The Alps and high altitude

Coming from Finland, this may not bother you, but my biggest problem on the
Grossglockner Hochalpenstrasse was the cold when I started back down.
Working as hard as I did going up, I wasn't paying too much attention to how
cold it was getting, but when I started downhill and was just coasting, I
quickly found my hands cold and my teeth chattering. I still wan't used to
it when I got low enough that it warmed up again. BTW, I bike commute to
work during winter in Wisconsin, so I'm not a complete wimp when it comes to
handling cold. But this particular day in August came as a real shock to my
system.

"Antti Salonen" wrote in message
...
I'm planning a trip to the Alps in early August. The current plan is to
first spend four nights in Austria, then three in Slovenia and finally
eight in Italy. Right now it looks like the third day of riding will
already introduce a serious mountain day, as the route includes riding
the Grossglocknerstrasse from Zell am See down to Heiligenblut.

Later on, perhaps inspired by Jobst Brandt's reports and photographs, I
also intend to ride the Stelvio, Gavia, Mortirolo and Bernina.
We're staying the final four nights in Livigno, so these will be easily
covered from there. As some of you undoubtedly know, many of these
roads go higher than 2500 metres above sea level.

I'm a healthy young man and being both lightweight and reasonably strong
as a cyclist, so I'm not worried about the long distances or the climbs
itself. I have done the physics and with reasonable gearing I should be
fine. I've also seen most of these mountain passes from the backseat of
a car as a kid, before I picked up cycling, so I know what to expect.

However, living at sea level, I have absolutely no experience with
riding at high altitudes. Is there any reason to expect any trouble, if
do these rides at a fairly easy pace, not trying to break mine or
anybody else's climbing records? Except for the final four nights in
Livigno, we're mostly going to stay at lower altitudes.

-as

"Antti Salonen" wrote ...
snip description of really cool proposed bicycle tour

However, living at sea level, I have absolutely no experience with
riding at high altitudes. Is there any reason to expect any trouble, if
do these rides at a fairly easy pace, not trying to break mine or
anybody else's climbing records? Except for the final four nights in
Livigno, we're mostly going to stay at lower altitudes.

-as

Working high and sleeping low, as you propose to do, is exactly how
mountaineers acclimatise to much higher altitiudes than what you propose to
travel at. It usually takes about 24 hours at high altitude (3000 m / 10000
ft above sea level) for the more serious forms of altitude sickness to
manifest themselves, and the standard cure for those problems is to descend
to lower elevation. Since you're crossing passes and can descend fairly
rapidly once you hit the top, any altitude related problems should sort
themselves out pretty easily.

As Ron Wallenfang pointed out, high mountain passes can be surprisingly cold
in the summer, and summer snowstorms are an occasional fact of life in the
mountains. The danger here is that too many people are caught by surprise
and find themselves underdressed for sub-freezing temps. The wind generated
while descending fast on a bicycle adds to the problem.

Last August a friend and I got caught in a snowstorm while cycling up Mt.
Evans (14,000 ft / 4200 m) in Colorado. We just barely had enough clothing
to make it down without mishap, although my friend's lack of bodyfat meant
that she was in the early stages of hypothermia when we finally got indoors.
My biggest concern was that my (and my friend's) hands would stiffen up to
where we couldn't squeeze the brake levers.

Enjoy the tour!
--
mark

mark wrote:

Last August a friend and I got caught in a snowstorm while cycling up Mt.
Evans (14,000 ft / 4200 m) in Colorado. We just barely had enough clothing
to make it down without mishap, although my friend's lack of bodyfat meant
that she was in the early stages of hypothermia when we finally got indoors.
My biggest concern was that my (and my friend's) hands would stiffen up to
where we couldn't squeeze the brake levers.

A few years ago I drove up Evans. On the summit I met a couple of
cyclists in the same situation: underdressed and worried about the
descent. They took one look at my bike rack and bummed a ride down.
There's no disgrace in knowing your limitations.

Bill


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