Clydesdales/Athenas (200+ lb / 91+ kg) - Trouble Sleeping

I've noticed that I can't get to sleep on days that I've been on a ride...
it's not from any type of restless legs, they feel fine. I just don't feel tired, my body feels fine, I just don't go to sleep.
I can lay there and read and read and read, and when my eyes are tired, I try to go to sleep, but I end up just tossing and turning.

sunday night, i was still awake at 3am, had went to bed right before 11pm. I obviously had fallen asleep at one point, but I immediately wake up and have to roll over or something. I'd check the clock fairly often... 3:30, 3:50, 4:15, 4:45, etc.

has anyone else had this problem the night after they rode earlier in the day.
I generally ride after I get home from work, so I take off at 5 to 5:15pm. riding anywhere from 11-18 miles. on the weekends I like to do a little longer rides if I can and earlier in the day.

why am I still awake and not feeling tired at all? I finally go to sleep, but when the alarm goes off around 6:15am, I know I didn't get enough sleep.
I don't take any medication or sleep aids (i don't swallow pills, it's a phobia I have after I choked on some food as a young boy to the point of passing out), so melatonin is out for me.

any suggestions, thoughts... has anyone had this same problem?

It happens to me occasionally, but not often, and almost always when I'm just wiped out physically. I'll be exhausted from the day's activity, but when I get to bed my brain won't click over into sleep mode. It's not like my mind won't shut off (I have that problem more and more as I get older, usually waking me about 5:00 AM) but it just doesn't make that jump to whatever brain wave it needs to be generating for sleep. I have no solution other than to get up and go do something that takes your mind off it for an hour or so and then try again, or sometimes I'll lie there and put in earphones and listen to some quiet music for a while.

yep, i listen to music for a bit as well.
i was as close as i could be to getting back up and doing something Sunday night, but didn't. next time, i probably will.

btw, you described what i'm feeling, other than being exhausted. i'm calm, my body isn't aching, but my mind is still energized. i simply don't feel tired.

if it was possible, i'd recommend going out first thing in the morning maybe or even earlier than when you do although 5 doesnt seem too late so not sure. i have trouble sleeping if i do exercise late on in the evening its just the endorphins and stuff keeping you awake:) loads of stuff can help you relax like warm bath and dare i say a couple of beers:)

p.s. the beers is a joke - its a slippery slope when you start drinking to put you asleep:)

i found another topic on the board (not in the clyde area, which i've never been out of) on this.... at least i'm not the only one.

some solid ideas.
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php/739946-Problems-sleeping-after-hard-rides-group-rides-races?highlight=sleeping

i need to finish reading it.
thanks for the input, breadbin, i've thought of getting up early to ride, but thanks to the Army, i'm not a morning person - plus it seems all the "cyclist hit by driver" stories are from early morning/late night rides. where i live, it might be more along the lines of "deer attacks bicycle rider" or "mountain lion maims pedal pusher" (we had a pack of mountain lions spotted in my small city last winter - just northwest of KC, KS). i ride on country roads, so animal attacks go through my mind (not just a small dog, but coyote, bear, mountain lions, deer... i've been swooped down on by 2 different large hawks already).

i haven't had a beer in a few weeks. i was also thinking that my metabolism is still probably jacked up, even if i don't "feel" it.

I gotta ask what age group y'all belong in (?), because at 56 my sleeping habits have been problematic for over a year. I've tried to write it off as the mounting anxiety/uncertainty of recently retiring. I decided that it was because of inactivity. Eating before going to bed actually helps me..... but we all know that AIN'T a good thing to do!
So I've been away from the job for 9 months now, retired for 6..... can't blame that anymore.
I started on the stationary bike, lifting barbbells, walking..... "inactivity" is no longer an issue.

This is what I'm starting to learn:
* Prior to preparing for bed, step away from the brightly lit computer screen, no more interacting, stop with the stimulating of brain activity!
* Start to turn the lights down in the house (all lights completely off when attempting to sleep, this would be to include the lit digits in yer alarm clock, blue sleep apnea machine lights, etc).
* If you enjoy reading before going to bed, don't do it in bed. Sit in another room in yer favorite chair with a reading lamp. Choose reading material that is contemplative, positive, life promoting, optimistic, pretty........
* I have discovered that if I go to bed no later than 9:30, I am more inclined to sleep (better) through the night. Often sleeping until as late as 6:30 rather than my customary 5:00 - 5:30. THIS is a BIG problem for me, I have MUCH difficulty turning in until after 10:10.......
* If you wanna exercise after work, a few hours before bed.... think about making a ritual of Sleepy Time hot tea (w/honey?) while you're turning the pages of a mellow read.
* Routine, routine, routine........

^ All great suggestions.

I agree with RadoneeRider about setting up a sleep routine. Also a lot of great tips :thumb:.

Sometimes its amazing how a bed time routine or ritual can work out. Simple things like turning down or off lights, going to bed at the same time, and doing the same thing before bed can set the mood.

* If you enjoy reading before going to bed, don't do it in bed. Sit in another room in yer favorite chair with a reading lamp.

This was the same advice I've heard twice before. Once from my sleep doc when I was having really bad bouts with insomnia. Again when I went with my first wife because she was having sleep issues.
My problem was falling asleep to the radio with no 'off' timer. Hers was getting into bed and reading or playing around on her laptop for a half hour. The doc explained it in no uncertain terms: "Your bed is for 2 things. Sleeping and sex. Don't train your mind that any other activities happen there."

"Your bed is for 2 things. Sleeping and sex. Don't train your mind that any other activities happen there."
That should be to include the whole bedroom..... no televisions in there, don't pay bills at a desk set up in there, no arguments.... move them to another room. For that matter, it's bad Fung Shui to even have mirrors in your bedroom, or to have the bed angled such that you can't see who comes through the bedroom/bathroom door.

I find red wine actually gets me wired and I can't sleep, or pizza makes for rather animated dreams, and an unfinished project in the garage haunts me until I've either figured it out or completed it. I know about the need for Vit D to offset depression during overcast days in the winter, how Tryptophan (in milk, bananas, turkey, popcorn, etc.) aids in sleep, etc. How to (try to) beat shift work, what to do if you wake in the middle of the night....... why do I know all this stuff? Because I sooooo wish I could sleep long, well, in peace, and on a bed that I actually find comfortable. By the way (just to add to your stress about not sleeping), people who sleep less than 6 hours a night, are more susceptable to heart attacks and don't live as long as those who manage to sleep well for more than six hours.....

thx for the tips/suggestions guys.
did a quick 11 mile ride this afternoon - had some weather coming through KC and it was a race against a giant rain cloud that i beat.

we'll see how it goes tonight.