Heading to the NORBA National....

[madisongrrl]

I'm heading out to Snowmass, CO to race the last NORBA of the season. The altitude will be interesting as I'm from WI. My only goal is to finish the race and not get sick. Any advice last minute advice for dealing with the elevation. I'm going to start by drinking more water than usual before I even head out there (and I won't be drinking any alcohol).

[Tuckervill]

I had a problem with the elevation the last time in CO (about 6 years ago). Since we're going to NM later this month, I've been reading up on it. Of course, most of the websites are about very high elevation, but most of it still applies.

Don't do too much on your first 24 hours there, and don't sleep in the day time if you can help it. You need time for your body to adjust to the oxygen content of the air, and when you sleep your respiration goes down and slows the process.

If you develop symptoms (headache, nausea, fatigue), go ahead and rest (it's the only thing you'll feel like doing), but try not to sleep. Yes, hydrate like you said. If you have to go to a higher elevation for some reason, don't go until your symptoms are gone, because they will only get worse.

I hope you'll be there a day or two before the race, so you can adjust. It happened to me after a 15 hour bus ride (I was on a group ski trip) during which I could barely move my legs, so I think that was an extenuating circumstance. On other trips to CO I had no problems. As an athlete, I'll bet you're less likely to have problems adjusting.

Good luck at the event!
Karen

[rocknrollgirl]

My parents live in Colorado at almost 10,000feet, so we are out there several times a year, hiking, climbing, biking, etc.
Here are a few of the things we do:

1. Lay off both alcohol and caffeine

2. stay hydrated

3. start taking an asprin several days before and continue while you are there/ Asprin actually ""thins your blood a little, and makes the oxygen transport easier.

4. Acclimatize slowly if you can! HA

Good luck at the race

[madisongrrl]

Thanks for the great advice. I'm leaving WI on Wed, so we should be in CO by Thursday. I'm going to preride the course on Friday and race it on Saturday. Since I couldn't spend 1-3 weeks acclimating to the elevation (like I've read), I thought I'd get to the race later (two days before) so I wouldn't be so tired (like I've also read).

The race will be at 8000-10000 feet, it's 12 miles in distance and 2400ft of climbing. It will be interesting.....since mountain biking is such an anerobic sport...then you add the elevation factor on top of that. It should be fun, if I don't puke!

[mtbdarby]

Renee,
No adivise here but I'm sending good luck vibes!!! Don't forget to let us know how you did and post some pix.

Did I read somewhere you were buying a cyclocross frame? Are you doing those now as well? Sounds exciting!

Dar

[madisongrrl]

Renee,
No adivise here but I'm sending good luck vibes!!! Don't forget to let us know how you did and post some pix.

Did I read somewhere you were buying a cyclocross frame? Are you doing those now as well? Sounds exciting!

Dar

Thanks for the well wishes.... Yup, I'm buying a cyclocross bike. I think I might have Cronometro build up a Surly crosscheck in 105 (10 speed). The fork on that bike is a little heavy, so I'll upgrade it in the future when I have more funds. There are 9 cyclocross races and they are located pretty close to Madison. So it should be a fun fall.

Here is the 2006 schedule
http://www.wicycling.org/CycloCross/2006%20WCA%20Cyclocross%20Schedule.pdf

[Veronica]

Good luck and have fun!

V.

[SalsaMTB]

Wow, good luck! Let us know how it goes!

[madisongrrl]

I'm back from Colorado. It was amazing, even though I had a DNF. My brother did great and got on the podium (not bad for someone from WI).

Here is a link to my photo album. The pictures are best viewed as a slideshow.
http://rebach.smugmug.com/gallery/1776392

I'm still arranging the pictures that I took at the Pro XC race...when I'm finished, I'll post a link.

Another fantastic part of my trip was that I attended a free skills camp taught by Alison Dunlop. It was great because there were only five of us, so there was a lot of personal attention.

[SalsaMTB]

Great pics!! Hope you didn't get too hurt! How was the elevation change?

[madisongrrl]

Great pics!! Hope you didn't get too hurt! How was the elevation change?

The elevation change was brutal. On the last day of my vacation I was still getting winded walking up a flight of hotel stairs.

[madisongrrl]

Here are my pics of the Pro XC NORBA race at Snowmass.

http://rebach.smugmug.com/gallery/1779413