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Hi Hubbers Last weekend at Around the Pot something strange happened for the first time. Due to some mechanicals in the first 20km we chased back to the main waterpoint at 100km to try and make up some time. The last 20km I did a lot of the work in front with a head wind, and didn't drink and eat enough as I usually do (my mistake). As soon as we stopped at the 100km waterpoint and I climbed off my bike, I felt something strange happening inside my chest. Personal info: - 32 years old, fit - Training consistently 10 hours p/week (2 x HIIT sessions p/week for the last 2 years) with recovery in between (training balance) - Avg 6 rides p/week - Max HR 197 - Resting HR 49 - 165cm, 64kg - Don't take any medication (haven't been sick in probably +9 months) - Logged 7274 km to date (2018) Back at the waterpoint I started feeling light headed. As soon as I looked at my HR monitor, my HR was around 192 - 201. It didn't want to come down. Chest felt weird as like the Heart was in a panic mode. 10min later we went over the river and on the other side as we went out with a easy group, the HR went up to 209. Told my partner something is definitely wrong and we stopped, standing still for around 5min next to our bikes. In that 5min the HR didn't come down lower than 182. We pulled the plug right there. Went back to the waterpoint to our support and in total it took about 20min for the HR to calm down and return to normal. Last week Friday I saw a Cardiologist, Dr Corbett in Panorama. They did a ECG and sonar of the HR. The conclusion: Heart is perfect with no damage to muscles/chambers. The effort might have just been to much with dehydration etc playing a role. Did some easy HIIT classes again last week which were normal, and HR recovering normal in between sets. This morning went for a ride outside (in the wind) and one section pushed HR between 170 -181 for around 15min consistently. As soon as I stopped in Stellenbosch it happened again, HR up for about 10min before calming down. Has this happened with anybody else? Any idea what would cause this?

I bought his Total Heart Rate Training book. I have sold my road bicycle and decided to do just MTB. I have some confusion regarding my HR zones and not convinced I am seeing the correct zone values. Here are my questions: Does the surface matter for the 30 minutes field test? Does it have to be offroad if I do MTB? Or can it be tar?The gravel road that I did my field test on has some steep hills with nice downhills after it. It starts off with a nice flat surface with some small inclines. Towards the 2nd half of the route the hills start. Will these hills influence my average heart rate? What I mean is will it bring down my average heart rate if the downhills are long? I don’t pedal much on these downhills, so my average heart rate will be reduced?My average heart rate for the last 20 minutes of the test is 173 bpm (which should be my lactate threshold) and my max is 181 bpm. Is this low for my average? Some guys get a max HR of over 200!Does anyone use his way of determining your HR zones and actually training by it? What I find with MTB is that my heart rate is relatively high. If i have to pedal any slower to bring it down I am going to fall over