Where Is Your High?

hill^billy

iMTB Rockstah
Endorhin high that is :D .
I was familiarized with endorphan highs at a young age starting at 10 years and up to 18 years old. My highs came from training in the martial arts, my studio was old school Japanese! My idol was, and still is Bruce Lee. I would train for between one hour, and more often than not 2 hours, very intensely 3 to 4 times a week! Sensei Fujiyama would come around with his bamboo sword and swack you if were half assing it, so there is were my highs came from, most would last for a couple of hours and I felt like supperman!
Of course runners and most athletes experience this phenomenon, as do I when mountain biking but, I only feel the high when I ride between 7 and 15 miles max, at 10 miles 2,000 ft. is the most intence.
Excersie can turn back the clock I firmly believe, but what is to much? Twenty to twenty five miles is a good fit for me but I do not get the high.
I have done the Kokopelli ride of 50 miles per day, for three days, and I understand the human body is amazing due to it's adaptability but, could this kind of thing actually speed up ageing? Sorry Mikie and Ross, not trying to put a damper on that amazing ride! I know the experiance is more than worth it! I'm just wondering if this kind of stress pushed on the body FREQUENTLY speeds up the ageing process instead of the reverse. Where if any does your high begin and end?
 
Endorphin high you say? Right here:

<a class="postlink" href="http://knollybikes.com/bikes/endorphin" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://knollybikes.com/bikes/endorphin</a>

or here:

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<a class="postlink" href="http://m.canberratimes.com.au/executive-style/fitness/on-your-bike/steven-abraham-kurt-searvogel-chase-tommy-godwins-year-of-cycling-record-20150304-13tc8b.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://m.canberratimes.com.au/executive ... 3tc8b.html</a>

This may be the most insane one yet... 75,000 miles in one year!


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My high kicks in somewhere between 30 and 45 minutes into the ride, whether the ride lasts 30 minutes or 10 hours, and lasts until I get off the bike.

A slightly different high kicks in when I hit the top of whatever I'm climbing. This one was fun - Santiago Peak. About 3.5 hours to get from Peltzer Pines to the Peak and a gnarly high when I got there.

I forgot to add - I was getting old until I rediscovered cycling, both dirt and road, at age 50. Now 53 and feeling younger than I did at 40. I'm averaging 5,000 miles and 130,000 feet elevation gain per year. My vote for beating the reaper is for more, not less.

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Cant say as a kid that I ever really felt the endorphin high. Probably cause I was so active every day and didn't really have a care in the world therefore I didn't know any better. Fast forward to midlife crisis era and I can definitely say I can feel it. I feel better no matter what the distance but I think 10-15 is the sweet spot for me.

Most rides go like this for me regardless of route, conditioning, stretching, hangover, dirt, blacktop etc…
Miles 1-2: damn this is great, I feel strong and I could KOM everybody's ass today...
Miles 3-5: crap this was a bad idea and I should really learn how to pace myself...
Miles 5-15: slow down a little and presto second wind and now I'm glad I decided to ride again...
Miles 15-25: well other guys do it so I can too...
I can do the 25-30 and 3-5k elevation rides but I cant say thats what I enjoy. I kinda just do one every month or so to prove that I can and I like to hear my wife tell me I'm F'n crazy...
 
there is some science that too much riding or running is not a good thing. Basically too much time at a high heart rate is supposedly not good

then too much fat burning will turn to muscle burning which is not a good thing especially for older folks.

For me I dont ride enough, I love the feeling afterwords but dont like the aching knees and sometimes wonder if that part is worth it or not. For me its the adventure

BTW due to a injury and life, I have not ridden many longer rides lately I my metabolism has slowed noticeably. Crazy how that works
 
Interesting subject...

I think the upper threshold of beneficial activity is unlikely to attain for almost every person (who has a life, family, career). Overuse injury is the most likely undesirable result, but some sense of biofeedback and self-preservation maybe ought to be in play for the big picture. That seems like an innate tendency in most people.

I've been a hopeless endorphin junkie since I was a boy, running and lifting weights with my dad. Bike riding, hiking, skateboarding, school athletics, weight training, distance running, snow sports and climbing followed.

The best high isn't from mere exercise (read: physical), IME. When you immerse yourself completely in something for a number of days or weeks, you get to a zone that's impossible to reach in a day or three. Big wall climbers call it Wall Drug. If you prefer the strongest elixir, going solo ratchets up the effect even more. A good 3-hour ride will keep the cobwebs at bay, and I love biking for the quick access to that benefit. But going huge is the way to really blow it out; to pull off something you had doubts about, to know that many have failed (some even killed) attempting it. To live through it and bask in the glory is a profound state that defies accurate description. Be careful with that elixir, though. Once you dose up thoroughly, nothing will ever be quite the same.
 
Runs with Scissors said:
My vote for beating the reaper is for more, not less.

I'm with you there, pal. Thankfully, MTB is not exclusively a young athlete's game. My bikes are wheelchairs in disguise. 8-)
 
I've never viewed mountain biking as an activity solely for exercise and fitness purposes. I can get a better work out with a set of kettle bells and some Olympic rings in my friend's garage which takes far less time than even the most intense of short rides. I am guilty of being lazy on a leg day and just going for ride. :lol:

My high is really every time I ride. It's therapeutic for me. It's time I have for myself or with like minded people where issues at home and work disappear. My focus is on the trail in front of me, the nature around me, and it's nice to actually be in control. It's simply a freedom I can't experience anywhere else in my life. ;)

...so riding is my high?
 
It is great to see how everybody is different.

Honestly, my high is anytime I throw my leg over my bike.

When I was younger it was about the thrill of the speed, the more technical the trail the better. Sessioning a trail feature was where it was at. Seemed like we were out for a long time and really didn't go that far.

Perspectives change....still like going fast, still like technical trails...but it doesn't give me the thrill like it used to. Unfortunately, I don't bounce as well as I used to.

To me, it has become a game of how far and how high can I go...no so much how fast it takes me to accomplish it. That high kicks in these days when I have been out on the bike all day, legs are starting to feel tired, but somehow you find that extra reserve in the tank and continue on....to push past that threshold of pain/suffering/can't continue to go on. To think how far from home I am. That is where the high really begins to hit me. Even on days where I don't feel my best...the days were it is a struggle(yes, beIieve it or not, I do have them)...going out and clearing my head and relieving the stresses of the day are part of the high.

At the end of the day....as long as i ride my bike...it is a good day.
 
I don't think it's the type or length of ride that gives me the high. If that were the measure, the 30-40 mile range in the mountains is probably the most comfortable for me physically. I like to push it physically, but I don't think that's a high...

The more important mental high comes from being on the bike and getting out to see the sights, alone and under my own power... Sunrise over Starr Ranch, Santiago Peak on a clear day, Harding with a little snow, Holy Jim when the water is running, etc... When I was a kid, I used to kayak out onto Lake Erie and watch the sunset a couple miles from shore... Same feeling. I know people who have lived here in SoCal forever, and never seen any of these.
 
Too many answers, so I guess J's leadoff reply says it best:" Honestly, my high is anytime I throw my leg over my bike." Qualified, for me, dirt does it, pavement doesn't. No offense attended to tarmac people.

I do get a kick out of a laid-back, no plans, no rush type of ride, taking my young nephews out and just playing around, or cruising with a buddy just back at it after surgery like today. No expectation or destination, no miles or elevation goals, just low stress having fun and see where it goes. In the same groove is exploring, checking out new trails, routes, ways to tie things in, an adventure. Like most, I do like the buzz of going fast and feeling the g forces in the corners and over humps (not so much jumps), and the sound of the tires on dirt :)

Yeah too many answers to that question, I just love biking and bikes, heck, simply looking at my bike sitting in the garage gets me stoked :D
 
Yes it's interesting to hear the differences of indiviual experiance, mostly from what I have read was you guys are getting more of a mental high out of it as do I but, I thought I would hear a few more physical endorphin highs, like euphoria like feeling, and this can last for 2 hrs after a ride, my mood changes and I feel almost giddy or silly happy. If I do more than 15 that feeling doesn't happen, and it turns into more of a fatigue type of feeling. Thanks for the responses. 8-)
 
@hill^billy...

I know you were trying to prompt a discussion of physical euphoria and most of us responded about our psychological stoke. One thing I noticed when I have done some DH races is that I am very quiet in the morning - inwardly focused and not particularly friendly. Once the race run is done, I can't stop talking. I chat with everyone asking about their runs, and chat about equipment, life, the trails they ride, why they race, blah blah blah...

It's definitely a physiological change that happens - maybe not an endorphin high brought on by exercise - but more like getting a sudden dose of caffeine or other stimulant. Of course, the other physical response at Fontana is the Fontana hack - the deep burning in your lungs and coughing from an extreme effort in some pretty unhealthy air. The Fontana hack lasts about 24 hours - a nice Monday reminder of your Sunday fun!

:wave:
 
All I can tell you is if I don't get my MTB fix on the weekends I'm a real bitch on Monday... :D
 
Mikie said:
All I can tell you is if I don't get my MTB fix on the weekends I'm a real bitch on Monday... :D

Mikie's week: Monday, Monday, Monday, Monday, Monday, Saturday, Sunday!!!!!! :D
 
hill^billy said:
I have done the Kokopelli ride of 50 miles per day, for three days, and I understand the human body is amazing due to it's adaptability but, could this kind of thing actually speed up ageing? I'm just wondering if this kind of stress pushed on the body FREQUENTLY speeds up the ageing process instead of the reverse.

Its not so much the frequency, but the duration each time..Exercising hard nonstop for hours without breaks fills your bloodstream with free radicals and may accelerate aging. at least according to what ive read on discussions on other forums, with links to journal articles. Doesnt stop me from doing long rides, i just take a few breaks, at leat every 60-90 mins..
50 miles per day 3 in a row; not for me!
 
Faust's coment "The more important mental high comes from being on the bike and getting out to see the sights, alone and under my own power"
Yes more important I agree, but now I'm feeling lucky to get both benifits, the mental and endorphin :D .
 
hill^billy said:
Faust's coment "The more important mental high comes from being on the bike and getting out to see the sights, alone and under my own power"
Yes more important I agree, but now I'm feeling lucky to get both benifits, the mental and endorphin :D .


I guess I just get "in the zone" out there... Looking at the sights and lost in my thoughts! It's a wonder I don't ride off the side of the mountain more often... ;)
 
sir crashalot said:
hill^billy said:
I have done the Kokopelli ride of 50 miles per day, for three days, and I understand the human body is amazing due to it's adaptability but, could this kind of thing actually speed up ageing? I'm just wondering if this kind of stress pushed on the body FREQUENTLY speeds up the ageing process instead of the reverse.

Its not so much the frequency, but the duration each time..Exercising hard nonstop for hours without breaks fills your bloodstream with free radicals and may accelerate aging. at least according to what ive read on discussions on other forums, with links to journal articles. Doesnt stop me from doing long rides, i just take a few breaks, at leat every 60-90 mins..
50 miles per day 3 in a row; not for me!

I would say it's in the way that you go about it then, how to be in tune with yourself, "self preservation" like mike said,takes not so common sense and experience, knowing how not to break yourself down and when you do rest it to rebuild and come back stronger. I've never met you so I have no impression of where you stand in this awesome MTB world, but if you were to train for Koko ( some people don't need to because they are already at the fitness level) and do the ride, you get out there and it hits you where you are, the scenery, the raw awesome beauty of Colorado and Utah, how much more you will get to see, all changing with milage, weather, will I make it? The food! Your bonding with hour buds who do it with you. Who knows you might even like it. I will admit it was a big ordeal work wise to get prepared, like getting the gear that is necessary, setting up camp and breaking it down in the morning each day and night after 50 miles. But you get to reminisce each night at camp how good or bad the day went, everybody has a story, like me and Joe taking a wrong turn and riding an extra 8 miles one day. Yah, I had my doubts going in. Now I can say I did it! I liked it and hope to do it again one day, but not this year.
 
I don't know if this qualifies as endorphins, adrenaline, confidence or just plain stupidity, but it was too good a photo to pass up:



I could easily have posted this on the discussion of "Freeride Bikes are dead" because this is a Yeti SB6c trailbike, or on the Snow Summit thread about jumping and commitment, or I could have started another thread in Gravity Junkies, or even under "I rode my bike today" and try to pass it off as Varaxis, Mikie or me. I just needed to post it.

(Photo by Joey Schusler, stolen from Yeti website. Joey won't mind.)

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I don't think there is any clear delineation between a mental and physical high. I feel like they are inexorably interconnected when talking athletic activities, especially ones with consequences for failure.

Fatigue can really screw up the cocktail. That's why you gotta keep an edge, to get that pure high without the nasty side effects. Or just do something long enough that you can "train" the first couple days out, right off the couch.


Let's get high...


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