Road Cycling - lost energy

Hi Everyone

I just completed my first metric century last weekend:D and i ran into a bit of a problem at around mile 47. i could stay in the pace line at 16-18mph but i couldn't pull on the front for more than about a mile.
My legs were not hurting it just felt like there was no energy left.I ate a good breakfast a couple of hours before, had 2 enrgy bars and a couple of gu paks also.Water intake was around 100 oz for the ride which was 3hr an40 min.I'm a recreational cyclist who rides betwwen 75-150 miles a week.Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks To All
Jeff:confused

Originally posted by f86sabjf
Hi Everyone

I just completed my first metric century last weekend:D and i ran into a bit of a problem at around mile 47. i could stay in the pace line at 16-18mph but i couldn't pull on the front for more than about a mile.
My legs were not hurting it just felt like there was no energy left.I ate a good breakfast a couple of hours before, had 2 enrgy bars and a couple of gu paks also.Water intake was around 100 oz for the ride which was 3hr an40 min.I'm a recreational cyclist who rides betwwen 75-150 miles a week.Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks To All
Jeff:confused

I'm new to the road also Jeff, but I am confused on your post. Do you mean that you were trying to pull on the front for a mile in a single turn??? That seems quite a long distance and maybe some of the more experienced members will chime in but I think that your doing fine. Just keep up the riding and don't worry about taking real long turns up front, over time you will get stronger and stronger.

I agree with 2wheelsrule, 3 1/2 minute pulls are to long, unless there were only two riders in the pace line and the other guy was hurting worse than you.

Congrats on your first metric! :thumbup:

I don't think you did anything wrong, you just got tired. The solution? More metric centuries.

On most recreational rides, people don't care so much how long you take a pull. But a lot of people will get bent out of shape if you refuse to. So the main thing is don't pull to the point that you're slowing the group too much, and that you rotate off before getting so tired you won't be able to catch back on at the end of the line.

I know this is kind of a strange solution to "heavy legs," but I try to do yoga every day, in addition to cycling 15-25 miles a day. A couple weeks ago, I went to bed without even doing the daily routine of stretching, twisting and bending and the next morning I felt like I was dragging a ton of bricks as I was pedaling! I was tapering down for a road race, as well, and it stressed how important the nightly yoga routine was for my biking. I highly recommend some stretching even when you're not getting ready to bike.

One "rule" with pacelines or group rides: pulls should be determined by the rider's ability. The stronger the rider, the longer the pull. Call it distributive justice if you want.

Even the pros do it this way. Chris Carmichael commented on this before the Team TT in this year's Tour. He said that Mr. Armstrong would be taking longer pulls to compensate for some of the weaker riders on the team. That way, the team is able to finish with the highest time. This is one part of the Tour where Armstrong has to work for his team, rather than they for him.

So, it is a big mistake to think that you have to pull an equal distance. In fact, that will result in significant slow-downs as the weaker riders take pulls that are longer than they can handle. The stronger riders should be happy for the work out.

You just have to pull your weight, i.e. according to your strength. This assures that everyone enjoys the ride more.

Cheers,
Jamie