No EPO for me

[wasfast]

I was looking over my medical file for another reason and noticed my haematocrit level in the blood tests. My HCT was nearly 46 and that's just the factory setting, as built. Guess an EPO program is out of the question. I was hoping a low haematocrit would explain my severe slowness as a fat old guy.....guess not :D

[Bill Bove]

"Honey do these pants make my butt look fat?" " No, your fat butt makes your butt look fat"

I'm a slow, old, fat guy because A. I'm slow. B, I'm old and 3, I'm fat.

[zeroking17]

I recently had a physical that included a standard blood panel test. My HCT was 50.6. (That's the sole reason why I did not ride in the Tour of Lombardy recently.)

The morning after I got the test results, I went out for a hilly ride, really pumped to kick some ***. As I approached the first long climb, I saw two riders about 50 meters ahead of me, and they were spinning like dervishes. I recognized the challenge, gritted my teeth, dropped down two clicks, lowered my head like a charging bull and took off after them. Buoyed by the knowledge that my HCT was at or above world class levels, I became a dangerous rider, fer shure.

Relentlessly I stalked my prey, savoring the moment I would streak past them--imagining the total admiration for my abilities that would surely be etched on their countenances as they ate my dust.

After some three minutes of furious chasing on my part, I was within spitting distance. As the crest of the hill neared, I raised my hellish cadence once more, confident that my superhuman oxygen-processing capabilities would not let me down.

I pulled even, ready to savor the shock and awe. I muffled my usual clarion call of "on your left" in a bold attempt to heighten the affect of my dominant riding. I swept past, without so much as a "have a nice day."

I continued on, bloated with the self-satisfaction of having dropped that weekend-warrior dad on his schwinn voyager, pulling his infant son in a covered child carrier. Yes, those two had felt the full fury of 50.6 HCT.

.

[chrisroph]

last test mine was 39

[Archibald]

Mine was 66. To quote Salvadore Dali, "I don't do drugs, I AM drugs!"

:banana:

[1centaur]

How come I never get the cool blood test?

[Ginger]

Hmmm...my HCT at last check in August was 41.9 (reference 37.0-47.0)

But what we were really looking at was my
ferritin level: 14ng/ml (12-207)
Iron: 128 mcg/dl (30-160)
TIBC: 329 mcg/dl (228-417)
% saturation: 39% (15-55)

Evidently we celiacs have an issue with the iron/anemia thing...

You need to tell your doc you want the cool blood test...do you always ask for a copy of the results?

[Fat Robert]

HCT is a small part of the picture...things like having a high degree of aerobic enzyme activity are much, much more important...HCT is a big factor in pro circles because they all have freakish aerobic metabolisms to begin with -- so giving those metabolisms more fuel makes a big difference...I could EPO myself up to 60% HCT and still be a suckdog at the back of a master's field...a more comfortable suckdog, no longer suffering, but a suckdog nonetheless


the real difference is carbon. red carbon. red lugged carbon. red obtuse-fit lugged carbon. with matching red carbon wheels.

[Frankwurst]

"Honey do these pants make my butt look fat?" " No, your fat butt makes your butt look fat"

I'm a slow, old, fat guy because A. I'm slow. B, I'm old and 3, I'm fat.

+1 :beer: but I'm also Happy! :D