#High altitude conveyance ride how to

#High altitude conveyance ride how to

How to get the most out of your stay at altitude “I would usually turn up somewhere and order two meals back-to-back” Losing weight is not the goal at altitude, in fact has been shown to negate the haematological improvements. I'll eat it.’ Then I'd go to a small convenience store and stock up on candy and sweets to eat in my hotel room.īasal metabolism (the amount of calories/energy you burn at rest) is increased at altitude, so it is recommended to increase your normal daily intake by 5-700Kcal per day to account for this increase in expenditure. They would ask me 'Para llevar?' (take away?) and I would just answer: ‘no, bring the food now. I would usually turn up somewhere and order two meals back-to-back, which would confuse the waiter. If during the day I mostly ate like a normal person (or even less), at dinner I turned into an ogre. I liked them because they were readily available and provided a good source of carbs, fat and salt. Whenever I could, I would grab papas rellenas, which are deep fried mash potato croquettes filled with a mix of minced meat and veggies. 'I forced myself to drink every twenty minutes or so.'įuelling appropriately was challenging – mostly because each day I cycled a really long way, and this meant I did not always have time to sit down for proper lunch. I just needed to make sure the purification tablet had been in the water for 30 minutes, then I was good to go.īecause your breathing rate is increased, you will dehydrate quicker at altitude – always check your hydration levels (the colour of your wee is an easy way to do this) and increase fluid intake by at least 500ml each day. This way whenever there were a no shops for a long stretch, I could just drink from steams. I was also carrying purification tablets. But having this routine was the best way to make sure I wouldn't become dehydrated. You don't need to drink a litre per hour when it's 9☌ and rainy, obviously. Sometimes I just had a sip, other times I downed a third of my bottle. The amount of fluid was variable, of course.

To make sure I stayed hydrated, I forced myself to drink every twenty minutes or so. Over my many years of bike riding, I have found that thirst alone is not a sufficient indicator of how often you should drink. 'If you’re coming from sea level, waiting a couple days before doing any sort of serious riding wouldn’t be the worst idea.' Typically, I would recommend a stay of at least 16 days, aiming for 14 hours per day at altitude. If you are preparing for competition at altitude, a short stay of 5-10 days prior to a key target can be sufficient to elicit improvements in performance at altitude, through acclimatisation.

I finished in the pretty town of Villa de Leyva, which is lower than Bogota and could enjoy a better sleep.ĭue to the lower partial pressure of oxygen in the air, unacclimatised individuals will have an acute reduction in arterial oxygen delivery. A couple of steep climbs tested my lungs for sure, but they weren’t long, so I didn’t feel drained afterwards. I did an easy 4-hour spin on paved roads to begin with, moving up to 6-hours easy the next day. A couple of days is not enough to acclimatize to an altitude of 3,000m it’s barely enough to get rid of the jetlag. Once I was done with the touristy part of my trip, I picked a nearby town to start the actual bike riding part. I chilled in the old town neighbourhood of La Candelaria and walked the streets of the hip Chapino district. Bogota is a nice (if intimidatingly big) city and there are worse things than visiting it while sampling great local coffee. If, like me, you’re coming from sea level, waiting a couple days before doing any sort of serious riding wouldn’t be the worst idea.