Friday, July 24, 2009

Life at 10,000ft

Altitude Sickness defined: Altitude sickness occurs when you cannot get enough oxygen from the air at high altitudes. This causes symptoms such as a headache and not feeling like eating. It happens most often when people who are not used to high altitudes go quickly from lower altitudes to 8000ft or higher. Symptoms include: severe headache, weakness, nausea, insomnia.

I've never experienced any of these issues...but I've also never gone from sea level to 9,500ft in 6 hours. I didn't sleep well the first night. The second was a disaster. I experienced every symptom listed above X 3. From 11:30pm-3am I awoke every 30-40mins in a panic. The drill was the same: couldn't breath, ran upstairs, scary inability to remain calm, cold sweats, vomiting, drink more water, back to bed. Repeat. At 1:30am I was googling "altitude sickness, help me." If I had a car here I would have packed it up and driven down 2,000ft. I was sure riding my bike today would be out of the question.

Before getting into today's ride that I couldn't pass up, here are pics from our awesome swim at June lake yesterday:




Oh, and I should add that alcohol is not the best idea at altitude if you're experiencing trouble acclimating. Well last night got away from us, and we topped of a great day with a few cocktails. Good Peeps, Good Times!

Night one: Me, Brandy, and Chris

The Girls:




I am not a dog lover, and def. don't go around picking up random dogs for pics. Too many glasses of wine perhaps?


And, on to today's ride to remember! As of 3a.m. I was sure there was zero chance that I'd be able to join the group for the climb up the Tayoga pass to Yosemite. After popping a few altitude sickness pills I was feeling better. Plus, I couldn't say no to another workout. The ride went down to 7,000 feet. From there we turned onto the famous Tayoga pass and went up to 10,000ft in just 12 miles. It was intense. Perfect recovery ride, right? I found myself once again begging for air! These pics don't do the ride justice!

1,000 feet to go!


They even serve my favorite treat inside the park!

Playing in the river inside Yosemite


I'm not a trailer, but that was difficult...

I think I like being a sea level living girl!

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