I received the package from Rickey with their Break Away Frame/Fork. I bought the 52 cm Road version, steel frame and carbon fork.  It comes with a case, headset, inline adjusters for the derailleurs that are used with a connector on the frame (not a very good design by the way) and three inline disconnects for the two derailleur and rear brake cables when you take it apart.  First thing I did was to weigh all the parts. The frame and fork weigh 2180 grams (4.8 lbs). The included headset weighs 5.3 oz (150 grams) for a total weight of 2,330 grams or 5.1 lbs. That is before cutting the steer-er tube to size so it might be a few ounces less.

The way the system works is that the frame breaks apart into two sections.  They are joined with a clamp near the bottom bracket and also the seatpost forms the second connection.

I had already purchased most all the additional parts needed with the exception of the seatpost and stem since I wanted to see how it all fit before I decided on the stem length and seatpost setback.   I have a spare stem to get started with.  I used a seatpost and saddle I took off an older bike so I could get the bike assembled.  The seatpost is needed to hold the two parts of the frame together, with the other connection near the bottom bracket being made by way of a special clamp.

The headset was not installed so I decided to take it to the local bike shop for that since I don’t have a headset press.  Within a few hours they called me and told me it was done.  It was $30 well spent since that included cutting the steerer tube..  Note that although it came with a headset there are no spacers for use under the stem.  I was not sure what stack height to use.  Looking at the Richey installation information online they said to limit it to 30 mm, so I used that.  You can always reduce it later but once you cut the tube that sets the limit.

For the components I installed DuraAce 7800 that I had replaced on my Trek Madone 6.9.  A couple of years ago I had replaced the double crank with a DuraAce 7950 compact and more recently I replaced the shifters, brakes and derailleurs with 7900 series.   So I had a complete set of components, but for now I will see how I do with a double crankset, something I rode all the time until two years ago.  For wheels I move the Maric Krysium SLs I had on my spare road bike and put the original wheels on that bike.  I put on a spare set of Speedplay pedals and weighed the final bike.  It came in at 17.5 lbs, quite nice for a travel bike with a steel frame.  This is around the weight of my older road bike, the Trek 5200 with the same wheels on it.

The bike comes with a travel case which measures 8.5″W x 26.5″H x 31″L with adds up to 66 linear dimension. Most airlines say 62 is limit but most people report they get charged as regular suitcase as long as under 50 lbs.  You can see how much more compact this travel case is compared with a regular bike case I own (on the left).

I added a water bottle cage, a saddle bag,  and mount for my Garmin 500, and was ready to roll.

Two miles into the ride I decided that the stem was too long.  It was a spare one I had to test out but I felt I needed a 70 mm stem, like I have on my Trek.  I returned home and pulled one of that size off the tandem and put it on.  That felt just right so the bike size and fit is almost the same as my Trek Madone 6.9. The bide very nicely.  I forgot how effortless the DuraAce 7800 double crank shifted.  I am very glad I bought this frame to use my old components on.  It has the advantage of being a travel bike.

I found this video on the web on how to pack the Richey Break Away.

Although the summer is almost over, with the first day of Fall coming tomorrow, the temperatures had turned much warmer than usual.  It was about 97 degrees when we headed out at 5:15 pm for our weekly mountain bike ride at Harvey Bear Ranch.  This is one of my favorite rides of the week because this County Park is very close, almost in our backyard, and the trails are great.  About five of the Nightriders showed up for the ride, which we had to push to 5:15 pm start since the park closes at sunset and the days are getting shorter.

We made our way up over the hill and headed down to Coyote Lake where we knew we would be in the shade as the temperatures starts to cool off and where we could get more water.  Then it was backup up the hill and then down the roller coaster of a single track where Jimbo became a cowboy and herded the cattle.  The late afternoon sun glistened on the golden hills making for some breathtaking views.  You can see why they call California the Golden State.

Two years ago I installed a mountain bike (MTB) derailleur (Shimano XTR) and cassette on Anne’s road bike at the time.  See the prior post. At that time all MTB setups were 9 speed but her road bike was a 10 speed.  Although there was a 3rd party 10 speed cassette with a wide range, it was expensive and most people didn’t feel it worked very well.  So back then I used a device to allow you to use 10 speed shifters with a 9 speed MTB cassette.  The device, which had two concentric pulleys, changed the cable pull as needed.  It worked, but never worked very well and it seemed very hard to adjust things so it would shift smoothly.  It also meant that one of the index positions on the shifters would not work since there were only 9 cogs.

Anne got a new road bike last year and has been doing well with a triple chain-ring and a 12-27 cassette.   In the meantime Shimano has come out with 10 speed MTB gearing setups.  So for a relatively small price I bought a Shimano XT 10 speed cassette (Shimano XT M771-10) with a range of 11-34 and moved the XTR derailleur (RD-M971) from her old road bike to her new bike for those few times when she might need that extra low gears.

Type of Derailleur

Most road derailluers are limited to no more than 28 or 29 maximum teeth on the cassette. SRAM does sell a road derailleur as part of their APEX group that will accommodate a wider range, up to 32.  These are designed for use with a compact crank, although they may work with a triple also.

The other approach is to use a mountain bike oriented rear derailleur.  A word of caution is in order.  For many years Shimano kept the cable pull the same between their road and MTB shifters.  However with their 10 speed MTB bikes, they changed the cable pull.  Therefore, you can not buy a 10 speed rear MTB derailleur and have it work with 10 speed shifters on a road bike.  Instead, you need a 9 Speeed derailleur.  That might sound wrong since it will be used with 10 speed shifters but the XTR is not indexed and the indexing is all done with the shifters so it works just fine since it matches the cable pull on the 10 speed road shifters.  Another point is you need to use a “top normal” derailleur.  High normal or top normal rear derailleurs return the chain to the smallest sprocket on the cassette when no cable tension is applied, the same as with road bikes.  Many newer mountain bikes have a bottom normal or rapid rise shifter which is opposite, where the derailleur moves to the largest cog with no cable tension.  It would work on a road bike but everything would be backwards and should be avoided.  For Shimano the right model is RD-M971 for the XTR series and RD-M771 for the less expensive XT series.

Cage Length

Mountain bike derailleurs come in various cage lengths, which define the amount of varying chain length they can deal with.  For the Shimano RD-M971 the specs for long  (SGS) is 43T and for medium (GS) it is 33T

The easy capacity formula is to add your big ring & cog sizes, then subtract your small ring and cog sizes. It looks like this:

cap req’d (T) = (BIG ring – small ring) + (BIG cog – small cog)

…so for a 53-39-30 triple road crank & 11-34 cassette…

T = (53T – 30T) + (34T – 11T)
.. = (23T) + (23T)
.. = 46T

Using this simple formula, you would need a derailleur with a 46T rated capacity to absorb all the possible extra links and allow you to use every conceivable gear combination.  The Shimano long cage allows for 43T, and knowing that Shimano is conservative, then it should work fine.  If you have something other than a triple, use your own values in the formula above.  For example with a double crank (53-39) and a 11-32 cassette, it is 35 so a medium cage is sufficient.

Cassette

Although they sell cassettes with a capacity up to 36, most 9 speed derailleurs only accommodate up to 34.  This is what I installed, but you might consider using something like a 11-32.  That will still give you a very low gear and less of a jump between gears and you can buy a road cassette (SRAM with the range 11-32).

Chain

Another word of caution is about the chain.  Anne has a triple crankset so according to Shimano you should not use the newer chains (such as the CN-7901), which are only suppose to be used with a double (or compact) crankset.   That is true even if you have the latest Shimano Ultegra Triple.  They recommend instead the older model CN-7801 or CN-6600 chains.  However for the cassette I installed, they recommend the CN-HG94 chain, which is for the Dyna Sys mountain bike setup and is directional (like the new DuraAce chains)  so I would avoid that.  It is not as simple as when you would be a chain from Shimano and it said for either DuraAce or XTR.  Having on hand a new DuraAce CN-7801 chain I used that and it worked fine.  That is what one with a triple crank should be using, even if they have a regular road cassette.

It didn’t take long to install the XTR derailleur and new 11-34 10 speed cassette. I put on a new chain while I was at it.   Adjusting the shifting was the same as if it were a mountain bike.

Yesterday, we rode up Henry Coe, near Morgan Hill.  There is one short segment with the grade getting to about 20%.  Anne said the lowest gear she went into was a bit too low.  I think a 11-32 cassette would have been a better choice for her, especially considering she seemed to have no problem climbing it previously with her old 12-27 cassette.  Still it is nice to know there is a yet another gear in case you need it.

Being the cheap guy I am I continued to use my DuraAce 7800 shifters, derailleurs and brakes.  It was a workable combination but the shifting was just not the same as with my DuraAce 7800 double crank.

Lately I have had the urge to buy a new bike.  There is not good reason since things were working fine enough, but the DuraAce 7800 shifts have the older design of the shift cables routed outside and everyone has changed to internal routing.  It is kind of like driving an old car.  Sometimes you just want to drive a new one.

Although my components were now 4 years old, much of the bike was much newer, with the frame and crankset replaced 2 years ago and the wheels replaced within the past year.  So instead of going done the route of buying a new bike, I decided to replace the components that were still there from the original bike, which meant new shifters, brakes, and front and rear derailleur.  I had considered to go with SRAM Red, which is very popular now, but I have a couple of road bikes plus the tandem that have Shimano components so I wanted to keep everything Shimano and with a shifting method I was use to.

All of the components were on sale individually at Performance.com so I placed the order for a total cost of $980 (less 10% in the points I get back for future purchases).  This included the ST-7900 Dual Control Levers, BR-7900 Dual -Pivot Caliper Brakes, FD-7900-B Front Derailleur, and RD-7900-SS, Rear Derailleur.  This was much cheaper than the $7,500 I would need to spend on a new bike with a top of the line frame, like I have, and DuraAce 7900 components.

Installing the brakes and rear derailleur was fairly easy because they were very much like what I have used in the past.

When it came to putting on the shifters that was a whole different store.  Even attaching them to the handlebar was puzzling and the instruction sheet that came with them was a bit hard to follow.  After getting them installed, I then had to route the brake and derailleur cables, which was tricky because it was so different than what I had done in the past.

Adjusting the rear derailleur was straightforward since it was similar to what I had done in the past.  The front derailleur was not so simple and the method of adjusting the cable tension was completely different.  I had to keep fiddling with it, even starting over a couple times.  The setup is suppose to allow you to use any gear combination without the need for trim in the shifters, but you have to do it just right to achieve that.  It is complicated by Shimano stating there is no trim, but the shifters do allow for two clicks going into the big chain ring.   One cycling friend had put in considerable slack in his cable so he used both clicks to get into the big chainring.  That just didn’t make sense to me because Shimano would not design something that required that type of effort.  I could setup things so it would move quickly into the big chainring, but the amount of tension caused the chain to rub when I was in the small chainring and largest cassette because the cable pulled the derailleur off the stop against the chain.  I finally solved that by a slight rotation of the derailleur.  If you have it off alignment, especially with the tail-end pointed outward even slightly, the very narrow range you have to work with with no trim is not sufficient.

It was only after I finished the job, reading and re-reading the instruction sheets, that I found this great video. If I had watched this first, I would have saved myself some time. Everything in the video is in the Shimano supplied instruction sheets but the video makes it easier to understand.

Shimano Dura Ace 7900 Installation Guide from ProBikeKit on Vimeo.

If you happen to be installing Ultegra 6700 components, this video will show you have. If you are installing a triple crankset, this video will also show you the differences in the installation between a triple and double (or compact) crankset.

Shimano Ultegra 6700 Installation & Adjustment Guide from ProBikeKit on Vimeo.

The route headed out to Springville then up Hobble Creek Canyon.  Upon return home, I got on my single bike and biked up South Fork with a couple of the guys on the Utah Velo ride for a total of 80 miles.  It was great weather, a fun route, and a fast pace.

Today could have been on of those days when the ACTC ride was well matched for the heat wave we were having because it much of it was near the coast, going over to Pescadero.  It would have been a 67 mile ride with a lot of climbing that I was planning to join.  Something came up and it looked like we had a conflict so this morning Anne and I got up and ran, all that we thought we had time for.  It was only late in the morning that the conflict didn’t materialize, too late to join the club ride.  Anne does not like biking in the heat and it was now nearing triple digits.  What to do?

I made a check with some friends but they thought it was too hot to ride.  Around 2 pm, I finally could not resit the desire to get on the bike so I headed out from home, not sure where to go.  Wow, was it warm.  The tree lined road of Redwood Retreat beckoned me so after a short climb over Mantelli I made my way over there.  Nearing  the end of Redwood Retreat the thought came to me that I could ride over closer to the coast by going up Mt. Madona road, which intersects near the end of Redwood Retreat.  This road is a steep climb and mostly paved, but there is a 1.2 mile section at the top that is dirt.

When I reached the intersection, I noticed a sign that said Mt Madona road was closed.  I could see that it was open to residents.  Hum, I thought.  I am a resident of Gilroy and a cyclist too boot so I figure it was okay to bike up the road.

Leaving the shade, I headed up Mt. Madona.  The asphalt was really radiating heat now.  The heat is a bit easier to deal with when you are biking at a good clip on a flat road and getting that wind in your face. But when when you start to climb a steep hill, you not only are working hard but you have no wind to cool you off.  I kept going knowing that nearer the top there would be shade.

Part way up the hill I saw the reason why the road was closed.  The asphalt was caving in.

I finally made it to the dirt section, which is always tricky.  The grade is too steep to stand because if you do, you will lose traction and your rear wheel will slip, same as when riding a mountain bike while climbing.  But unlike my mountain bike, I do not have as low of gearing on my road bike. So it required powering up the hill while sitting and keeping the speed up enough to not need to stop as you bike along the bumps in the dirt road.  I had just changed to a new saddle on my bike and I guess I had not tightened things enough because when going through one of the bumps, I came down on my seat which cocked back considerable, with the nose pointing up.  I could not stop here because it was too steep to get going again in the dirt, so I had to just deal with it until I reached a less steep section where I readjusted the seat.  I finally made it to the top at the intersection with Pole Line, at 2,000 feet elevation.

I could already feel it was a cooler so I headed down the other side, where Mt. Madona road is all paved, but quite steep.  From there I took Hazel Dell over to Corralitos.   Whereas the temperature on my GPS was reading 108 early in the valley, it was now down to 78 and it was a lovely ride up the gentle climb over Hazel Dell.  When I reached Corralitos market, I say Jeff and Mike who were biking to Mt Madona Park to meet their wives for camping for the weekend.

Unlike some others who plan their route well in advanced, I had not quite decided the entire route.  I had thought of going up Eureka Canyon, but when I started to add up the miles to get back home that way it would be a 80 miles ride, a bit much in the heat, with such a late start and after running this morning.  So I decided to go back the way I came and rode with Jeff and Mike as they made their way to Mt Madona Park.

Going back of Hazel Dell was even more pleasant now, with the temperature in the mid 70s.  Even the very steep climb back up Mt. Madona was not overly hot, nothing like the heat I had experienced climbing up from the Gilroy side early in the afternoon.

I regrouped with Jeff and Mike at the top and showed them the direction to the camping areas.  I thought about heading that way with them, along Pole Line, but that would then require that I go down Highway 152, which I find too risky with no shoulder, blind turns and cars that go way to fast.  So I headed back down the dirt section of Mt Madona road.  Even though was now late afternoon, I could feel the heat coming back as I went down to the valley.  This chart shows what my GPS was recording for temperature during the ride.

I finally made it back home just past 6:30 pm.  The ride was only 45 miles but with 4,500 feet of climbing.  It might be one of the only rides I have ridden from my house where I was able to get in 100 feet of climbing for every mile!

For many years I used a Polar heart rate monitor for both running and later for cycling. Starting with the Polar 720i, then the 625X, with footpod, it seemed like an ideal way to keep track of my speed and distance on both the bike and running. However I had become progressively disenchanted with Polar as a company. Even to this day they do not support their products on the Mac operating system, something that Garmin now does with all their products. They also seem to have lost the technology advantage they once had by letting Garmin move ahead with the use of GPS technology. Garmin’s early GPS units were bulky and seemed quite impractical but with each new generation they have continued to advance and their GPS units now have become quite small.

I previously wrote about the Garmin Edge 500 compared with the Polar 625X for cycling. It turned out that the Garmin Edge 500, which was primarily built for cycling weights no more than the Polar 625X. See my previous post for the detail comparison.

One of the nice features of the Garmin Edge 500 was the quick quarter turn mount. The new Garmin Forerunner 310X, has an optional “Quick release mounting kit” that is designed to convert their Forerunner running watches to use the same quarter turn mount, allowing you to use it on both your wrist and on the bike.

I ordered the kit for about $25 from Amazon and received it today. It comes with a wrist stap (the part I was interested in) as well as a bike mounting kit and a back for the 310XT to convert it to the quarter turn mount. Using only the strap I was able to attach the Garmin Edge 500 directly to my wrist. The orientation on your wrist may not be the idea way, but it is workable.

It might look a bit geeky, but not as much as the early Garmin Forerunner running watches.

So how much does the strap add to the 2 oz. weight of the Garmin Edge 500? Turns out not much, bringing the total weight from 2.0 to 2.6 oz. The difference is less than the weight of the footpod I use with the Polar 625X. It is almost the same as the 2.5 oz weight of the Garmin 310XT.

Is this combination the same as using the Garmin Forerunner 310XT?

Garmin Forerunner 310XT

If one is primarily focused on running, or on tri sports, then getting the Garmin 310XT might well be worth the price. For those who are mostly focused on cycling and do some running, then the Edge 500 does work as a workable solution if you want a GPS to use on your runs. It will not show your pace in any readout. Even using the speed, in mph, is not very useful because it seems to be erratic. But I found the pace readout on the Polar 625X to also be useless and ended up using the average speed over the course the of the run, which the Garmin Edge 500 will do. So if you own a Garmin 500 and want to have some type of GPS unit for running, you can get there with a small investment. Even without a footpod, it seems to be quite accurate and unlike the Polar 625X, the distance measurement does not seem to be greatly influenced by the pace being run. After the run, I can download the data to my Mac computer and see my average pace, and a map of the run. It makes it much easier later on to remember where you actual ran.

You also get some features that the Garmin Forerunner 310XT lack, including barometric pressure altimeter and temperature readout, although I am not sure that the temperature reading on the Garmin Edge 500 is very accurate. I realize that Polar has some newer running and cycling devices than the Polar 625X, but their unwillingness to embrace both the Mac and the standard Ant+ communication with their components, has kept me from spending any more money on Polar products. They seem to have a lot of different products, too many in my opinion. Try to pick out from the Polar offering and it is way too confusing.

Of course if you have no Garmin device now, you could go with the Garmin Forerunner 310XT, and use the Quick release kit to mount it on your bike or your wrist. But I primarily bike and the Garmin Edge 500 is well suited for that. You might also read my other post on using course on the Edge 500.

We have been biking quite a bit this past week, trying to get ready for the Sierra to the Sea bicycle tour, which we are on the staff for.  After 5 consecutive days of biking through Friday, it was time for Anne to take a day off and do some recovery, but I wanted to still bike.  I checked out the ACTC club rides and the only one that looked interesting was the Long Distance Training ride.  It was 110 miles and about 7,300 feet of climbing.  I was not too worried about the climbing but I had not biked over 100 miles so far this year.  Nevertheless I decided to give it a try.

The ride started at 7:30 am, at the Lexington School, which is up the the canyon from San Jose.  About 12 riders showed up.  Despite the forecast of overcast until afternoon, the sun was shining early in the morning and the temperature was already up to 60.  It seemed just taking arm warmers and a vest would be sufficient.

We start at about 750 feet elevation first going up the Old Santa Cruz Highway, not really a highway, but a wonderful back-road with little traffic.

Photo by Lane Parker

I was riding with Lane Parker.  We were suppose to take the shortcut up Mt. Charlie but we missed it, but soon got back on course.  We rode along Summit road, then up Bear Creek to Skyline.   Even after reaching Skyline you have a lot more climbing until you reach Castle Rock at over 3,100 feet.  With all the climbing I was plenty warm enough.  Then it was some descent and rollers along Skyline.  As we were approaching the intersection of Highway 9, it started to get very foggy, and there was so much humidity in the air that I could not see out of my glasses, left only to look over the top rim.  The road was wet in sections from the fog and the temperature was dropping.  As the temperature plunged to the mid 40′s it was too cold for my liking, especially how I was dressed.

The route was headed to Highway 84, then down to the coast, and back along Highway 1 to Santa Cruz.  I could see the coast from some parts of Skyline and it looked very cold down there, even though it was already June 11th.  Lane started to take about heading inland instead and it took no effort to convince me to join him.  When we reached Page Mill Road, we decided that was a good road to take back down to the valley.

I was shivering as I started the descend but could feel the temperate increase as we went back closer to sea level.  We rode together along Foothill and made our way back to Saratoga.  Lane had ridden from home but I needed to get back up to the car, so I decided the best way would be to take Highway 9 back up to Skyline, then backtrack the course taken earlier in the morning back to the car.  So when we reached Saratoga I said goodbye to Lane as he snapped another photo.

Photo by Lane Parker

The climb up Highway 9 is not real steep, but it is a long climb, about 3,000 feet of climbing counting the section on Skyline up to Castle Rock.  I had setup a KOM section on Highway 9 from Pierce to Skyline, which people can record their times on my Ultra Cycling Website.  I had done that section in under 35 minutes in 2008.  But today I was climbing like as slug, my usual now days.  I barely made the climb in under 50 minutes!

By the time I ended back at the car I had biked 74 miles and climbed 7,700 feet.  It turned out to be the right amount and a fun ride.

I knew something was not quite right with my body from early this year. Although I was still climbing relatively fast for a 62 year old, my times were not at last year’s level. Could it be that age is finally knocking at the door? Or am I just not training hard enough?

I was on track with my training for the Hoodoo 500 bicycle race, a 519 mile race I am doing at the end of August as part of a two man relay team. I had just finished the 12th week of my 19 week training program, with 384 miles that week on the bike, 6 miles running and over 25,000 feet of climbing.  I was finally feeling prepared with the distance but my speed was still not quite what I was expecting.

Beta Blocker Blues

It is now over two months later.  After many medical tests, I finally have the green light to push hard again but  I am now taking a beta blocker to reduce high blood pressure that is triggered by exercise.  It has the effect of lowering my heart rate and makes cycling and running harder than before.  Today I did my intervals on a bike that include 7 minutes very hard, followed by 3-4 minutes recovery, repeated 4 times.  I have done this same course over the past two years and have several data points.  Today’s results were the slowest of any, averaging only 19.8 mph, and my average heart rate during the interval sections was only 132 bpm, showing the effect of the beta blocker.  Before my average speed ranged from 20.5 to 22.5 mph with an average heart rate in the 155-165 bpm range.

If you want more background on the events that have lead up to today, you can read the details below.

Initial Problem

We were in Utah and Anne was up for a climb up the Alpine Loop. After making our way up the Provo Canyon trail, then up to the highway to the intersection for the Alpine Loop, I told Anne to go ahead and I would wait 5 minutes, then push hard up the first section to Sundance. My best prior time this year on this 2.3 mile segment with a 900 foot climb was 15:32. I had not been able to do better than that since May. But today I pushed hard and climbed it in 14:34 but that required an average heart rate of 164, maximum of 172. As you can see from the graph below my heart rate was in the “Anerobic Zone” (152-165 bpm) for the first half of the climb and in the “Red Line Zone” (165-178 bmp) for the later half of the climb, typical for when I am trying to set a new PR on this length of climb. For more information see my article on heart rate zones.

I then rode the rest of Alpine Loop with Anne and then back down to our Utah home. That was now 38 miles of biking but I felt I needed more, so I decided to ride on my own and do Squaw Peak and South Fork. It was now getting warm and my plan of doing Squaw Peak was a good one, but the decision to push the pace and try to see how fast I could do the climb may have been too much. I was taking my heart rate up high, especially near the top of this 4.3 mile climb with 1,700 feet of elevation gain. Later I could see I had an average heart rate of 167 for the climb, with a maximum of 174. You can see from the graph below that I was spending most all of the time in the red line heart rate zone. The poor visibility on my Garmin Edge 500 makes it hard for me to read my heart rate so I did not realize at the time I had my heart rate so high.

Near the top I felt this pain in my left shoulder, but otherwise I felt okay. After descending back down to the Provo Canyon trail, I got some water and rested for while. The pain was still there but I didn’t seem to have any other issue so I finished my intended ride. As the day wore on, I was surprised the pain in my shoulder did not go away, even after several hours. I checked my pulse rate and that seemed normal. Later that night I thought maybe I should check my blood pressure. However the only device we had at the condo was a simple blood pressure monitor that goes on your wrist. I was alarmed when I got a reading over 180, especially since I usually have normal blood pressure.

Visit to Emergency Room

We called our neighbor and borrowed their blood pressure monitor and I took it again. It was 184/110. Now I was really alarmed, enough to decide we needed to get some medical attention. At 11 pm, that meant a trip to the emergency room.

The doctor said they needed to run some tests, so they took a blood sample and then did an EKG.  Both were negative so they did a chest xray then a CT scan with some type of fluid injected into my blood stream. Awhile later the doctor came in to say that the  test was also negative. Now it was about 3 am, and there was no reason to stay at the ER, so we returned home. The doctor suggested I contact my personal physician and schedule a stress test since the testing they did was all without being under stress.

After returning to California, I paid a visit to our personal physician.  After showing him my blood pressure readings, he prescribed a low dose Ace Inhibitor medication and refereed me to a Cardiologist for a stress test.  I started to take the blood pressure medication on the next evening, July 27th . Although the information with the prescription said it takes 2 to 4 weeks to take affect, it had an immediate impact and starting the next morning, almost all blood pressure readings have been in the normal range, even on the low side.

Stress Test

On Monday, August 2nd, I was glad that I would finally get a stress test. Although I have continued to bike, I have tried to keep my heart rate below 140 as a safety precaution. They hooked me up to something like a EKG machine and then the doctor came in. I explained much of the above history to her. I showed her the details of my blood pressure readings that I had kept for the past 10 days.

It was easy for me to walk, then run on the treadmill. As my pulse rate increased, she would periodically take my blood pressure. I noted that my blood pressure was starting to go up rather high. When I reached a pulse rate over 150 bpm, she asked how I felt and I said I was fine and could keep this up for hours. When my pulse rate reached 163, my blood pressure went to 230 so she decided to end the test.  That was alarming when I realized that I routinely gone higher than a heart rate of 163 when I push hard on a hill climb.

There was an indication on the EKG that my heart muscle had been thickened. Several years ago I had visited the same cardiologist when something in an EKG had indicated something and she had done an echo-cardiogram back then and found it was borderline. She said the primary cause of this heart thickening is high blood pressure and believes I may have had the issue for some time and I became tolerant to the high blood pressure while exercising hard.

I called David, my Hoodoo 500 partner, to give him the whole story. I said I was fine if he decides to do it solo, or do it with a different partner and if he decides either of those, I will crew for him. I received a call back a day later and David said he would do the Hoodoo 500 with his wife, Deb, as the partner. Although I was disappointed that I could not put all my training to use, it did give me some sense of relief to cut back on my training until this medical problem could be resolved.

Echo Cardiogram Results

On Thursday, August 5th, I went in for an echo-cardiogram. This is essentially a sonogram of the heart.  When I visited with the doctor on August 10th, she told me the echo exam showed no enlarged heart but there had been some further thickening of the heart wall, which is usually caused by high blood pressure.  She prescribed a new medication, a beta blocker and to stop taking the ace inhibitor.  It seems that the beta blocker is more effective at keeping your blood pressure down while your heart rate goes up.

Nuclear Stress Test

On September 16th, I went to the doctor’s office to have the nuclear stress test. It took about 3 hours total time. First they connected an IV to me so they could inject the nuclear isotope. After making the first injection, they had me wait for over 20 minutes, then I was placed on a bed that had some type of camera system rotate around me. I asked how it worked, and I guess it takes about 60 pictures, that can be used to form some type of 3D image.

After that I went to the treadmill and had a similar stress test conducted by the cardiologist. Once again she was measuring my blood pressure during the test and she commented it was not going abnormally like before. I went about one minute further into the test than last time and they then injected more isotopes into the IV, then stopped the treadmill. This time my blood pressure had only risen to 200, a more normal value than then 230 last time. So this was the effect of the beta blocker.

During a follow-up visit with the doctor on September 21st, she showed me the images from the nuclear test and said things looked fine, no blockage of the arteries. My next visit is in 6 months. She said I can go ahead and push hard again on the bike. I am just not sure how fast I can go considering being on the beta blocker.

After having so many tests, I need not worry about my heart. That is the good news.  I am very fortunate that I found out about this issue because many people whose blood pressure only goes up during exercise never know about their condition since blood pressure is always taken while resting.  For now I need to stay on the beta blocker so I don’t expect to set any new KOM times on my hill climbs, but at least I can now push hard again and not worry.