Long Distance Competition/Ultracycling, Randonneuring and Endurance Cycling - Getting sick the day after long rides

Hello everyone,

After a few years of doing exclusively 20-40 miles on the bike, I've moved up to doing a 75+ mile ride every other week. So far I've done 3 without any issues, but the next day I'm usually feeling borderline sick, with a sore throat and stuff nose.

My nutrition is good during the ride, I usually eat 250 calories every hour, and 700 45 minutes before I go. I do ride pretty hard but I have plenty of energy afterwards. Its just the next day I feel horrible.

Any ideas to help this?

do you have any allergies? when pollen or ozone is high, I have to either limit my riding or medicate up.

are you getting potassium post-ride? bananas are usually a good source, but if you get potassium deficient you can feel sore and achy after rides.

what about water? drinking at least .7L/hour? what about pre and post rides? what about protein?

it could just be how your body reacts. After lots of exertion my stomach hurts sometimes, so I just rest and it gets better.

I seem to remember reading somewhere that exertion can lower your body's resistance. I know I am more succeptible to colds and other bugs after I've done a marathon or a long ride.

I generally make sure to get enough rest after doing a long ride, keep up with my nutrition and take vitamins.

do you have any allergies? when pollen or ozone is high, I have to either limit my riding or medicate up.

are you getting potassium post-ride? bananas are usually a good source, but if you get potassium deficient you can feel sore and achy after rides.

what about water? drinking at least .7L/hour? what about pre and post rides? what about protein?

it could just be how your body reacts. After lots of exertion my stomach hurts sometimes, so I just rest and it gets better.

Yes, I have allergies, but not too bad.
I usually have at least 1 banana post ride
I usually drink so much I have to take several bio breaks, and usually have a Gatorade post ride

Everyone's different. You could try varying your diet pre, during and post ride, upping your electrolyte intake during the ride ... you may have some minor allergy that only shows up as your body goes into the post exertion lull. You could also try doing a short ride the next day -- keeping your metabolism up.

The other thing to try is doing an even longer ride. I have generally found, as my rides got longer and longer, that when I stayed at a plateau in terms of ride length that I was always borderline exhausted after I did that distance. When I increased the distance, the former plateau was no-sweat.

The other thing is that your 700 calories pre ride cannot possibly be digested before you start riding. Your body needs about 1 hour to digest 250-350 calories, so that food is simply sitting in your stomach and then joined by other solid and liquid intake during the ride. If you are going to eat that much pre-ride, do so 2 hours beforehand.

I'd say your condition may be affected by too much exertion (doubling/tripling your long distance) in the heat of summer.

Diet may affect it some. It sounds like you may be eating too much. In the summer I ride early morning to try to escape the heat. I wake up, get dressed, fill one water bottle and hop on the bike and ride 20-25 miles with simply one 24oz bottle of water in 80 degree weather. Nothing to eat before I go nor during the ride -- I eat breakfast when I return.

On longer rides I take two water bottles, fill one with sports drink, and take a couple snacks, often only consuming one and filling the water bottles on the way with sports drink/water as I need to stay hydrated. A lot of my energy comes in liquid form, not solid. On those days I have my normal bowl of cereal before I go. That might help in your case.

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The other thing is that your 700 calories pre ride cannot possibly be digested before you start riding. Your body needs about 1 hour to digest 250-350 calories, so that food is simply sitting in your stomach and then joined by other solid and liquid intake during the ride. If you are going to eat that much pre-ride, do so 2 hours beforehand.

With due deference to your long-distance accomplishments, and admitting that I have only ever done five centuries (all of them this year), I don't think the above caution holds for all of us.

For any ride over 70 miles or so, and I know I'll be flamed for admitting this, I stop by McDonald's on the way to the ride start and have, at the least, an Egg McMuffin, a potato cake, a cup of coffee and some of those decadent sugary gooey little cinnamon roll thingies, usually not more than 45 minutes before the ride starts.

For a long effort, my body WANTS that kind of food (sugars, fats, protein, carbs)- maybe due to a background in construction, where a big breakfast fuels the fires for hard work.

I'm sure it's not for everyone, but I can tell you that, in my case at least, it's not "simply sitting in your stomach"- it's being turned into miles!

I know very little about this, but I read something recently about "exercise-induced angioedema (http://resources.metapress.com/pdf-preview.axd?code=v05444g288236546&size=largest)." No idea if that's what you're suffering from, but you may want to read about it to see if it sounds familiar. It's definitely not very common.

For any ride over 70 miles or so, and I know I'll be flamed for admitting this, I stop by McDonald's on the way to the ride start and have, at the least, an Egg McMuffin, a potato cake, a cup of coffee and some of those decadent sugary gooey little cinnamon roll thingies, usually not more than 45 minutes before the ride starts.


I do the same thing (but not McDonald's). I eat a big breakfast of waffles and fruit about 30-45 minutes before a really long ride. This has worked for me for cycling and when I do a marathon. It boils down to the fact that when I have an early morning start I'm too lazy to get up two hours before and eat; I'd rather get the extra sleep. I make a point of eating a good dinner the night before as well.

Still sick but getting better. I'm hoping this is just from too much training and not resting it.

maybe you are suffering from the early stages of a case of mono, "the cyclist's disease."

do you have any allergies? when pollen or ozone is high, I have to either limit my riding or medicate up.

are you getting potassium post-ride? bananas are usually a good source, but if you get potassium deficient you can feel sore and achy after rides.

what about water? drinking at least .7L/hour? what about pre and post rides? what about protein?

it could just be how your body reacts. After lots of exertion my stomach hurts sometimes, so I just rest and it gets better.

I agree with all of this.

Your allergies may not be too bad just loofing around, but add in a long bike ride and your really compounding the effects by exposing your self to pollens just being out for several hours then compounding that effect with heavy breathing. The water thing is a good too (or 50% diluted Gatorade, or have one bottle of clear water and one with 100% Gatorade then alternate), you should be ingesting about 24oz every 45 minutes or about 5 ounces every 10 minutes. I would try some allergy meds or sprays before riding next time to see if that works. Problems with some meds they may make you tired and thus your performance may suffer. I take allergy pills with me just in case somethings in the air that gets me going while riding.