Cadel Evans does Altitude the right way!!

jerry3571

Finally, We see a rider who does Altitude Training the right way. I wrote on this Forum about a year ago about sleeping at Altitude and riding on the lower slopes of Mountains to get the right training. I got this info from an Olympic Doctor who I got talking to once. I went to Sierra Nevada and got some good form after I came back. Make sure if you book that it is in the Village. I booked a Hotel 1600m up and not in the Village itself (2500m). I think I would have gone even better with the higher altitude. Try Hotel Mont Blanc in Sierra Nevada. We tried the sister Hotel Santa Cruz which was good but out in the middle of nowhere and at the lower altitude. Even though the weather can be rough, I think it gets a lot better weather than the Alps or Pyrenees. Mind out for big nasty St Bernard size sheep dogs though.
Cheers Jerry

Garry H

Hardly a new concept though is it...

jerry3571

The way he does it is what I was on about. If you train on your bike at Altitude then you will lose your muscle mass due to the effects of the lack of air. If you train at sea level, you will be training where their is plentiful oxygen so your legs keep their fitness. If you're at 2500m on a Turbo Trainer, your lungs would be bursting but your legs would be thinking it was a Sunday Club Ride due to the lack air getting to your legs. Altitude training isn't done on the bike; it's done in bed when you're sleeping or hanging around at Altitude. The training part should be done at lower altitudes. This training willl make you go better than getting a new Carbon Frame with fancy wheels for sure.
My mate knew of a Bournemouth rider who bought a £7000 Oxygen Tent and his 25TT best was said to have dropped by around 6 minutes. Nice if you got a spare £7 grand!
Cheers Jerry

Steve_F

The pros have been using this for years. It gets mentions in Armstrong's books and in one written about him it describes Hamilton using the same technique.

Maybe I should look for a flat higher up in my block, that might help me!

Garry H

jerry3571 wrote:

The way he does it is what I was on about. If you train on your bike at Altitude then you will lose your muscle mass due to the effects of the lack of air. If you train at sea level, you will be training where their is plentiful oxygen so your legs keep their fitness. If you're at 2500m on a Turbo Trainer, your lungs would be bursting but your legs would be thinking it was a Sunday Club Ride due to the lack air getting to your legs. Altitude training isn't done on the bike; it's done in bed when you're sleeping or hanging around at Altitude. The training part should be done at lower altitudes. This training willl make you go better than getting a new Carbon Frame with fancy wheels for sure.
My mate knew of a Bournemouth rider who bought a £7000 Oxygen Tent and his 25TT best was said to have dropped by around 6 minutes. Nice if you got a spare £7 grand!
Cheers Jerry

As I said, hardly a new concept is it.

jerry3571

Some people may not know about this, so not new to you, but maybe someone else reading this may find it helpful. Maybe even, I think Robert Forster who was interviewed in Procycling, in Tenerife cycling the tops of the Mountains. If you have anything to help and add to this then please let on and let us see these Nuggets of Wisdom!! :idea:
Looking forward to it!!
-Jerry

Garry H

jerry3571 wrote:

Some people may not know about this, so not new to you, but maybe someone else reading this may find it helpful. Maybe even, I think Robert Forster who was interviewed in Procycling, in Tenerife cycling the tops of the Mountains. If you have anything to help and add to this then please let on and let us see these Nuggets of Wisdom!! :idea:
Looking forward to it!!
-Jerry

Keep your knickers on love.

It's useful as a training aid for competition. The effects of being at altitude start to diminish as soon as your back at sea level. If your training for a particular event, eg Evans and the Tour,then yes, it helps. However, unless you can actually afford to spend a lot of your time at altitude, your probably just as well spending that money on a carbon bike with flashy wheels!

You can also use rEPO, it does the same thing, ie it leads to an increase in red blood cell mass, via an increase in erythopoietin (EPO). This is not a recommendation though !A well known fact in cycling, unless you've been living in a cave for the last 15 years.

The flipside of altitude training is that you cannot train to the same intensity as you can at sea level. You also risk altitude sickness and that aint pleasant, I can asure you.

Hope this helps

jerry3571

Yep! It's use lasts for about a month after you get back but if you've got your fitness up and are gunning for a few races then it'll be a good thing. Waste of time for a dump truck like me though.
I have read that Botero used to live up at Sierra Nevada when he was with Kelme and Mapei used to use the first 800m of the climb when using the area as a training camp. The runner Paula Radcliffe lived at Font Romeau in the Pyrenees; 1800m up. Soon as she did that, she began winning. Nice town Font Romeau!
My mate was a first Cat when we went out there and he described as himself as "flying" when he got back from Spain. Trouble was that someone touched his back wheel in the sprint and the only time he was going win this race, he came down, Carbon Forks went bang and he was in Poole Hospital for some time after. That was at Barnsfield Heath, Christchurch, Dorset: best racing course in the UK; fantastic!!
Cheers Jerry

PS- Thanks for the last reply; good one.

Alex_Simmons/RST

Altitude training is not new but using the "Live high, train low" technique is quite effective and can also be done with altitude tents to simulate the live high part of the equation for those that live low.

Some sports science facilities, such as the AIS in Canberra, have built dedicated "altitude" rooms for athletes to sleep in.

Garry H

Of course, what teams should actually be doing is investing in getting a few a Nepalese Sherpas on boards. Genetically higher red blood cell count. Has a good ring to it "Team Sherpa". It's why Colombians fare quite well and all.

jerry3571

Columbians!! They go up hill but don't go down (comment courtesy of Sean Kelly). Hopeless bike handling. There has been some efforts to get some riders over from Africa but its a tricky.
I always thought that Kenyans would be good on a bike. Strange how there aren't hardly any black riders in the Peleton too?? Hmmm...

synchronicity

jerry3571 wrote:

Columbians!! They go up hill but don't go down (comment courtesy of Sean Kelly). Hopeless bike handling. There has been some efforts to get some riders over from Africa but its a tricky.
I always thought that Kenyans would be good on a bike. Strange how there aren't hardly any black riders in the Peleton too?? Hmmm...

That's not cause they're not fit... it's 'cause they're too poor to afford bikes.