TwistyCreek said:Quoted message said:Now you see it, now you don't. The amount of oxygen you can supply to
the legs is dependent on lung volume and breathing rate and you can't
do anything more if those two don't add up to the climbing rate. They
are intimately linked and the efficiency of these is dependent on
conditioning the muscles to receive that supply.So we understand that the endurance of our legs depends on the ability
(of our bodies), to distribute oxygen through our bodies, to the parts
that really need them.
I will throw the usual monkey wrench in right about now. Usually my legs
give up first, with my heart rate at only about 165 or so, with elevated
breathing but not maxed out. If I concentrate on the breathing it does
keep my mind off of my legs screaming at me but only for so long, then
the legs win out and I either gear down or stop and take a breather off
the bike (camera time is a good excuse). I think my legs just run out of
juice first for some reason, (age = 57??), not training hard every day,
not enough steady miles or whatever. Shorter hills about 200 meters I
will attack but the long ones wear the legs out first. We all have one
weak point or another or we would be in France riding right now, (I
wish), so we have to work on that one point. Personally, the only way I
can hit my HRM of 180+ is by running 100 yard sprints back and forth,
but not apparently on the bike for some reason. My deep breathing, no
smoking, has paid off by chest expansion, whether Jobst believes it or
not. I went to the doctor once last year and he asked me to blow into
one of those asthma air flow tubes and I pegged it so hard I almost
broke it. At least he stopped asking about breathing problems.
Anyway, that old saying holds true, "A chain is only as strong as it's
weakest link.", be it lungs, legs, or heart, and probably pain tolerance.
Most non riding adults think it is child's play until they try to keep
up with a regular rider, much less a really serious one.
Best of luck.
Bill Baka
Hey. New invention. A Camel back with an O2 tank.