Exercise-induced Pulmonary Edema
My second time out on roads in my town, and probably first time on a serious bike ride in 5 or 6 years. I hadn't ridden these roads yet since I moved here 2 years ago,
I live on a large hill, so there is no route I can take that won't involve a large amount of incline - maybe 180' or so with more minor inclines in between. My first time out was on my 21 speed Specialized Sirrus flatbar bike I struggled on on a 1 mile uphill but was able to make it without stopping. The total trip of 5 miles took me 30 minutes. Afterward, I had a slight catch in my breath which I chalked up to just stirring up some old congestion or something. A week or so later I did the same ride backwards on a 70's Dawes 10 speed I've been working on. I did an incline of about 160' in a 1 mile span. Without the smaller front cog of the Sirrus, I really struggled and had to admit defeat, and walked the bike up the steepest 1/4 mile, stopping again near the crest. My total trip was 4.6 miles and was very exhausting!
Afterwards I started with the catch in my breath, and coughed up a bit of a metallic taste, and went to bed that night with a wheeze in my breath. I looked up the symptoms and it's Excersize-induced Pulmonary Edema. Common with athletes who over-exert and easily recovered from. Not sure how healthy it is for a 66 year old though.
Very discouraging since, 1. I used to traverse similar inclines and go on to ride 20 miles in my 40's and 50's. and, 2. If I am to ride locally, this is the terrain I am facing.
Any other "older" folks out there with similar limitations and how have you overcome it?