From: kiisaka@csi.uottawa.ca (Ken Iisaka (the mad pianist))
Subject: Re: Cycling at High(ish) Altitudes
Organization: Dept. of Computer Science, University of Ottawa
Date: Sat, 23 Jan 93 06:40:11 GMT

I speak from my own experience.

My fiancee and I (both flatlanders at 180') were in Aspen, Colorado (about 
8000') for 10 weeks.  We were anticipating some problems, but it wasn't as bad
as we expected; however.

On the first day, we were both a little dizzy.  We had a mild headache, but was
did not bother us very much.  We were cautious not to stress ourselves.

The next day was slightly worse.  It wasn't helped by the fact that we drove
up to Independence Pass (12048')  My head was throbbing, and my breath was
short.  Later, we returned the rental car at the Pitkin County Airport and 
decided to ride our bikes back to our condo in Snowmass, 8 miles away and 1100'
up.

The trip took 2 1/2 hours.  We had to stop often to catch a breath.  The 24T
granny ring simply felt like a middle ring.  Our legs felt like lead rods.
The last hill (up to 20%!) was a murder.  We were barely able to push our bikes
up the $@%^* hill.  When we got back, we just went to the swimming pool to cool
off.

I started commuting to Aspen daily the next day.  The 10 mile commuting route
involved a 1/2 mile long up hill with the elevation gain of 400' on the way,
and a two 2 mile long hill with the elevation gain of 700' each.  I didn't
bother doing the ride back for a while.  I just put the bike on a bus.
However, I always rode into Aspen as it is mostly downhill.

The first trip took over 1 hour.  On the up hill (Owl Creek Road) I was often
passed by fit locals, though I was able to catch up on the downhill.  Still,
by the time I reached Aspen, I was done.

I kept riding almost everyday, thanks to the dry June weather.  One day, I was
on my morning commute to Aspen, and saw a guy going up the Owl Creek Road hill
several hundred feet in front of me.  Just before reaching the top of the hill,
I passed the guy.  I was doubly happy that the guy who helped me fix a flat on
the descent was a born-'n-bred ZG who rides to Aspen everyday.  One of his
roommates whom I met later told me that this guy was pretty pissed off when he
found out that I'm a flatlander, but got something back because I wasn't
carrying a pump.

I shaved minutes off the commuting time every day.  By the end of the summer,
I was able to go from our condo in the upper village to Aspen in 35 minutes or
less.  Not bad, considering that I was riding a mountain bike (Miyata Elevation
2000') with knobby tyres, n'est-ce pas?

Even though I gained much fitness from riding so much everyday, I never reached
the level of fitness I had back here at 180'.  My cruising gear in Aspen was a
36/14 where I prefer to use a 46/16 here on the same bike.  The altitude 
however helped me get in a better shape, though.  A week after I returned home,
I set my personal best 15km time-trial.

Just take it easy and don't push yourself too hard.  AMS is dangerous.  Every
year, several visitors die from AMS in the region.  Even if you don't go that
high, effects can be experienced as low as 4-5000'.  Just listen to your body.

Sigh...  makes me want to go back and ride the Government Trail and hike the
Conundrum Valley and the Buckskin Pass...
-- 
Ken Iisaka
kiisaka@csi.uottawa.ca                     <Space for rent>
AI Lab, University of Ottawa                       <Espace a louer>
H: +1 613 237 6642  W: 564 8155
Newsgroups: rec.bicycles.misc