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Old 10-20-2013, 05:09 AM   #19 (permalink)
RedDevil
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jamesqf View Post
Not really, because it's only at 4500 ft, which is not particularly high altitude. There are mines around here that don't get down to that level :-) The reason they have the races there (AFAIK, anyway) is that there's a nice stretch of straight, flat highway with next to no traffic that the NHP will let them use.

Not exactly true. The limiting factor (up to altitudes quite a bit higher than that) is the oxygen-carrying capacity of the blood. If you train at those altitudes for a week or two (or live there), the body responds by producing more red blood cells, so as to have the same oxygen-transporting capacity. That's why it's not uncommon for Olympic athletes to train in Colorado or other such higher-elevation places. Unfortunately, though, the body reverses the adaption fairly quickly when you return to lower elevations. See e.g. Altitude training - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Hey, I did not make that up myself.
Please check the facts at Human Power Team Delft & Amsterdam. There is a wealth of information about the whole event there.
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