Roczen in Altitude.

Pretty sure he's spent a lot of time over the last few years in St. George, MTB, and such. He had a conversion sprinter van that he'd spend time in out there. 

Yea, I heard them mention that but I can't remember that ever being an issue? 2020 kind of gets a pass as being still in the "recovery from 2017/2018" phase as that's when he finally won his first SX after the crash.

I wonder if he spends the entire week there this week riding? Would make sense. 

Has any rider other than Jason Anderson ever claimed to have altitude sickness?

I think both him and Hunter will be fine.  I would guess it's fairly rare for someone to have issues at 5200 feet, might feel a little more tired than usual throughout the day.

This could be the race Justin Hill gets a podium.

I live at 6200 down in Cortez. every time I leave and come back it takes about 1 day for breathing to catch up.

I’ve heard it mentioned some show up as late as possible. I do not understand the logic of showing up as late as possible for these races. I grew up just below 9k’ and still go back for visits and trips to the mountains camping at 10-11.5k. I find it takes 1-3 days to feel normal. The 3-days is for hiking with a heavy pack >10k’. If I were racing at elevation I would go early to allow my body to adapt. Denver isn’t that high, just show up Thursday and Saturday will be fine. 

RC is reaching with that comment thata altitude would help his boy Hunta. 

C'mon dude, it's only a 20 minute main. Like Larry Brooks doesn't know how to set up a bike for altitude. What a joke statement

Both Hunter and Ken are Florida residents.   Any comment about either having an advantage or disadvantage adjusting to altitude doesn't pass logic check. 

Is St. george in high altitude? I don’t think it is.

Edit: it’s a little over 2,800 feet above sea level

id say the hardpack tracks will count more than the altitude will,  i think the Honda has looked better on hardpack tracks, 

There's a very specific biological reason. The 2-7 day window at high altitude is where you perform the worst. So, you either show up right before competing, or show up 2-3 weeks in advance to fully acclimate... Which we know they can't.

Getting downvotes but that’s not really high enough to effect you. 

From personal experience, it doesn't effect me, or my family.

Hopefully they can get Ken's carburetor jetted well for the altitude. (sarcasm)

Larry knows how to jet a bike, Lars might have to ring his dad 😂

Am I the only one who has varied adjustment periods to altitude?

Born & raised at sea level - as a kid going up to mammoth every year, I never had a problem. As an adult, its Russian Roulette - 

Two years ago, we went to visit friends in Mammoth & I woke up day 1 to unequivocally the worst headache of my life that felt like someone was trying to split my skull in two from the inside. 

Went back again this year prepped for the worst, I never even lost my breathe. 

Heaven forbid anyone on the starting line is like that, I can't fathom the mental games you would have to play with yourself to "lock-in" not knowing if/when the altitude was going to hit you....

😁

I understand the joke completely, but as a reminder, the Suzuki was the first 450 ever to get fuel injection. 

Idk but I’m going to feel like I’m at altitude watching the next two weeks. I haven’t been this stressed/excited for the final two races, ever. 

I don't recall being overly affected by the altitude in Denver. When I get to Summit county, it definitely affects the breathing, but fortunately I have never felt some of the symptoms that can come with altitude. I've seen that first hand, but again, that was at 9,000' or better.

Unless some of these riders are affected adversely at 5,000', headaches, etc., I don't see that elevation bothering guys with their fitness that much.

Everyone is different, I guess, so who knows?

We need @Sandusky26 and @wreckitrandy to confirm this statistic

One thing that plays a big part is temperature and barometric pressure. A hot dry day could make the effective altitude significantly higher. Sat will be sunny but avg 66 with 30% humidity so should be normal. If we were having a day that was 85 and 10% 5280 could feel lime 7000. I used to have to deal with it when having cars at Bandimere. 

Went snowboarding at Easter to Switzerland. The ski run from kleine scheidegg sits at 6,762 ft. I took private lessons but after 2 hrs I felt dizzy & nausea. After some recommended breathing exercises I could only walk down to a chair lift up & only felt better when we arrived back by a slow moving train to our village of Wengen 4,180 ft. The next day wasn’t as bad, day 3 wasn’t a problem. But I’m not as fit as Ken or Hunter but I’m twice their age, so I think they’ll be ok.