GhostRider62

I half exaggerated. Only half of study participants will follow a protocol, the other half just lie.

GhostRider62

I don't race. I do want to be healthy. Although I understand fitness does not necessarily equate to good health, I get a kick out of seeing improvement in my capacity. It feels better in the long run than laying around drinking beer watching football. Unless you are racing is only second after I don't notice any effect from my dirty, filthy chain and they are cheap, so, I toss them in 1000 miles.

big john

You're young enough for all that. I've never been a great climber and I did some of the big climbs in the Sierra in my late 50s at 210 pounds. Never really trained, just try to keep my mileage and climbing up.

Riding with friends is great and taking those trips to the mountains with them makes for lifetime memories.
Here is my friend stopping for a pic on the way up to Lake Sabrina.

Here I am on the climb to the Ancient Bristlecone Forest.

Keefusb

I had a coronary CT scan in 2008. My PCP suggested it, said it isn't covered by insurance because it's not deemed "medically necessary" or "conclusive". I was 45 at the time and my score was in the high 400's range. My PCP referred me to a cardiologist, and I was on a 6 month cycle of cardiologist visits for the next 5 years or so. I have had alternating nuclear stress tests and the conventional stress tests using ultrasound. No significant blockages, the small restrictions that they found were so-called "stable" deposits. My cardiologist said that my calcium deposits were likely within the vessel walls or perhaps outside of the vessels.

My Dad was in the medical imaging field as an engineer for over 25 years. He never bothered to tell me that he was the "CT/MRI scanning volunteer" many times and he had similar calcium values at a similar age. He's now 82 and had his first stent installed a few months ago, and the angiogram found no other significant blockages.

There is definitely a large hereditary component to all of this. I have had multiple bone spurs and I tend towards dental plaque with are both thought to be related to one's tendency to have coronary plaque.

All we can do is apply common sense. If you are over 50, you should see a cardiologist once a year. Don't smoke. Maintain a healthy weight. Don't overdo your training or try to race or do a century when it's over 90 degrees outside. Simple stuff.

The irony of the coronary CT scan is that it's not medically accepted as anything more than a screening test, so health insurance doesn't pay. But when I went for life insurance several years ago, I was denied coverage by two carriers because of my high calcium score more than 10 years prior. Sheesh!

terrymorse 

Ah, the White Mountain climb is one of my favorites. Here I am, probably around the same spot. We look like twins!



Everest Challenge 2004

big john

Except you were probably going twice my speed. Actually I felt ok until 9000 feet, or so.

Bully4

I guess the numbers are all narrowed down. What about diet and everyday environment playing a role? If you ride a lot, you could basically burn off a bunch of big mac's. You also breathe in a variable number of contaminants such as exhaust fumes. I don't think that riding or any form of exercise is the total answer. Burning those types of calories surely has a different effect than quality foods. What role does all the non-pronounceable additives in our food contribute to the numbers and overall health problems? Remember-you actually burn more calories from exercise-therefore, more calories needed to burn.

terrymorse 

Alas, there's always someone faster. I got passed on that climb by a guy wearing a stars and strips kit. He had won the national elite road race a few weeks earlier. Chasing him was Greg Drake, a domestic pro. They were both huffing and puffing like steam trains. Greg ended up winning.

big john

I did a 10K foot century with a local club and they invited Neil Shirley and some other ex-pros. They passed me on some rollers (there were about 10 of them) and I hammered as much as I could just to watch them. So smooth, like a machine.

Speaking of stars and stripes, I rode a bit with this guy at Breathless Agony. He pulled a wheelie whenever a camera was near.

Jughed

I'm hoping to get out west for 7-10 days and hit White, Onion, Horseshoe then down to Mt Lemmon. At least take a swing at 2 of them... with some easy rides in between.

We have nothing like that out here on the east coast.

big john

I've never done Onion Valley but people say it's tough. Terry probably knows. Never done Horseshoe either but friends say it's their favorite. White was pretty hard after I got way up there. Altitude doesn't usually bother me but sometimes it does.

Whitney Portal is a hard climb because the alluvial fan/plain on the way to the canyon is just relentless. It doesn't seem like you are getting anywhere until you look back. Once you enter the actual canyon it feels more like a normal climb. It's one of the shorter rides.

Mosquito Flats/Rock Creek isn't long but it's beautiful, especially with the creek running alongside the road.

And Sabrina/South Lake/North Lake was my favorite. It's over 9K at the top, so not as high as White, but very scenic and there is a little store part way up and a cafe at Lake Sabrina. It was a dry year when we went so fishing was down. The people at the stores and cafes were very happy to have customers and treated us like royalty.

big john

Mosquito Flat is 10K at the top.

Carbonfiberboy 

I'm about the same, 350 score in '17,. My insurance paid when it was ordered by a cardiologist. I also passed a nuclear stress test just fine, but I was not at all fine. I had 2 stents last month. It's too easy for us to ace an inadequate stress test. Have you had a DEXA scan? I'm osteoporotic, or I was until I got some treatment. My deposits were also stable calcium. I have a theory that those two things might be connected. Was your dad also an endurance athlete? My mom was osteoporotic, but not an athlete.

terrymorse 

I'm embarrassed to say I've never ridden Onion Valley (maybe I should rectify that oversight this year). PJAMM Cycling says Onion Valley Rd. is the toughest climb in California. The grade is relentless:




Mosquito Flats is also the highest paved road in California. Rock Creek Lake is a nice setting for a base camp, too. We stayed there on one trip.

My favorite time there is after Labor Day, when the trees are changing color:

Rock Creek Road


South Lake was the day 1 finish for the Everest Challenge, with its nasty 15% kicker at the end of a hard ride. The lake was a pretty place to rest. Nearby Lake Sabrina was a filming location for one of the Star Trek movies. The soft cast members complained about having to do action scenes in the thin air.

Any trip to California ought to include some of the roads around Markleeville. Some of my favorites:

• Markleeville to Bear Valley and back. Two passes (twice), lakes, granite, and greenery.
  
• Monitor Pass, both sides. Huge, stunning views.
  
  
• Blue Lakes Road. Classic Sierra high country, quiet road, great pavement, gorgeous views.

Upper Blue Lake sunrise

big john

I think you're right about the calcium things being connected. Maybe a different thing but a friend who used to ride 20K miles or more per year has the thing where the calcium is leeched from his bones and deposited in the wrong places. Lumps of calcium show up in joints, etc.

Also, I know 2 guys who were diagnosed with osteoporosis in their mid 50s. I understand this is unusual for men in that age range. Both had lost massive amounts of weight at some point (intentionally) and both rode and trained a lot. Both have had multiple bone fractures.

One has tried some of the newer treatments and says he is getting good results but his father is having side effects from the same treatment.

Jughed

I live on the wrong coast... and was born with the wrong body type...

Keefusb

No one in my family has osteoporosis. My wife's PCP says she is a candidate for osteoporosis because of family history, and because she is petite, relatively thin, and caucasian. So far her bone density is OK. She does have moderate scoliosis, which I think will become problematic as she gets older.

big john

I'm 210 in the above pics and 220 in this one. Just have to gear down and hope the climbers wait.

mschwett 

is there something wrong with me that i’m looking at that section thinking, man that looks fun!

the steepest part is in the middle! and then it tapers a bit!

terrymorse 

Fun -- when approached with a good attitude and ridden at a sustainable pace. It's "only" a vertical mile in just under 13 miles of road.

mschwett 

reading the PJAMM text, it looks a bit tougher than the section indicates, with a quarter mile at 15% and 11% for a mile.

luckily, or not, it's really inconvenient to get there from here

Carbonfiberboy 

The good part for me is that I haven't broken a bone since I was 22, when I broke a couple ribs from a skiing fall, doing a high speed run straight down a mogul field, bap, bap, bap. I drove down to the Fisher factory in Austria and bought downhill skis. I still have them, but I'm afraid to try them out again. I don't take stuff straight anymore and nothing happens on those skis until I hit about 40. I once came to on a ski slope to find myself lying on my face, uninjured, with both skis perfectly parallel and together, buried vertically in the snow up to their bindings. I'm still nuts and lucky - so far..

Jughed

I'm sitting here on my comfy couch at sea level thinking it looks fun too...

seypat

Different strokes for different folks. I'll never understand the fascination some have with climbing. It's the slowest moving part of any ride. I understand the views. I understand the challenge. I understand the accomplishment. The fun is not there for me, though. I only climb if there is a hill in front of me and to descend. For the old timers, I'm more of a Vanishing Point, Cannonball Run type of rider.

GhostRider62

Looks like a beautiful, awesome climb and 8% is about perfect. Wish we had shallow grades like that here.