20260824 - Addendum "What is 32% ejection fraction?" is a question I keep meaning to ask my cardiologist, but the mechanics for what happens in consultations, the question hasn't been asked, so... From a quick "google":- "For a healthy 65-year-old male, the typical left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) is generally considered to be between 52% and 72%. While some broader guidelines define a normal range as 50% to 70%, sex-specific data indicates that men typically have a slightly lower normal baseline than women. Specific reference ranges and averages include: Normal Range: 52% to 72% is the standard clinical threshold for men, with the lower limit remaining fixed regardless of age. Average Values: Meta-analyses of healthy adults show a mean LVEF of approximately 61.9% for men, with cardiac MRI data suggesting an average of around 65.2% for the 50–69 age group. Clinical Context: An LVEF below 50% is generally not considered normal and may indicate systolic dysfunction or heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF). " I have 1/2-and-a-bit the ejection fraction of an average healthy man my age. Half. Yet... I PULLED A 45km RIDE OUT OF MY ARSE, STONE EFFING COLD, AFTER A WET WINTER, STAYING INDOORS TO PROTECT MY HEALTH!!! Still plenty of walking but bugger all riding since April, 2 and a half months of fair weather short spins! That's all. Yeah, I flagged a bit once I got to West Melbourne, my average speed was a bit sucky by the time I got home again - 18km/h to Westgate Jetty, 14km/h by the time I got home, but I didn't need to bail for a train, never really considered it other than a reminder that it's OK if I need to. 45km because I took 2 wrong turns - pretty hilly through those segments. my "cardio" reckons ECG is the "gold standard" for measuring LVEF and that's where the 38% comes from, but I have had a 58% from a nuclear stress test before surgery on my neck last year. So, the thing the cardiologist in the ED who stented me in December 2020 and said, "It was the cycling that saved you...", was a positive way of admitting I would have probably have died without that basal fitness, I think. Me, a daily commuter and weekend explorer, never a roadie, a half-arsed mountain biker in my 30s, always too slow to race, 99% of my riding being 12km to the office and 12km home at the end of my shift, a half dozen Audax 100km and 200km Brevet and 2 Round The Bay In A Day participartions. 1200km in Vietnam once. 1000km in 11 days Melbourne to Sydney once. 150000km of commuting to work, to and from, by bicycle, enforced by shiftwork, a 20km/h slow slug... ...and now, on a "Woolworth's" ticker, half as good as any pre-heart-condition man my age, I ripped out a 45km ride, cold, firing on 3 out of 6 cyclinders. I survived a "widowmaker", the dreaded NSTEMI and I can still cover ground on a bike that I'd take 4 days to walk! AND HURT LESS THE NEXT DAY THAN I WOULD IF I'D I WALKED IT!!! RECOVERED QUICKER!!! You damned well betcha I'm gunna live forever or die in a gallant attempt at immortality! -------------------- I've lived in Melbourne 17 years and have only just picked up a ride on the Westgate Punt. for those drive and rarely ride, it's a fun parking cheat code for Science Works, just find parking in Lorimer St on the weekend, or Westgate Park on Dynon Rd, walk around the outer boundaries of Westgate Park (inside the lower fence) towards Webb Dock, then. around and under Westgate Bridge, there it is. the punt is short, funn boat trip across the Yarra to Spotswood, right across the road from Science Works. I got myself lost at 20km, missing my right-turn to stay on track for the new Footscray Rd veloway, then found myself on Dynon Rd and sort of misplaced in West Melbourne, but it pushed me up to a nice 5km extra. (That I probably didn't have in my "ticker" <rolleyes>, as I've realised from a 7 day recovery, so far.) if you're cycling, come back from Spotswood,, find your way back to Dynon Rd then take the new veloway down the middle of it, no cars, no pedestrians (except for the ones who can't read the signs saying that pedestrians aren't allowed 🙄 )