check them out here). I have just started this blog, give me a chance.

Although it is obvious to anybody who has done an uphill walk at high altitude that hypoxia reduces your fitness, only by careful scientific experimentation this effect can be quantified. These quantitative data can then be used to determine how much aerobic training a person needs for the trip (four times a week for 16 weeks, three times a week for six weeks, nothing at all?). This depends on the altitude he/she will be travelling at, and his/her starting level of aerobic fitness. This is why it is important to test aerobic fitness before commencing a training program, and this is why my first posts on the subject are about VO2max and how to measure it. I dont think you can tell "Joe Brown" how much training he needs to do based on your personal experience of riding at high altitude and by looking at him. This is where Exercise Physiology can be hepful.

One last thing, there seems to be some confusion between acute mountain sickness (AMS) and the reduction in aerobic fitness caused by altitude. They are two different things. Every "lowlander" will have a reduction in aerobic fitness which seems to start already at 500-700m. Fortunately, only few people will get severe AMS when travelling at high altitude. Furthermore, it is "easy" to compensate for the negative effect of altitude on aerobic fitness: train before departure and maintain a good level of fitness during the trip. Although there are strategies to reduces the risk of AMS (gradual ascent, some drugs, etc. all in the book), AMS can struck anyway.

[Redmurty]

When I'm at altitude I breathe better, I put that down to less pollutants. cheers spud

[boristhebold]

Forgive my ignorance, is this a sales pitch for something ? A university study that the taxpayer funds ( i have no issue with that if it is for the greater good of society) I just don't get it ?

[samueleuk]

see next post

[samueleuk]

Yes, it is a "pitch sale" for free advice to my fellow bike riders. Clearly, I am not a good sale man given that I dont make any money out of it :S

If you want to know more about my research on adventure motorcycling, you can check it out here: http://adventure-motorcycling.blogspot. ... ition.html

You may also want to read a Research Report on Rider Fatigue by the Department for Transport (2008). One of its conclusions was:

"The paucity of scientific studies specifically into rider fatigue and evidence-based countermeasures means that current knowledge is based largely on: generalising from driver fatigue or general fatigue research; the judgement of researchers; or the opinions of riders or rider interest groups. The extent to which research on driver fatigue and its countermeasures will generalise to rider fatigue is unknown, as is the effectiveness of the rider fatigue countermeasures described in published guidelines."

Therefore, given this massive knowledge gap, my research is going to be quite useful to motorcyclists. We are part of the society that funds universities, right? So it is time that some research is done on rider fatigue, not just car and lorry drivers. By the way, I am going to put quite a lot of my own money into this research project.

[boristhebold]

Ok thanks
I wasn't being flippant or trying to cause argument or offence, I may have missed your formative posts.
I will do some perusing...

[samueleuk]

Ok thanks
I wasn't being flippant or trying to cause argument or offence, I may have missed your formative posts.
I will do some perusing...

You are welcome. I hope I have given a full answer to your question.

Look forward to your opinion on my blog after you have read the posts. Hope you find them interesting.

[samueleuk]

I think your article is fatally flawed. It does not mention for example the positive effects of acclimatisation to altitude, it assumes that you are dumped from sea level to altitude which is rarely the case. The studies involved just that - a chamber so sea level to altitude and back again. No ascent, no descent. With gradual ascent comes acclimatisation and hence less effect on brain and body function.

By the way, with a motorbike people can get quickly to altitudes that can have a significant effect on VO2max and can even induce acute mountains sickness (2,500 and above). For example, I can go from Turin in my native Italy (sea level) to Col de l'Iseran in France (2,770 m) in 90 minutes. No time for the body to acclimatise!!!

Check it out:



Similarly, if one rides and lives for a couple of weeks at 2,500 m (well acclimatised at 2,500 m) and then goes quickly to 5,000 m with a motorbike, he/she will also suffers the acute effects of hypoxia. On the top of that, there is also evidence that VO2max remains lower at high altitude even with acclimatisation (see my previous reply).

Therefore, given that many of us ride up and down high passes, the acute effects of hypoxia on aerobic fitness are very relevant to adventure biker riders.