When do you start “feeling” altitude in general? e.g. shortness of breath just walking up a slight hill, slight headache, slight nausea, dehydration, increased urination.
3,000’ (914m) or below
3,000’ (914m) - 6,000’ (1,828m)
6,000’ (1,828m) -9,000’ (2,743m)
9,000’ (1,828m) or above
0voters
I had an incident a couple years ago that led my doctor to tell me I shouldn’t bike above 3,000’ anymore, the reason being that I have an underlying heart condition and I also appear to be inordinately sensitive to altitude changes. I sort of knew about the altitude issue already, even as a teenager in Lake Tahoe, I’d feel a tad dizzy and faint just walking up 10 steps to our cabin.
If you’ve been at higher elevations, when did you start feeling the effects? I don’t mean full on vomiting and cerebral edema, just when you started to notice that you were at altitude.
I’m not sure how to answer. Live at sea level, and when going up to Truckee / Lake Tahoe (elevation 5800-6200 feet) its not easy to detect shortness of breath, but if quickly climbing stairs I’ll feel it. Same with Reno at elevation 4500.
Slight headache, slight nausea, dehydration - really only feel those things above 9000’ for example going up to Breckenridge Colorado (elevation 9600) for a couple days. One of my worst ‘hangovers’ was going from living in Portland (sea level) to Breckenridge with friends to ski, and having a couple beers the night we arrived.
For me, it’s 7000 feet. I can go into the red and recover quickly, even at 6000’. But when I get above 7k, something happens and I get wrecked pretty fast.
Kind of like what @WindWarrior said, I can feel it when going up stairs even at 5,000, but I have to go significantly higher to feel nausea, etc.
I do notice that my sleep, HRV, and RHR all suffer, even at 4,000. My Garmin goes wonky for the week I spend on a cycling trip, telling me my recovery and general readiness is far lower than my own RPE tells me it is.
