General Cycling Discussion - Finally, a decent ride

I finally had a couple of halfway decent rides this past weekend. Let me give you a little background into what's been happening to me.
After snowboarding all winter long I finally got back on my mountain bike at the end of March. For about 8 weeks straight I was riding almost everyday making incredible gains in fitness. I was loving life until all of a sudden a hit a wall. My legs were constantly tired and I just couldn't seem to recover from a ride. In fact, I felt like my fitness deteriorating instead of improving so I decided to take it easy for a couple of weeks.
On Saturday I decided to get back on the bike and do a long ride. In the beginning my legs felt weak and it seemed like my heart rate was a lot higher than usual. I felt off and actually crashed on a short downhill. I was going down a short hill, thinking about how I didn't feel very good instead of paying attention to the trail and hit a hole that was covered with grass. My hand slipped off the handlebar when I hit the hole and I fell off my bike right on my stomach. Luckily there was not major damage to me or my bike, just a few scrapes to the leg. I won't be showing off my legs to Cheryl...
At that point I was ready to give up and just go home but I decided to stick with it. I struggled for a couple of miles but then it seemed like everything was coming together. I was feeling great and it seemed like I was flowing with the trail. It felt so great to finally have a good ride after feeling so crappy for the past two weeks.
I'm still not riding as fast as I was three weeks ago. It took me 15 minutes longer to do this ride on Saturday than it did three weeks ago but at least I felt much better on the bike. Hopefully my fitness will continue to improve now that my body seems to have recovered.

Originally posted by Joe Pozer
After snowboarding all winter long I finally got back on my mountain bike at the end of March. For about 8 weeks straight I was riding almost everyday making incredible gains in fitness. I was loving life until all of a sudden a hit a wall. My legs were constantly tired and I just couldn't seem to recover from a ride. In fact, I felt like my fitness deteriorating instead of improving so I decided to take it easy for a couple of weeks
I have experienced much the same thing, though I am a cyclist year-round. It occurred when I increased my mileage by about 50% from 20 to 30 miles daily.

At first I was doing great. Even on days I started tired, I ended up feeling great. I even turned in some of my best times.

Then I hit that "wall" you mentioned. I got slower and slower. After taking 6 weeks off (not voluntarily,) I got back on the bike. After a few days riding I was back in shape, but I was careful to give myself days off, or easy days in between.

Overtraining may be at fault. It just means our bodies are telling us to let it rest. I've found that more is not always better, that resting increases my speed, strength, endurance and enjoyment on riding days.

Great advice Pete. I need to include rest days or recovery rides into my riding. I definitely rode myself into the ground.

I know how you feel, it really sucks. But don't let it get you down. One time I had had a bad week as far as biking went,so I took the weekend off. On Monday I still didn't feel like riding because the last ride had left such a negetive memory. But I went anyway, and it turned out to be a great ride.

Are you getting older? Sound like the usual symptoms.

Originally posted by Oscar
Are you getting older? Sound like the usual symptoms.

I'm definitely not getting any younger....:)

Originally posted by Joe Pozer
Luckily there was not major damage to me or my bike, just a few scrapes to the leg. I won't be showing off my legs to Cheryl...


I'm glad you finally had a great ride!!! My 13 mile mtb ride this weekend had quite a few falls in it also. Twice on the same freakin' hill, once up and once down!!!

Joe, you show me yours and I'll show you mine!!!!! ;)

Originally posted by Cheryl


I'm glad you finally had a great ride!!! My 13 mile mtb ride this weekend had quite a few falls in it also. Twice on the same freakin' hill, once up and once down!!!

Joe, you show me yours and I'll show you mine!!!!! ;)

Oh yeah, the beauty of Mountain Biking. It's not if you'll fall, it's when and how often. As the saying goes, if you don't crash once in a while you just ain't riding hard enough.

Cheryl, now we can compare scars...:)

Originally posted by Oscar
Are you getting older? Sound like the usual symptoms.
Actually, there is one major factor influencing aerobic endurance in athletes as part of the aging process: the electrical impulses that govern maximum heart rate.

Remember, we are all headed there. But don't be discouraged, look at Jack LaLane, approaching 90, with a wife about 1/3 his age. This man celebrated each birthday by swimming in the ocean with one rowboat
attached for every year older he became. Thus, at 70, he towed 70 rowboats behind him. At 71, well, you get the picture. :thumbup:

By contrast, Bruce Lee died in his thirties.

By the way, Mr. LaLane is a strict vegetarian. He also likes to exercise his facial muscles. :confused:

A friend of mine said, "If I'd known I was going to live to be this old, I'd have taken better care of myself."

Originally posted by Pete Clark

He also likes to exercise his facial muscles. :confused:


Hmmm. It would be very interesting to watch him pedal.



I had a week like that about three weeks ago. I had just pushed too hard the week before. Even with the weekend off, it took another easy week and weekend off to recover. Since I am still pretty much a beginner, my 5-day commuting pretty much takes care of my riding for the week. For now I only ride on weekends occasionally or on short errands and then very easy. I really want to work on getting faster, but I intentionally limit myself and increase slowly.

Part of the problem was that I went from not riding at all to going all out instead of building a base first and inceasing my fitness and speed incrementally.

I went out and did some hill intervals last night and I finally felt great. My legs felt strong and I was able to push myself. The week before I was just barely able to climb the hill in my granny gear.

It's definitely been a great learning experience and the advice I've received in here has been a tremendous help. No wonder I spend so much time in BikeForums.:)

Rest days and recovery rides are a must if you want to improve your fitness.
Lesson learned.

I wouldn't necessarly say that they rock but they sure hurt like hell. I'm not a great climber so Hill repeats are must if I don't want to get dropped on the group rides.