23% Grade - Heart Rate Approaching DEATH - Help???
I'm being ficitious, but there's a sincere question here:
Tonight, I did a nearly 19 mile ride to the north side of Bloomington.
Several Weeks ago, I posed a question regarding maximum heart rate in this post.
The general consensus was that although the formulas give guidance, we're all different...but that our heart rate CAN'T go over it's Max...OK, I get this.
But, tonight, I tried the county's toughest hill...peaked at 26% grade.
I only made it 3/4 of the way up. When I saw the painted Dan Henry that indicated the "Puke Zone", I knew I wasn't a pioneer...
But, I had to stop and walk:
My heart rate was 211, grade was 20%+, I was in granny gear and ready to barf (although I didn't)
Although I thought my actual Max was about 185, last weekend, I hit a wall at 195 and then tonight, I hit 211bpm
So, the question is:
- is this a health risk...could I have had a heart attack?
- should I have kept going, or should I have stopped as I did?
- did my heart rate hit a new high because of good fitness or poor fitness (I've not been able to ride much in the last three weeks)?
Is there something else I should be considering?
Here's the chart from my Garmon off Motion Based showing my heart rate and the elevation:

What do you think?
If you don't grow where you're planted, you'll never BLOOM - Will Rogers