Quote Originally Posted by lovelylibrarian View Post
Other than going to a sports lab, do you think it's reasonable to go to the gym and sprint for a long time until I can't go any longer to try to figure out my max heart rate?
I think it's easier and more helpful to figure out your lactate threshold. If you've been riding regularly with your HR monitor, you should already have a good idea of approx. what your max HR is. Joe Friel's books are great references. I did his LT test (basically a 30 min TT) and then used his charts to figure out my different HR zones. I reprogrammed my HR monitor and it feels pretty accurate and like I'm getting a better picture now.

Basically, mountain biking is a real kick in the butt. I've been trying for several years to not feel so exhausted and like my heart is going to pound out of my chest. I think road biking more definitely helps, as does the trainer in the off-season and just sticking with it and realizing that it will come in time.