HEALTH WARNING: GUYS PLEASE TAKE CARE!

[Toks]

Hi guys i'm probably being a little bit emotional but please take care and monitor your health carefully!. If in doubt get thing checked out by a doctor. Someone in my second club, Islington Cycling Club collapsed and died on the club run today. He'd been riding for a number of years and was a competent cyclist. Despite being a pretty healthy guy he'd not quite been himself for a few weeks and naturally took a break. Sadly today was he's first day back. It is a double tragedy for the club because almost a month to the day last year another regular club rider also died after a short illness. Unconfirmed rumours suggest that he'd had problems with 'beta blockers' but hadn't immediately told his doctor. A sad day for Islington cycling Club!

[Tamar Collis]

That is v sad news Toks. Has there been a cause of death announced yet? I still can't get over the fact they couldn't find any cause of Ibbo's death....it's just not right.

I see the logic that if you're sick you should take things easy, rather than be putting extra stress on your body, but Ibbo was just sat at his pc...so maybe if it's your time to go that's it...don't matter if you're riding or not. In which case I'd rather be riding.

[Maria David]

Sorry to hear about that Toks. Condolences to the family of the man involved.

Like Tamar says, sometimes there's nothing that can explain a cause of death, and no matter what precautions you take, it seems like when your time is up your time is up.

I agree with Marco about the 10 beats higher per minute rule. There's also the symptoms below the neck and above the neck rule. It's worth keeping check of all of that, especially during the winter months - nothing to be gained in training while feeling ill.

Re beta blockers - they wouldn't have been a cause of death - I understand that the side effects of them are notoriously undesirable and can cause patients to not take them, or lower the dose, which leads to them not being protected from an escalation of their underlying health condition (which would have been of a cardiovascular origin).

[Toks]

Hey thanks for the replies everyone. It turns out that the guy who died on sunday had a history of heart problems and apparently so did, Peter, the guy who died last christmas... John, who died on sunday had been riding along without any problems and was leading on most of the climbs. Then he pulled over to the side, slumped over his bike for a few seconds and then eventually lay down. Despite CPR from a couple of CCI members and the ambulance arriving within ten minutes he was pronounced dead at the scene...Obviously there's a lot of factors involved in the deaths, a history of heart problems, both very active doing cyclosportivs in the summer, both in their late forties, both recovering from illness and simply doing steady miles. It means absolutely nothing I know, and I'm not trying to scare anyone but its still sad and baffling nonetheless

[StephenKemsley]

Does anyone else feel like this sort of thing appears on the increase? or just a case of being talked about more? What with the Ibbo incident, plus this and the 4 sudden deaths in the Great North Run. A friend of mine also recently witnessed a work colleague collapse and die whilst jogging, he was 28 with no medical conditions. It kind of makes me paranoid raising the HR beyond 80%, not the kind of stress needed before starting training for next year.
I guess the most important thing is to truely listen to your own body, if things don't feel right, they aint right so don't push it.

[StephenKemsley]

Yep I foundly remember seeing the distinct John Smith dragging the Addiscombe Peleton back through Purley after the Saturday CR.

I normally start my Winter training with a max VO2 sportstest to set the boundaries, but the Stress Test also sounds a viable investment. Is that something which should be organised through your GP?

[Rob]

i dont think its on the increase...more like its happening to people we know...so were hearing about it!!!

[Maria David]

Cycling puts more strain on your heart than most other sports, apart from rowing - especially with the sudden and vastly differing changes in pace/heart rate you get in road racing. This can lead to problems in those people who already are pre-disposed, either due to a heart defect from birth, or a slowly developing condition like high blood pressure. Congenital heart defects can be screened for, if you have a family history of these problems - see your GP. Blood pressure can easily be checked by a nurse, doctor, or other health professional.

Everyone gets a bit blase about training/racing when we are under the weather or off form. Also more and more people are getting into mass participation sports, weather it's bike events, running races or triathlons/adventure races, so with that there'll be a greater number of casualties.
In alot of cases it boils down to taking the precautions already mentioned, and getting blood pressure and cholesterol levels (predictors of cardiac accidents) checked regularly - it's not just overweight heavy smokers and drinkers that need to get these checked.

[Jim B]

Doing sport and staying fit must be good for 99.9% of us.
I think Maria's right when she says more and more people are doing sporting events. No one is particularly impressed by a marathon any more even if it is a terrifically tough feat. People undertake halfs like the GNR way too casually.
Unless you know you have a serious problem, then a training ride when you are a bit under the weather will just be a bad ride. Personally, I find the mental benefits of cycling are also a terrific antidote to the stress that we have in our day to day lives.
At the end of the day when your number is up, its up. Just enjoy every day you get.
In the words of the great Bill and Ted "You can be a king or a street sweeper, but everyone has a date with the grim reaper"

[Rob]

In the words of the great Bill and Ted "You can be a king or a street sweeper, but everyone has a date with the grim reaper"





thats a line!!!!