indyfabz

Thanks. Hopefully before then. I was first thinking I might have an old trainer in the basement, but now I’m thinking I sold it a long time ago. I’m going to venture down there today for a look after I give the first draft of my will a read.

Almost dying has spurred some adulting.

rumrunn6

mouth open

if you want more oxygen, I've read, you can exhale thru pursed lips. this increases the pressure in the lungs alveoli, where osmosis takes place. I think it works when I do it

for bugs I use a head net

for a while it would slide back

so I made a hole for my helmet cam. aside from allowing the camera to mount, it also helped keep the net in place. when I don't need it I can roll it up, above my face

now that I use a camera mount for a gopro on the front of my helmet, I have to figure out some other way to keep using the net

terrymorse 

The scientific literature suggests that nose breathing has 35% less capacity to move air into the lungs than mouth breathing, but that nose breathing "training" reportedly may decrease that difference to as low as 11%.

The exercise intensity above which which people start breathing through their mouths varies, but the average seems to be around 65-70% of max. heart rate.

genejockey 

Noses are not the same. Some are longer and narrower and thus have smaller capacity. If you combine that with differences in lung size, what you have to figure different people have to start mouth breathing at different levels of exertion. Add to that the fact that some riders like me tend to get runny noses, which limits nasal air throughput, and even the same person on different days may need to mouth-breathe at different levels of exertion.

Basically anyone who says you don't need to breathe through your mouth until you reach X level of exertion is full of crap.

surak

What's being lost when looking purely at air volume is that the quality of that air is worse when not filtered, and that you lose out on the effect of vasodilation from the NO produced.

I get a really runny nose when cycling, but oddly it doesn't get any worse if I just nose breathe. Only when my nose is very congested do I have a problem.

Anyway, more science tidbits from Dr. Stephen Seiler:

50PlusCycling

I get enough protein in my diet without having to add the six-legged variety. I nearly inhaled a firefly yesterday, luckily, it got stuck on the bottom of my tongue, and I was able to spit it out. Fireflies taste like the ink from Bic pens. Where I live there are clouds of bugs at certain times of the day, glasses and proper breathing technique keep them outside my body.

livedarklions

Terry was very careful to note he was talking averages, but you and I agree that no one is actually the average person. Terry obviously knows that as well, hence his giving that outlier figure on difference between mouth and nose breathing.

BTW, I'm pretty sure the reason my nose gets runny when I'm riding is that the mucus gets loosened up to facilitate breathing. It's when the mucus is dry that things get clogged.

livedarklions

As opposed to a Paper Mate pen ink? I'm thinking there's a story about pens behind that comparison.

Mike.delaney601

I ride with a smile on my face. So semi-open for me!

retswerb

I hadn't previously felt the need to add a signature to my profile here but this is tempting.

terrymorse 

There were clouds of little black flies on the final climb up Mt Hamilton today. It was an ideal time to try closed mouth breathing. The little buggers got stuck all over my sweaty face, neck, and arms. Yuck.

But not a one in my mouth, ha!

zandoval 

Bugs in your teeth is a sign of a good ride...

Eric F 

You missed out on the boost of gnat power.

L134 

Had no interest in the thread but this morning something hit my teeth, I spit it out but not before it stung me on the tongue. Epi shot and 5 hours in ER. If only I had had my mouth closed!

RCMoeur 

You may not have been interested in the thread, but the thread was interested in you!

Sorrah ahbaht thah sthang on that tungh (said in swollen tongue).

livedarklions

Gnat Power is my secret agent name.

livedarklions

Liked for sympathy. That sounds awful.

I got stung on the lip by a bee a couple years ago and thought I was going to be miserable for a while. However, I have always suspected that I have almost no reaction to bee venom. Pretty much confirmed it. I could feel it swelling for about 15 minutes, but basically it returned to normal within the hour and pretty much all pain gone. Guess I've got a lucky mutated gene somewhere. Either that, or I just encounter some weak-ass bees.

I hope you feel better.

big john

I ate a bug on Tuesday. It was not delicious and I did not notice any increase in power. Was stung on the tongue when I was a ute. It sucked.

Eric F 

Not any more.

Eric F 

But did you bonk?

Eating bees is not a recommended dietary supplement...

livedarklions

When I was a kid, I had two incidents in which a flying ant flew into my ear. The sensation of a live bug flapping around inside of year is just about as pleasant as it "sounds", BTW, the only way to get them out that I know of is to drown them inside of the ear using a bulb syringe..

Misti

Don't think my mouth is open when I ride but my tongue sticks out!

Bald Paul

Jet engines take air in, heat it, and blow it forcefully out the rear, adding thrust.

Think about it.

big john

Did not bonk. A benefit of "air krill" as my friend calls it.

Poor puppy. Last time I got stung in the face it was under my moustache and my lip swelled and hung over like a Simpsons character. There was a hard lump there for months. I never saw the insect that did it.

big john

Reminds me of the Twilight Zone episode about the earwig.