Originally Posted by
Trakhak
I used to think that until I read a Bicycle Guide magazine article in which the writer reported going out on an off-road ride with one of the first wearable heart rate monitors on the market. He did a long, high-speed, technical downhill run and checked his pulse rate as soon as he got to the bottom, expecting to see a sky-high number. It wasn't far above his resting rate. As the writer said, "So much for heart-pounding descents."
I'd still suspect that expectations and experiences will influence measurable reactions to conditions -- HR and BP. If the writer enjoyed that downhill run and didn't experience fear or anxiety, it's likely he wouldn't show elevated HR and BP.
I enjoy riding fast on the road (I'm inexperienced off road). But I don't enjoy being hit by cars. So it's likely my HR and BP will vary on public roads depending on conditions and presence or absence of traffic. It wouldn't surprise me if my HR/BP were within normal range on a 40 mph downhill blast with no traffic in sight, and then spiked during a 15 mph approach to a busy intersection. But I'd need a monitor to test my theory, along with time codes related to video or voice notes to correlated HR/BP with external factors at that time.
These are personal and variable factors, so responses would vary. And it would get into subjective interpretations, probably lacking a statistically significant sampling group, etc.
I suggest it only as one possible factor to consider in trying to figure out why our HR/BP varies between indoor and outdoor sessions.