Steve in Atl posted this from Cyclingnews in Rider Interviews.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/riders/2007/int...?id=chris_hoy07

The article raises two questions:

a) do we think he can break the record? I for one certainly hope he does, and

is it better to go to Florida for the week before for the attempt, having a training camp there to get over the time differences and after that, fly south to Bolivia, hopefully going for the record the next day and break it?

I don't know much about track racing (rode Salford Park a few times but that's it) or indeed altitude, but I would have thought it might make sense to get used to the conditions and the track - and avoid any jet lag if flying in only the day before.

Any ideas.

BTW, the BBC are making a documentary to cover his preparation and (hopefully the successful) ride. To be screened sometime in May I think.

IMO, there's a high likelihood he will. He already hols the sea-level record (1:00.7~) and his latest kilo, done after focusing on keirin training for the last 8 weeks, was one of only 4 (and he's done three of them) below 1:01, ever (Tournant - the current record-holder - did the other). I'd put it in the 75-80% chance of success range.




He's going to Florida to get accustomed to the time zone change. He will not acclimate to altitude - that's why he's going to Bolivia the day before, so his body doesn't have time to start to adapt.



Because he won't change time zones flying to Bolivia, he shouldn't have any jet lag. The track is roughly the same as Brian Piccolo (the track in Florida), which is why he chose to go there first.

Getting there the day before sounds awfully stupid to me ... should think he would need at least a few days just to start breathing properly?

I thought the same about the altitude. Again it goes over my head, but he reckons:

"When you go to altitude your buffering mechanisms for lactic acid drops. Everybody's physiology changes that way, so if you do that as a kilo rider you reduce your potential pretty fast.

"As a result, you can either go in there very early, spending about three weeks recovering from it, or you fly in the last minute."

Just looks a bit haphazard, but I guess he has expert advisors.

And, sorry I didn't mean jet lag. Just a bit knackered and stiff after the flight....

From a (sprinter's) physiological standpoint, that's exactly what you don't want to do, as there are other ramifications to the initial adaptation process (which takes any weeks) - most notably, the reduction in the body's ability to handle large amounts of lactate build-up.



Yeah, but when you're super-fit and well-rested, a bit of time on the rollers takes care of that!

For most riders, you'll get worse (feeling and in performance) each day for about the first 5 days you're at altitude, and many will also have trouble sleeping and recovering from physical stressors. And some riders develop forms of altitude sickness as the first few days go by. Unless you have prior experience racing at altitude it's hard to predict how you'll respond to it. So, you either arrive right before the event, or give yourself at least a week to begin to adapt. Hoy said he didn't want to risk the food, environment, etc. of Bolivia for a long enough period for him to adapt.