JJakucyk

I live in Ohio, and I decided to bring my bike with me to spend the holidays with my parents in central North Carolina. They live in the Sandhills area, right near Pinehurst. Lots of open twisty country roads, and good weather for riding too. I went out for a ride on Christmas Eve, and boy it was difficult. There aren't many really big climbs here, but there are virtually no flats to speak of. So either I'm coasting down a hill or climbing another one. Lots of huffing and puffing in my case. The pavement isn't great either. The roads aren't bumpy or cracked for the most part, but in many places the aggregate used in the asphalt is very coarse and raised from the surface, which makes for an unpleasant ride.

Anyway, after getting back that day my sinuses went absolutely berserk. I had already been a little more stuffy than usual, but my nose got extremely itchy and irritated, and it sent me into a stuffy sneezing fit. For the next two days I was stuffed up, sneezing constantly, my eyes were watering, and I had to blow my nose every few minutes. On top of that I ended up loafing around the house half asleep from antihistamines. I figured it was probably a cold and just brushed it off as my symptoms improved.

Now four days later the weather was into the 60s again, so I decided to try another ride. The same thing happened, but at least I have some Claritin so I won't fall asleep in the middle of the day. Nevertheless, it seems there's something out here that I'm allergic to, and the heavy breathing from bike riding is triggering a significant reaction to it. I don't think I'm going to get out again, but at least I got to have a go at a different part of the country.

Snicklefritz

I feel for you man. I had the same problem when I moved about a year ago. Something in my new area aggravated my lungs so much that at first, I couldn't ride 100' without wanting to hack my lungs out. With the large volumes of air that cyclists process, it's not surprising that some of us end up being a bit sensitive to stuff. If it doesn't go away and interferes with your training, PM me and I can give you some suggestions for warmups to do to help with the problem. (my coach is also an MD so he gave me lots of good advice on how to deal with this)

Ostuni

the carolinas are a nightmare to a lot of people with allergies (and to those who did not know they HAD allergies)...

when i was a student at south carolina, a lot of kids from up north who came down there for school had to transfer to other colleges b/c their allergies would go nuts down here....

substructure

A coworker from Virginia suffered tremendously the first year he worked for us in NC. A lot of people suffer here. One thing I do - 'course I've lived here for 30 years - is down a teaspoon of local honey everyday. My father in-law raises honey bees and we get all the honey we want. Yummy!

Some of the local folk swear to this. They say the pollen in the honey actually helps the immune system. Medically, it's that the pollen is delivered in small, manageable doses, like taken immunology injections for allergies.

So if anyone knows that they are coming to the pollen capital of the world, have some one mail you some honey a month or so before you get here. I’m not sure this will help because I’m not an allergy specialist and I don’t play one on TV either.

msheron

I worked in the Pinehurst area and the one thing you must remember for that part of the state is how mild it is year round. The hay fever, allergies and such will be overwhelming if your susceptable to that. As far as hills during your ride................where were you? I grew up near there and don't really know any hills. I guess living in the mountains, I now judge every thing by either Mt. Pisgah or Mt. Mitchell! There are some rolling mounds as I call them. Oh well...............hate you had a bad ride.

roadracer13

North Carolina actually has more miles of paved road than any other state in the United States. Years ago some Governor decided he would put people to work and pave the hell out of this state. A great deal of the roads that are paved to not use asphalt; they use an aggregate with tar to bind them. It is a really cheap way to get a road paved. That causes all kinds of huge pours in the road... that is why I like to ride a Carbon bike. When I was on my Alum/Carbon combo and flying down a big hill, my computer would stop reading my Heart Rate strap the vibration was so bad. When I switched to all Carbon the problem stopped. The road in North Carolina are some of the best for judging the ride of any frame.

Bummer about your allergies... I am lucky living in North Carolina, I don't suffer from then. Going to be 55 and sunny here in the foothills... gotta go ride!

* jack *

Just to be fair to the rest of the state, I've lived here my whole life (31 yrs) and I haven't been to any place in the state where my allergies were as aggravated as when I visited Southern Pines/Pinehurst. I have bad allergies, even took shots when I was a kid, so I know how bad it can get.


W. Kerr Scott

JJakucyk

I'm glad to know bad allergic reactions aren't unusual around here. I've never had any pollen/mold allergies in my life as far as I know, but I guess there's a first time for everything. I'll be back in Ohio in a few days, and I got a trainer for Christmas, so I'm not going to worry about it too much.

DieselDan

I have the oppisite reaction, I leave SC, I get an allergic reaction to something. Claritin works wonders for nasel allergies. Flonase even better.