Day rides are wiping me out.

[tyreon]

Stop complaining BigJim(said in humour)! Maybe your expectations are too high. Yes,there could be something amiss with you...or maybe there isn't: just age. There's always gonna be someone that's better than you,and some that maybe worse. You're out on your bike x3 pw. Enjoy it! Yeh,I know,I see some who are 80+ who pass me. Humiliating. But yer carryin on. B Burton was gone before your age. Give thanks. Play the long game,yer here! and you'd probably beat me. Go easy on yourself. I no longer know where I am in the scheme of things: I have a chronic debilitating disorder that KO's me,I just have to ride my own thing. I can have a go at pushing myself,next day I'm pooped out. You're probably better fit than 90% of people your age and who just drive cars. Enjoy the summer...if we get one. Yer on your bike,that's a plus,now x3 rides pw is better than 0 days a week.

[mjr]

I've read that eating too much while riding is a problem if the body has to digest food as well as produce energy for riding so I try not to stuff myself.

I've read that about people doing short high-intensity rides, but I don't think it really applies to whole-day rides. Even the pro sprinters are eating simple-ish food while they ride. OK, I probably wouldn't enjoy eating a doorstep filled with a wedge of cheese while riding, but I wouldn't even try eating nothing but a banana while riding and trying to do it all on only the lunch and cake stops... maybe that'll change as I get older.

[TrevA]

In have agree with Colin. I recently did a 72 miler. I had Crunchy Bran and Banana and milk for Breakfast. Beans on Toast at 40 miles in and a banana and some oranges when I got back. I take a 750ml bottle with High 5 Zero tablet in it and refill at the mid morning stop. We averaged about 16.5mph for the 72 miles. I average around the same on most rides on my road bike. I'm a bit slower(14-15) on the tourer.

I'm 57 and weigh 17st.

I also think you need more miles in your legs.

[NATURAL ANKLING]

Hi,

I'm just back from the gym and I asked one of the instructors about my problem. he asked my mileage and what i was eating. His actual comment was "you are just farting in the wind on that diet". Evidently, IHO, I should be calorie loading the night before. Again at breakfast, repeat at lunch. plus the bananas in between. It's worth a shot I guess. I'm eating nothing like Vorpal.

Vorpal is eating for two for sure

Edited -

Ouch Mick F will be along soon and top the lot of your'e, he rides 50 miles on a fry up then three pints for the return 50

Its easy to say how far you can go on a sandwhich, endurance ctc riders complain of losing weight on London Edinburgh , their GP states they were not eating enough.

[bigjim]

Its all pretty confusing. May need to attack it from both sides and up my mileage as well as my diet in increments. Some of the guys in the club are in their 70s and can knock hell out of me on a bike. The one difference is they are all about their cycling and are out almost every day. I mix my riding up with the gym and a bit of running. I lift weights as much as I cycle. I also do a bit of running so maybe my body is not as tuned into it as theirs. I'm happy with my weekly 25 mile rides but wish the long ones did not have such a debilitating effect. Maybe I want my cake and eat it, but can't have it. My wife of course thinks I'm crazy.

[Vorpal]

Vorpal is eating for two for sure

hardly. I will say that since having babies, I am somewhat susceptible to the bonk or hunger knock or whatever. So, I eat when hungry. I've learned a bit by trial and error how to avoid it.

[PH]

Its all pretty confusing. May need to attack it from both sides and up my mileage as well as my diet in increments.

Problem with doing that is you won't know for future reference which one was needed, assuming it works. The miles in the legs seems like the starting point to me, though I understand it should be possible to replicate the effort of a long ride in a shorter time. You could also try taking it a bit easier on the longer rides. Are you expecting to ride all day like you do a 25? I can't do that, I have to pace myself or I'd struggle.

[bigjim]

Its all pretty confusing. May need to attack it from both sides and up my mileage as well as my diet in increments.

Problem with doing that is you won't know for future reference which one was needed, assuming it works. The miles in the legs seems like the starting point to me, though I understand it should be possible to replicate the effort of a long ride in a shorter time. You could also try taking it a bit easier on the longer rides. Are you expecting to ride all day like you do a 25? I can't do that, I have to pace myself or I'd struggle.

I'm just back in from a 25. I rode it with my youngest son and so was a fair old pace. Some good climbs as well. But I feel fine. My pace on Sunday was probably a lot like that as it was a mixed A&B ride. So yes you have a point. Unfortunately on club rides your pace is dictated by your peers. The pace does not bother me as far as I know, but it may be bothering my body which punishes me once I stop riding. Thanks for input.

[freeflow]

If you are doing gym work and running as well as your cycling it is sounding increasingly like under recovery.

My experience was getting carried away with Audaxing

50 points in my first year rolling into 2Xrtty.

My time for my early 200km rides was an 8am start finishing at around 6-7pm.

At the end of the two Rtty I was starting at 8am and not finishing until after 9pm. The exact opposite of what you'd expect. After a deal of thinking I got to realising that for historical reasons I was a carbohydrate junkie and had nowhere near enough protein in my diet, so I'd basically run myself down over a period of 18 months to two years.

Since April, when I had a complete fail on an Audax due to my legs just refusing to go, I've changed my diet to significantly increase protein intake and backed off from longer rides completely.

The result is that I'm rapidly building leg muscle and on the few occasions I've done a 100km ride have ridden on electrolytes with just the one food stop. My pace over this distance is slowly improving so I'm looking to restart 200km rides (on a monthly basis initially) come July/August.

[NATURAL ANKLING]

Hi,
Balanced diet.
I tend not to use one source.

This year I have been going without any nutrition on my training rides, which I can tolerate.
But just recently I increased my mileage to 45 miles three times a week (37) which might not sound that bad.
The bike weighs about 24 kgs 53 Ibs, tyres will only take 65 psi, two panniers, previously it was 18 -20 kgs, one pannier and 75 psi smaller tyres too.
Two roads have gone through new builds, and they have resurfaced a lot of the main haul
I definitely do not feel spritely and three years older
After changing the pedals I still feel the saddles a tad too low say 2mm, back on 175 cranks after a year on 170s.

Monday is better after a rest so its nearly three hours at 85% average of my max heart rate, wed will probably be 83% and fri I might get 81%.
Last Mon I was washed out an hour after I got home, last week wed & fri was pants after two hours on the bike.

Previously when Friday is as easy as mon then I am getting fit.
Heavier bike, slower tyres, harder course atad longer too, older that must count.
I think I might look again at hydration and nutrition, at the moment I am knuckling down and getting on with it.


Tying to relive what it was like on the old course which is impossible, I know I cant turn the clock back, but I can dream.

[NATURAL ANKLING]

Hi,
This week - Fridays ride was OK feel strong not lacking in energy.
2ND from top gear is 87" or there abouts, and today holding this mostly on the flat, even up gentle slopes.
Mon 85% - Tue 82% - Fri 81% (avg of max HR), over two hours of the 2 hr 45 min ride. Today was 48 miles over 3 hrs and definitely felt better than last week.
I started eating on the ride after 1 hr 20. Might be just a dip last week. A longer ride would be eat after 30 mins.
Drinking 2.5 litres and sweating off all of that, you will lose a further 1/2 a litre plus when you stop over the next 1/2 - 1 hour.
I only have one piece of toast for breakfast, this is probably not enough and only do this in training, I have also been careful to eat when I get home and drink just a little,1/2 a pint of milk and some dates, hour later is lunch.

[Vorpal]

I was thinking about this thread today....

One thing that makes a difference for me is how accustomed I am to the mileage.

What I mean by that is that my 'normal' mileage is 20 - 30 miles when I commute to work (most days in the summer).

I do that on my normal diet, which is a homemade double mocha (coffee chocolate & milk), and bowl of porridge or a couple of thick slices of bread, soup & salad for lunch, yogurt snack, and a moderate evening meal (tonight it was pasta).

I can comfortably add another 10 miles or so to that without feeling like I need to eat much extra. However, if I do 70 miles without sort of working my way up to it, I seem to need the extra food. The last time I did an all day ride without any sort of training in advance for it (and not even commuting by bike as frequently as I would like), I spent the latter half of the day feeling all the time on the verge of the bonk. I ate stuff that didn't look even vaguely appetising just to keep the bonk away. And it took me much longer to recover than usual.

So, what does all this mean?

If you want to do longer rides at the weekend, do some longer rides in the week , as well. Train for the club rides, in a way.

Eat a bit more, even if it's just a couple of extra bananas, and don't start your ride on an empty stomach.

[531colin]

Isn't it a sort of "general rule" that if you generally ride "X" miles, you can pull a twice "X" mile ride out of the bag without too much bother, as long as you pack a bit of food and don't try to go fast as well.....?

[LollyKat]

That sounds about right, thought doesn't take recovery into account. IME when I haven't done a bit more training I am still tired the next day regardless of what I eat before and after. If I have built up to it then I can keep up a good mileage day after day.

[david7591]

There must be a point when that rule stops being useful. For example 20 miles to 40 miles is a 100% increase, but only 20 miles. 60 miles to 120 miles is also 100% but is an extra 60 miles. I can ride 60 miles reasonably comfortably. However 120 is virtually unimaginable. It's not only distance but time on the bike.