Endorphins

Prior to this summer of biking, I cannot say that I have really been much of an athlete my entire life. I have started biking to work once a week, and just before the end of the ride there, there is a huge, steep hill that just about kills me every time. It is getting marginally easier, just because I know I have done it before, I think. However, the last couple of trips up the hill I have felt what I *think* are my endorphis kicking in! I have never experienced that before, so I am not sure! I feel sort of a rush, but I thought your endorphins were supposed to help your performance - my hands and feet get all tingly and I sometimes feel like I am going to fall off the bike.

So - when do your endorphins kick in? What does it feel like?
Thanks!

I always thought my endorphins were that high and awesome feeling from finishing a ride, sometimes persist through the whole day even. I feel happy and light on my feet from my bike rides.

There's enough debate about endorphins, i.e., about what triggers them and what physical sensation you might experience when you do, that I'd be hestitant to conclude that that's what you're experiencing. There's much talk about a "runner's high" but the scientific evidence is still out on whether that relates to a biological process related to endorphins, some other biological process or soemthing that's "merely" mental. Either way, I feel good after a long or hard ride--for whatever reason.

When you say you feel like you might fall of the bike, do you mean you feel dizzy or do you mean that in a "good" way? Tingly, dizzy, lightheaded, etc., may be a sign that something is wrong.....

For me, I figure it's endorphins when somebody says "waht are you grinning at?"

No tingles... for me, that happens when the handlebars are maladjusted.