altitude training?? Tibetan Plateau

[Alan M]

I have been following this couple's travels for a couple of years nowand enjoyed the central american leg of their journey. Check out

http://www.downtheroad.org/Asia/Photo/9 ... ctures.htm

Facing the enemy within:

The wind is howling and black clouds are becoming angry. Tim and Cindie are slowly riding up steep switchbacks leading into snowcapped mountains. While riding at 4,400 m (14,400 feet) well above tree line in a barren rocky landscape, Cindie suddenly pulls over and starts crying and gasping for air.

Cindie (sitting on the side of the road and crying uncontrollably): "I am wet, cold, and I can not breath! Leave me here and push on. We are going to die up here. Humans can not survive at this altitude!

Tim: "Cindie, pull yourself together! I am never going to leave you anywhere. We will have to keep it together if we are going to get off this mountain without freezing to death. It looks like it could rain or snow again and getting wet now, at this altitude, would be dangerous. This is no time to freak out!

Cindie fighting for air: "I can't breath I want to go home, I can't take this anymore, I can't breath!"

Tim suppressing the urge to ask her exactly where home is these days: "In this altitude you can breath. We met sheep herders in Peru who had stone houses this high. You will have to calm down before you can catch your breath. We only have another 400 meters (1,300 feet) to climb to reach the top then we coast down the other side.

Cindie calming down and catching her breath but still feeling dizzy: "That's just it; I do not know what is on the other side of that mountain, or the next, and forever. You don't either. We never know what is in front of us. Almost everyday of our lives we are some place we have not been before; complete strangers. I feel so lost. Tell me; what is over this huge mountain?

Tim wanting to continue to distract Cindie: "Somewhere over this mountain are the green valleys of Yunnan (China). It will be harvest time and cold season vegetables will be sold fresh everywhere. I can taste the peas, onions, spinach, and broccoli now (they had not eaten much more than yak butter, yak meat, and potatoes during their 6 week tour of the high mountains). After that we will ride through the jungles of Laos and experience another country that time has forgot. The whole world is waiting for us on the other side of this mountain. Do you know how lucky we are to have such an opportunity before us. Lets go get it!

Cindie breathing easy know: OK, What do we do now?

Tim: I am going to take your heaviest two bags (he already had her entire load from her rack) and tie them to my bike and we are going to get over this mountain and into those low warm valleys of Yunnan.

After two hours of grinding up hill including many stops to catch their breath they reached the top. On the way up water bottles froze and the snow started to fall. The valley they coasted down to was not in Yunnan or even low enough to be warm but they camped among hardwood trees yellowing brightly in the crisp autumn air. Cindie warmed herself by a campfire and made dinner (yak meat and instant noodles) while Tim collected firewood and water from a nearby creek. A Tibetan nomad walked by their camp and said Yah She Da Lay which is hello in the Tibetan language. After dinner Cindie read the Laos guidebook and dreamed of monks in flowing orange robes gliding around steamy mysterious temples.

[sylv]

I will have a good look at this site with a mug of coffee . And one day maybe ...

You have to wonder how you can take any enjoyment at all out of cycling with that much gear on your bike though - I did only a few hundred kms with not even a third of what they are carrying and it was very frustrating - I guess that's the trade-off for total freedom and cost-effective travelling. The bike's just a mean of transport not an end in itself. And you have all the time to admire the scenery!