Well there’s a good book by
Well there’s a good book by John Douillard http://www.amazon.com/Body-Mind-Sport-Mind-Body-Lifelong/dp/0609807897/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1240304690&sr=1-2
My experience suggests:
1. you can nose breathe, with training up to around 82-85%HRmax
2. once you have to start to gasp through your mouth you are already into lactate build up and could possible back off and climb more efficiently
3. most riders key limiter to climbing is rider mass and their power (ie. power to weight ratio) NOT bike mass (sorry weight weenies) or how they breathe
4. that said if you learn to cruise by nose breathing occasionally it limits you to riding aerobically and not over exerting (the biggest cause of lack of fitness development is too hard too often with too little recovery)
5. the year the L’Etape finished with L’Alpe D’Huez I think I was also breathing out my ears and belly button by the top
Three ways to get better at nose breathing:
1. Try a Breatheright strip to clear the nasal passage and put focus on your nose as a tool for correct breathing
2. Lie on floor
put heavy book on belly button area
breathe in and push the book up
breathe out and let the book fall
practice for 3 mins a day
you can also do this type of exercise (without the book)
using a simple straw
3. Watch on climbs the point at which you revert to mouth breathing and what HR and perception of effort it occurs at – this is around lactate threshold (just below it) but gives you a good guide for long climbs