MMACH 5

I ride to work three days a week, 45 miles RT. Going to work is a breeze. My pedaling feels strong and I usually average 15+mph. However, the last few weeks, my rides home have been really lagging. It feels like I'm riding with my brakes engaged. I can't seem to average any faster than 13 mph.

I'm trying to figure out if I need to eat more in the afternoon, I'm simply getting old or if it is just the heat.
Heck, maybe I should invest in some EPO

Anyone out there experienced anything similar, (riding strong in the morning and dragging in the evening)?

If so, how did you overcome it or are you still dealing with it?

Thanks.

Bushman

im the complete opposite. my morning ride feels like i'm dragging a lead sled, my evening rides are FAST!

fordfasterr

Well, the first thing you want to do is make sure the problem is not the bike.

I seem to have a problem where my chain gets really dirty and drags a bit.

I completely clean / degrease / re-oil the chain and I can go faster again for a few days before it gets grimy again.

Rain really gets it dirty fast ... lots of road grime gets into the chain.



Now, if the chain / hardware / bike is clean and you still have this problem it could be that you are stressed out at work and its hurting your performance. If your mind is tired, your body will be tired.

bobcrotch

i don't know about you but my ride home from work the temp raises about 25-30 degrees. 90+ always seems to kill me.

SDRider

Same here. For some reason I don't have the speed in the morning and find myself averaging 14.8 or so but I can average 16.2 on the way home most of the time. My start and end points are about the same elevation above sea level and it's all rolling hills between home and work so I'd estimate about the same amount of climbing both ways. Most of my climbs are about 3-4% but I have one each way that's about 7-8% for about 1/4 mile.

mtnwalker

How long have you been riding? Sometimes you just need to take a break and slowing down and/or becoming sluggish is how your body tells you this. 45 miles r/t is pretty long. If you are really pushing yourself in the mornings its only normal for your muscles to feel the resulting pain/fatigue as it recuperates in the afternoon.

Also, take a look at your route. Going to work, my route has about 250 ft of climbing. Going home my route only has 120 ft of climbing. That results in a 2-3 minute faster time and 2 mph faster average speed for my commute home.

Cassave

I seem to have the same problem. I'm fast in the morning but afternoons are, if not slower, a lot harder.
To make matters worse, I get hungry and eat lunch around 11:00 AM. Thats a long time till 5 o'clock with no food.
I've noticed a positive difference if I do eat something an hour or so before riding home. A cup of coffee helps too.

Sigurdd50

MAke sure you have 'fuel' in you
There are weekends when I do a training ride, and also ride to some other commitments
I find that, as much as I love biking, if I put 14 straight days in with out a day off... I can get a little beat

take yer time

slowjoe66

I have the afternoon wimpy syndrome as well. I am sure part of it is food, part is the temp (95+ lately) and we always get an afternoon wind which is a head wind pedaling home. Tired now, time for a nap :O)

MMACH 5

Thanks for the suggestions.

I've been riding for a little over two years and riding to this office since May of 2006.

The ride home does seem to be a little more uphill than down, but until just recently, it hadn't slowed me down that much. These aren't any big climbs or anything (see the attached profile).

Work has been a bit more stressful, so that may be playing a part. There have also been a few more late nights at the office than usual.

Tomorrow, I'm going to try having a second, small lunch about 90 minutes before I leave and see if that helps.

mtnwalker

You mean you don't eat after lunch. That may definitely be the culprit. You need calories to keep you going and to replenish your spent energy. Whats worked for me is munching on something every 1.5-2 hours. I have a drawer filled with fig newtons, nuts, oats and hone bars, clif bars, some cookies, a couple of fruits and beef jerkey.

I remember having no energy one day I missed eating snacks because of a big project. That was a horrendous ride until I stopped for a snickers bar.

DataJunkie

I ride slower heading towards work and faster heading away from it. The time of day does not make a difference just the destination.
However, in the morning I have a heck of a time raising my heart rate and the opposite occurs after work. I think I may need to shift my calories around.

Alex

Prevailing winds?

marburg99

MMach 5 i'm with you. In the morning...it takes little effort to get to work...it might be the adrenaline, but i think its fresh legs. After work, it takes a little bit to get warmed up, but i sometimes look down to see if my tire is flat. Since i know i have to repeat the ride in the am, i tend to listen to my body and slow down in the evening. I am new to this, so i'm hoping as my conditioning increases, so will my speed.

ActionJeans

Just want you to be careful; sounds like you may be 'overtraining'. If you don't mix it up a bit on your rides, it's just plain necessary to have days where you take it easy.

Drop it a couple of gears, and just spin. It's good training too, as you can work on your pedal stroke. The same thing happened to me 2 years ago, and it was because I was riding in the same gears, all the time. I wouldn't shift down, simply because "well, I always ride in this gear, what's wrong with me?". What was wrong was that my legs needed a rest. I listened to some sound advice from some other cyclist I know, and the chief recommendation was after 2 or 3 day hard sessions, have at least 1 'spin' day.

It can be hard to adjust to dropping the gears, but keep your cadence up, and try to keep your stroke technically correct. Try that for a couple of days (cleaning the chain and tire pressure are also good suggestions by the crew), and see if this gets you where you want to go.

Also, I always, and I mean always, take two lumps of whey protein before bed. I can ride like a nut 50-60 miles to work (sometimes I get up early if it's nice, mid-week or so), ride home (20 miles), and be almost as good the next day. If I don't, I'm very sore, and more important, stiff as a board the following morning.

I doubt it's what you're eating (unless it's fried chicken and donuts, that might be a problem); I don't know about you, but if I'm hungry, I know about it pretty quick on a ride.

morrowman

Heat is it for me, I leave for work and it is 70° breathing is easy. On the way home it is 90°+ and the wind feels stronger, air feels heavier to cut through. I have about the same commute 20 miles each way. I can't do the 40 miles a day all week, only for maybe 3 days a week. The other days I take a train and do about 28 miles round trip. I dont think there is enough hours a day for me to do 40 miles a day all week. My body just cant handle it yet.
My body makes me eat before my ride home, round 4pm and I leave the office at 5. If I don't I usually have to stop half way and get a second drink.

StanSeven

If that happens, check two thing. One is be sure you are geiing lots of fluids to replace what you lost from the morning ride. The other is be certain you are getting enpugh energy from a good lunch and some extra carbs a couple hours before you levae for the ride home. I used to do something similar with a 54 mile RT. I had to eat an energy bar halfway home.

Winter76

+1 for the winds, my ride to work is always into the wind and home is with the wind. Sometimes the wind changes during the day and I'm riding into the wind both ways.

tsl

Several factors come into play for me.

First, I'm on my feet and active all day, except for my two breaks and lunch. Sometimes by the end of the day I'm just plain tired--too tired to pedal effectively. There have been times I've had to granny gear home on an upgrade so miniscule it barely qualifies as even a false flat.

Generally, these things make it worse, roughly in order of most important to less important:

• Not enough riding--if all I do is commute, or my commute is my toughest ride, there's going to be trouble. I need two or three "training" rides a week that are longer and harder than my commute in order to stay in shape for my commute.
• Insufficient sleep through the week
• Not eating right in general, or not at all on my afternoon break
• Not watching my water intake. My system naturally runs on the dry side. I have to force fluids 365 days.
• Nervous tension and anxiety. Funny how the mind gets in the way of the legs.

There may be other stuff I haven't picked-up on yet. And of course, these are the things I've noticed that increase difficulty for me. Things may be completely different for you.

Oh, and there is the wind. It's generally a tailwind to work and a headwind home. It's brutal in February and March.

AndrewP

I have read that the glycogen in your muscles recover quicker if you take the carbs immediately after you exercise. I havent noticed the effect myself, as I am slow both mornings and evenings, but It might be worth trying to eat some carbs immediately you get to work.

DataJunkie

Tis called a recovery drink. I like chocolate milk.

brew

i was having that problem too, and the first thing i tried was eating a couple of power bars before i left work, and plenty of fruit and other goodies. that helped alot, but then i noticed a whole new problem. the closer i got to the end of the week my figertips, nose, toes, and such extremities would tingle and i wouldnt have a whole lot of feeling in them. after awhile i finally talked to a doctor about it, and it turned out to be not enough electrolytes in my system. thats when i learned how important lemon water and sports drinks really were. that also made me feel like i had more energy. so that may be something to try.

Conveyor Belt

man, I'm glad you started this thread! I thought I was the only one who looked down to see if their tire was flat or if the brakes were rubbing.

I'm with you 100% on the afternoon ride being harder... save for the one day when I did eat about 1 1/2 hours before I went home, and then I sailed home like nobody's business. you'd think I'd remember that lesson, but alas, work beacons, and I haven't time to remember to eat like that daily.

Neil_B

I've had this happen, but I wrote it off as a side effect of too much, too soon. I'm a new commuter on a 34 mile round trip. I needed to be picked up yesterday when my legs screamed "enough!" I'd logged 122 miles by then.

tarwheel 

I'm usually slower riding home, but I attribute it to several factors:
-- There's more elevation gain on my return route.
-- In the summer, it is substantially hotter -- usually 20-25 degrees.
-- More traffic, so greater likelihood of getting stopped at traffic lights.

Sometimes I ride faster going home or just as fast. Those are the days when I'm trying to beat a thunderstorm heading my way. Amazing how that will motivate you.