Philip goes racing in the woods -- pulls a Roczen, then DNFs

[Philip]

I haven't raced since March of last year. I am blaming the bike setup, the weather, the race tracks, the schedules, etc, etc. And I also wasn't feeling very well. But after Team Alta Owners Forum.com raced in the Northeast 24-hour Challenge, I really wanted to go racing again!

The funny part is that I wanted to go racing not on a motocross track but in the woods. I usually prefer motocross but after the NE24hr race, I really wanted to race in the woods. It's like as if my sexual orientation has changed, and now I want to be a woods racer, haha!

Last night, after almost an 8-month delay, I finally applied the identical graphics kit on my MXR #2. Now I have two almost identical MXRs, both with race numbers (see the dirty pics below).



The race that I wanted to race happens every Sunday morning and goes for 1 hour. I didn't want to run out of battery, so the plan was to pit half-way through the race and switch bikes. And it worked!

I holeshot the dead-engine start, and then the faster guys started passing me every now and then. At about a 1/2 point my first bike's battery was almost dead. I pitted, jumped onto the second bike, and re-entered the race. I lost probably a couple of minutes, and now it was my turn to chase slower guys.

Chasing others is stressful. My heart rate was at about 170 bpm for about 50 minutes. I crashed a couple of times, but that was all minor.

Then... out of the blue... I started feeling that my heart was pounding like crazy. Glanced at the Garmin watch and saw 214 bpm. My normal max HR usually does not exceed 197 bpm.



I stopped and laid the bike on its side. I felt lightheadedness, and the head was not working very well. I was trying to remember what to do in this situation, but the exact medical procedure was not coming to my mind. The heart rate stayed abnormally high for almost 8 minutes.

I missed the last two laps of the race. I took half of my gear off to cool off, waited and rested, then rode slowly back to the pits.

 

[Philip]

I have had the same thing happen to me three years ago at the gym when I was learning to do deadlifts. I had the heart rate at 222 bpm for about 90 seconds.

This is what Google says:

"When to Worry:
Some individuals experience a condition known as atrial tachycardia, a type of tachycardia that occurs during exercise. Paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia is another name for this condition. This condition can cause your heart to beat between 160 and 220 times a minute. Strenuous exercise, such as weightlifting, can cause this temporary increase in heart rate that exceeds the maximum rate. Although this can resolve on its own, Merck Manuals recommends seeking medical attention for an episode that lasts longer than 20 minutes."

"Paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia is most common among young people and is more unpleasant than dangerous. It may occur during vigorous exercise."

"Treatment:
Episodes of paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia often can be stopped by one of several maneuvers that stimulate the vagus nerve and thus decrease the heart rate. These maneuvers are usually conducted or supervised by a doctor, but people who repeatedly experience the arrhythmia often learn to do the maneuvers themselves. Maneuvers include straining as if having a difficult bowel movement, rubbing the neck just below the angle of the jaw (which stimulates a sensitive area on the carotid artery called the carotid sinus), and plunging the face into a bowl of ice-cold water. These maneuvers are most effective when they are used shortly after the arrhythmia starts."
Carotid Sinus Massage

 

[Oded]

Sent PM

 

[Philip]

The decreased 18mm steering stem offset worked great! The two times that I crashed I was on the bike that still had the original 22mm offset. I tucked the front end both times.

 

[C5tor]

Hope you are okay, dude. When you said you pulled a Roczen, I assumed you flew 30ft through the air without your bike and busted your arm or something. Glad that was not the case.

 

[Philip]

Hope you are okay, dude. When you said you pulled a Roczen, I assumed you flew 30ft through the air without your bike and busted your arm or something. Glad that was not the case.

LOL! That would have been really bad. No, that wasn't it. More recently Roczen became known as someone getting a good start, fighting for the lead, and then fading back into the mid-pack, explaining it with some undisclosed but persistent ailment.

 

[Philip]

Just realized it today. The worst part of bringing two bikes to a racetrack is that you then have to wash twice as many bikes.

 

[Bloak]

sounds like Delta Raceway for the Ironman MotoGP racing
I did those years ago when I lived closer to Detroit.... tough and exhausting

 

[Philip]

sounds like Delta Raceway for the Ironman MotoGP racing
I did those years ago when I lived closer to Detroit.... tough and exhausting

Yep. That's the race! Ironman MotoGP – Delta Raceway

Despite the exhaustion, I still loved it though. It is a great feeling to be pulling into my driveway late Sunday morning, having already ridden the bike as much as I wanted to, with most of the day still ahead of me, with no care in the entire world!