On Saturday, December 10, 2016 at 1:25:57 PM UTC-8, Joerg wrote:
On 2016-12-10 13:13, wrote:
On Saturday, December 10, 2016 at 11:22:06 AM UTC-8, Joerg wrote:
On 2016-12-05 09:21, wrote:
I am seldom riding with the local old folks group because they
have a habit of racing all the time. Then 3/4ths of the way into
a ride they get really tired and are dragging up the final
hills.

I don't like climbing as fast as possible nor trying to keep up
on the flats to people 5 years older than me that are maintaining
heart rates at 90%. And this is directly out of the box with not
one minute of warm-up.

Now I like to exercise at elevated rates so riding with the
"easy" groups is out. But I don't riding with people whose
objective is to beat someone else to the top of the hill as if
this proves them superior. And this soon degenerates into not
waiting for the slower members.

Unfortunately, these acts of proving one's self better than
others can significantly shorten the live's of those over 55.

If you are one of those that must prove yourself on every ride
there is a target rate on
http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/Health...1_Article.jsp#



If you regularly ride above these rates you are a heart attack
waiting to happen. Not to mention that often you are pulling the
entire group above their safe zones.

Let's ride as smart as well as fast.


What is a good way to gauge the heart rate if the bike is not
equipped with a whole smorgasbord of medical devices such as pulse
meters? Taking one hand off the bar and counting wrist pulses isn't
very safe in most places around here.

I sometimes get carried away on long boring stretches and find
myself riding full tilt. Whatever "the engine" can deliver goes
into the pedals. But I usually don't become tired after an hour. Or
two. Or four. Is that a good enough indicator to be in the healthy
zone?

-- Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

Your heart rate will increase linearly as long as you're in the
aerobic zone. If you go into the anaerobic zone it will only increase
a little. At this time the muscles start burning lactate that is
stored in the muscles and this is difficult to do for more than half
a minute or so.

This represents your actual max heart rate. But that is not you
healthy heart rate with is 220-age.

This practical heart rate has to do with your metabolic heart rate
and will be below your true max heart rate.

If you are over 50 and operate for any amount of time over 90% of
your max metabolic heart rate you are starving the heart muscles of
it's very small storage of lactate. That is, your heart is operating
in it's anaerobic. Since the older you are the slower you can reload
your muscles (and the heart is a muscle) with lactate and the most
chance you have of it seizing up.

Bicycling is an endurance sport and that means you must always
operate within your aerobic zone.

If you start breathing harder and when you back off a little it takes
awhile for your heart rate and breathing to come back down you are
going too hard. If you are in your aerobic zone when you back off
your breathing will almost immediately back down as well.


Maybe that's the sign. For me heavy breathing usually slows down within
5-10sec so I guess that counts as "immediate".

Sometimes I pass road bikers on fancy machines decked out in expensive
lycra and it seems some don't like it when a guy above 50 passes them in
T-shirt and jeans on an old steel frame bike. "This is not going to
happen!" and then they start following me, breathing hard. Until they
drop back, and that's probably pushing it too hard in their cardiac
department. Sometimes it's the other way around and I try to follow but
when I realize that the guy or gal is doing a sustained 25mph I drop
back. Too old for that.

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

Two years ago I did 5 miles at 28 mph with a stop light at every mile marker that was always red. When it changed I would accelerate up to 28 again and hold that steady until I would JUST miss the next light. When I pulled into the parking lot my breathing dropped down pretty rapidly but I had burned up ALL of my lactose and couldn't find my car for almost 10 minutes. I kept riding around in a haze unable to get my bearings. I won't do that again..