Minimum / Maximum Heart Rate

My various Polar HRMs always blipped to 229 or thereabouts when going near tramlines, big powerlines and when passing some kinds of vehicles.
The newer Polar software has automatic error correction so I never notice the blips now.

In total, the abnormal part of the graph lasts about 8 minutes.

8 minutes at 229bpm?
I don't think so - seriously. You'd feel that "blip" i can tell you.

How did you fell throughout those 8 minutes (apart from slightly perplexed - after noticing those readings?)?

I have a heart condition, arrhythmia, which is quite common. It's getting less frequent as I get older. Sometimes my heart beat skips about and sometimes it races; once it jumped to 240 when I was cycling with a heart rate monitor on and yes that did feel pretty odd and scary. My normal max heart rate at that time was 200. I can usually get it to stop racing by pressing on my eyeballs or pinching my ear lobes; seriously. Something to do with the parasympathetic nervous system or what have you, I wasn't paying much attention to the doctor after he told me it wasn't likely to kill me.

In total, the abnormal part of the graph lasts about 8 minutes.

was the chest strap nice and firm to get good chest contact?
did the period you mention coincide with a downhill section, or leaning forward?
often if it is loose it will give errant readings.

as for MaxHR

Max Heart Rate does not decline with age.
Sally Edwards has written about HR training for years

The Duffield quote came when he was talking about EPO, he came out with some line about it turning riders blood to strawberry jam in their sleep and then they woke up dead.

How can one ... wake up when they are dead?

How can one ... wake up when they are dead?

Zombie?

How can one ... wake up when they are dead?

Judging by my hangover, I think I just succeeded....

How can one ... wake up when they are dead?

They can't. Duffers appears to have overlooked that aspect.

I'm worried that you needed to explain that..

The good thing about the Garmin Edge is that it will never show a HR above 240bpm, so there's rarely any need to panic :-) As mentioned by others, poor contact or EMI can lead to erroneous readings. If you can feel your heart thumping, you can do your own count to confirm that the Garmin has got a bit over enthusiastic.

And yes, 220-age is bollocks, and my HRmax is pretty much unchanged over 25 years. I think it might be a cautious guide for people starting training with HR without the benefit of decent coaching, it's probably wise to tell 50 year-olds to back off if they hit 170 bpm until they know what they're doing.

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To my knowledge 220-age has always been a 'rule of thumb' and as such it's a starting point when you have nothing else to work with. There are other, more accurate estimations but still nothing beats actually testing yourself.

8 minutes at 229bpm?
I don't think so - seriously. You'd feel that "blip" i can tell you.

How did you fell throughout those 8 minutes (apart from slightly perplexed - after noticing those readings?)?

I could feel it racing, and I was a bit out of breath. It didn't get so bad that I felt the need to stop, and there was no terrible crushing pain or tingling down my left arm!

I have a heart condition, arrhythmia, which is quite common. It's getting less frequent as I get older. Sometimes my heart beat skips about and sometimes it races; once it jumped to 240 when I was cycling with a heart rate monitor on and yes that did feel pretty odd and scary. My normal max heart rate at that time was 200. I can usually get it to stop racing by pressing on my eyeballs or pinching my ear lobes; seriously. Something to do with the parasympathetic nervous system or what have you, I wasn't paying much attention to the doctor after he told me it wasn't likely to kill me.

Tell me more. I've had this feeling before, where my heart feels like its racing. I've just never had my HRM on at the time. It generally stops after a few minutes.

I had to have a proper ECG test done last year before I ran the Marathon des Sables, and I was passed fit though. I have another one in about a month, before I do the Al Andalus Ultra, so if there is a problem I'll find out about in then...

Anyways, I'm off for a run now.

If you see a bloke lying on the floor in Regents Park, wearing a lime green running top, laugh at me and poke me with sticks.

I could feel it racing, and I was a bit out of breath. It didn't get so bad that I felt the need to stop, and there was no terrible crushing pain or tingling down my left arm!

I'd definately go see your GP with what your describing

Bad contact and wind rustling my clothes normally gives me erroneous high readings, but that's normally when I'm starting off and not out of breath.

"I could feel it racing, and I was a bit out of breath. It didn't get so bad that I felt the need to stop" sounds exactly normal to me. High 'false' readings could happen at any time. If you are worried sure, see a GP, personally I'd wait until I collapse and need an ambo before worrying ;)

Tell me more. I've had this feeling before, where my heart feels like its racing. I've just never had my HRM on at the time. It generally stops after a few minutes.

Not a lot more I can tell you; have been like this for at least 30 years though it happens less often nowadays. Irregular heartbeats are not uncommon and it is entirely random when it happens to me; weeks apart, months apart. It's unlikely it would be happening just at the moment you got an ECG so testing for it would be difficult. More importantly, just because we have apparently similar symptoms does not mean we have the same condition so you might like to think about seeing your GP. I doubt you will get any further than more inconclusive tests and some general advice but then again why take the chance of living with a more serious, undiagnosed, heart condition?

Meh.
I've had so many medicals in the last few years that I'd know by now if there was something wrong with me. I'll mention it to the doc when I have my medical for Spain, but I don't feel the need to get a special medical just for this.
If it is serious, I'll collapse one day. I'll either wake up and have lots of nice nurses making a fuss of me, or I won't wake up and I'll never have to worry about traffic on Gray's Inn Road ever again.

I agree actually; I just didn't want your death on my conscience.

Nice to know somebody cares!

here is the ride data supplied By Bad Science and following PMs, posted as requested by BS to allow for forum discussion

In my view there had been good contact with the sensors before the 'event' with what appears to be consistent readings.
The event does not appear related to a loose chest strap as the elevation does not play a role (as would occur with leaning forward on a long downhill run)
during the 'event' the heart rate does not appear to respond to changes in effort, ie increased speed or minor changes in elevation.
As the distance travelled over the 8 min 26 sec highlighted would also appear to rule out localised EMF spikes.
So good Doctors, over to you for comment.

I'm interested to know people heart rates in general cycling, time trials, maximum and rested etc etc.

My heart rate doesnt seem to ever get too high, even with large amounts of effort, I'm often in the top 3 places for club time trials, with about 160bpm being a sustainable rate for going out, and i usually top around 180bpm for the way back, which I didnt think much of as I had nothing to compare it to, but talking to everybody else around my level they claim to be much higher.

I then decided to test my resting heart rate a couple mornings ago, and then again the next day, and also this morning to get an average reading, this was the result;

And if you cant read it properly, (shite photo, i know!) it says 38bpm. I was shocked personally, I think I underestimate my fitness a lot, it was as low as 35bpm for 2 of the mornings, but taking the photo pushed it up a little!

My conclusion is that I have a pretty strong heart, I can pump enough blood through my veins for my heart rate to be on the lower end of the spectrum for time trialling, a bit like pushing a slow cadence, which made me wonder if I could push it higher? I havent yet properly tested my Max HR.

Rambling aside, I would love to hear everybody elses Heart rate readings/essays!

sounds pretty fit to me. what's your age?

What I have found out so far: I started cycling seriously about 2 years ago, ride around with 110 cadence mostly and have a higher heart rate than many of my cycling friends. One friend of mine, 2 years younger, of about the same height and same weight is steadily 15 - 20 bpm lower heartrate, power is about equal. And power varies from day to day... But there's one guy who has almost always the exact same as mine. So apparently it depends on many factors.

I (am 42 and) have a max heart rate of 196 (uphill sprint until bust). I can sustain around 175bpm for 1.5 - 2 hours (on climbs in the Alps for instance). I haven't tested my resting pace accurately but I think it's around 50 at least.

I am 18, ex smoker too, very regrettably, which may contribute to something?
I usually push a slower cadence, around 85rpm.
My road riding pace usually averages about 140bpm, and a bit higher, maybe 150 for racing.