Wildwood 

Seattle to Grand Junction, CO.
For anything but a modest pedaling in the flatter parts of the area, I struggle with the altitude. This looks to be a multi month trip instead of previous 1-2 week trips. Hopefully many road riding opportunities with sunny days and temps in 50's, at least til Thanksgiving. Gosh it's only 5 weeks away!

Hydrate more given lower humidity.
Moderate caffeine.
Sleep well.
Focus on breathing deeply.
Aspirin for headaches.

Would SuperBeets type products help?
Low dose viagra?

TIA

late edit for clarification: Flying from Seattle to Grand Junction for a long stay there. Not riding to GJ, 1000+miles across the northern West in Nov would be epic - but I am not.

Steve B.

Hills will suck, but really there’s nothing you can do except what you already know. It will take 2 weeks minimum to begin to acclimate and more like 6 before you feel more normal. I used to spend my summers in Santa Fe, NM at 7,000 ft. The first couple of days were difficult, but I just stayed away from steep hills. I also put away my heart rate monitor as it was telling me I was about to die.

Biker395 

You're already doing what I do. Just slow down a bit and give it time.

staehpj1

Reading the first line I thought you were riding from Seattle to Grand Junction, CO, but reading on I was unsure.

When I have ridden from sea level to mile high and above it hasn't been not too bad. My route has been indirect enough to allow acclimating at least somewhat.

When flying to higher elevation it seems kind of random how I will do. Factors like temperature and forest fire smoke seem to play in how I do, but there seems to be some randomness from trip to trip.

I did the worst when I flew in to 5000' from sea level and rode to 10,000'right away to tour in really hot weather with wild fire smoke. That was a recipe for disaster and I wound up with a pretty bad case of HAPE.

Other trips I did fine. Sometimes I had no issues at all other than maybe a bit of shortness of breath at the highest elevations..

You should have nice cool weather, probably good air quality, and the ability to choose how high you ride for how long. That is no guarantee how the trip will go, but it makes it more likely it will go well. Take it easy, especially at first, and enjoy the trip.

joesch

Common issue for many skiers aswell.
In addition to all the responded advice, make sure to keep very well hydrated.

cyccommute 

First, it’s not a mile high. Grand Junction is almost 700 feet shy of a mile

On the plus side, you won’t likely be going too high this time of year on a bicycle. The high country is mostly shut down to that activity. That gives you lots of time to acclimate to the (lower than a mile) altitude. Follow the CDC’s advice for the first few days and you should be fine. The more time you spend at altitude, the less likely you will be to have problems.

Don’t underestimate the water issue. You are coming from somewhere that has a higher absolute humidity than we do. We also have a much lower relative humidity, especially in winter. Relative humidity in the low teens is very common here during the winter and it will suck you dry. Caffeine and alcohol will suck you even drier. Avoid both for several days.

Wildwood 

Thanks for the replies. Was hoping for a miraculous potion.

We are outside GJ a bit but maybe only 5,000'. Less than a mile high so no problems, eh? No plans to ride to the Mesa at 10k ft.

terrymorse 

Everyone's reaction is different, but I do okay going from sea level up to 5000 feet. The altitude starts hitting me around 7000'.

As others have recommended, be sure to take it easy for the first few days. My worst day is the day after arrival, so I know to do just easy rides then.

Pay attention to perceived effort. If it feels high, go easy or shorten the ride.

When you feel stronger, you can start riding longer and faster. And hydrate more than you normally do. Altitude sucks the fluids from your bloodstream.

Carbonfiberboy 

This is one of my favorite summer rides: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/8745227, basically zero to 6200. I live at sea level. Another really good prep is to day hike from Paradise to Camp Muir at 10,000'. My wife and I got a permit to camp there and spent 2 nights at Muir. This was prep for a 10-day hiking trip to 12,000' in the Sierra. On Everest, a common prep is to go from base camp up to say 22,000' and back a couple times. Every excursion up high makes a big difference. Doing jumping jacks at Muir was interesting.

The idea is to stimulate the release of EPO by decreasing oxygen saturation. Works. Best to do this kind of thing a few weeks before going high so the RBCs can mature, but anything helps. A big deal is simply to teach your system to deal with lower oxygen content. This can happen overnight without your even realizing it. It helps to "pressure breathe," pursing one's lips on the outbreath, temporarily increasing air pressure in the lungs.. We're quite adaptable creatures. Of course this advice is way late for you, but next time, and for other readers..

Sure, ride up high if you can before it snows. It's all good.

rsbob 

EPO should do the trick

diphthong

the "mesa" is 10,000 feet high? i need to recalibrate da personal mapz.

CAT7RDR

New area/flora might trigger allergic responses and trouble breathing. I would be up on my allergy medication JIC.

Wildwood 

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The Grand Mesa is a large mesa in western Colorado in the United States. It is the largest flat-topped mountain in the world.[1] It has an area of about 500 square miles (1,300 km2) and stretches for about 40 miles (60 km) east of Grand Junction between the Colorado River and the Gunnison River, its tributary to the south. The north side of the mesa is drained largely by Plateau Creek, a smaller tributary of the Colorado. The west side is drained largely by Kannah Creek, which is received to the west by the lower Gunnison River. The mesa rises about 6,000 feet (1,800 m) above the surrounding river valleys, including the Grand Valley to the west, reaching an elevation of about 11,000 feet (3,400 m). Much of the mesa is within Grand Mesa National Forest. Over 300 lakes, including many reservoirs created and used for drinking and irrigation water, are scattered along the top of the formation. The Grand Mesa is flat in some areas, but quite rugged in others.

Iride01 

Do you know that you'll struggle at just a mile high?

Being that altitude in those places does tend to be very low humidity. So I will say that your reasoning for staying on top of your hydration is a very important. When I've been out to the Denver CO, area, I've been caught by dehydration not realizing it till I'm on the bad side of it my first few times out there. For me I didn't realize it till after being there 3 - 4 days. The dry air just makes everything seem so comfortable that I forget to drink enough.

Effort wise for riding my bike, I've not had any issues at that altitude. That becomes more noticeable for me when I get to 9000 ft and above. That just means more miles grinding away in lower gear ratios though. So sheer boredom from the scenery not changing fast enough. <grin>

The convenience stores will have some little canisters of O2 that you can huff on if needed. But it's the higher altitudes where my wife found them for sale. Though I've not looked for them. My son found them helpful to let him catch his breath on the high climb we did together.

diphthong

a stretch if you're centering in on grand junction, co but have at it if you wanna. durango. cortez. telluride. silverton. aspen. otherwise, you'll be fine not going much higher than 5k.
the best advice will be the accumulated miles and the form after riding down from seattle. should be in pretty decent shape where altitude in the 5-6k range isn't formidable/even noticeable.
if you're poaching 10k altitude territory, that's completely different training/territory. everyone experiences altitude differently tho.

staehpj1

Also remember that one trip may be different than the last.

andrewclaus

Consider increasing your dietary iron intake, to support red blood cell production.

blacknbluebikes 

Do you suspect that you will have a problem? Last January I got hit hard with altitude sickness. On the way to Vail for skiing I had no issues in Denver. On the drive up, passing through 9,000 it hit me immediately. Wicked headache and general malaise, just devolved from there to the point of vomiting. Never really got to ski. Should have gone to the clinic (dumb on my part). A few days later back in Denver, 90% resolved in two hours. If you have a strong reason to anticipate problems, speak to your doctor about taking "standby" medication with you (google it).

terrymorse 

Sorry, AMS (acute mountain sickness) is a miserable feeling.

Did you spend the night in Denver before heading up into the mountains? My wife has had AMS in Breckenridge before, but not since we started spending the night in Denver.

gobicycling

It varies a lot by person. One old time participant in this forum loves to Ride The Rockies but lives at sea level or near sea level. He flies in with his bike, heads up to the starting place, and starting the next day does 6 days of Rocky mountain high elevation passes. It doesn't phase
him a bit. I live at 6000 ft, but at 84, above 11,000 ft is starting to bother me. But, I have a lung condition in all five lobes, so I'm not typical.
Spend a little time reading about high altitude pulmonary edema, and high altitude cerebral edema, which can happen at even 5,000 ft, but usually much higher, like 8,000 ft.+ Both are life-threatening but pretty rare. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/art...500%2D3000%20m.

blacknbluebikes 

terrymorse No, didn't do an "acclimation night" ... might have helped, and retrospective reading certainly advises it. I'm likely pre-disposed to it based on past experiences (headaches, confusion at Targhee), but when younger, it was never this acute. BTW, readers, don't bother too much with the 02-in-a-can; if you're really sick, that provides about 15 seconds of relief, then gone again. Will be in New Zealand in January - I'm taking meds with me.

Terex

Take your time, acclimate, etc. You can be young and in great shape and still have problems with altitude. We live at 7,500' in northern NM and I recreate up to 12k'. I was on the local search & rescue team and we'd get people flying in from sea level who would experience mild to severe problems because they ignored all the available advice. One thing about the Rockies is that in general, gradients are fairly low compared to coastal areas. You rarely get much above 6% because vehicles can't handle both steep gradients and high altitude. When we lived in NJ, many of the lovely country roads could quickly hit 12% and above. Oh, taking blood O2 saturation levels for the first few days is a good idea. I keep an inexpensive pulse ox meter in the spare bedroom for guests and let them know to check their 02 levels while visiting. I can measure mine on my Apple watch. Sounds like a great trip!

jppe

Love Grand Junction! I've done the monument loop out of GJ from both directions. Once was interrupted by a hail storm.....Two of the Ride the Rockies I've done started from there as well. Enjoy your time there!

Wildwood 

Only a dusting of snow on the top.

Iride01 

Oh, we misunderstood. We didn't realize you were pedaling a stationary bike in a plane! <grin>