ironwood

I'm seventy three and I feel much better after taking a day off. Thirty years ago, I could ride five 80 to 100 mile days with a fully loaded touring bike. Not now.

Dudelsack 

I'm guessing the OP is not seeking free medical advice and is probably familiar with the search function of his computer.

I suspect he's asking if others experience the same things he is.

The answer of course is yes.

What I've noted is that when I pull up the stats on a "feel great and kick butt" ride and a "please let this be over with before I die" ride, the stats aren't usually that much different.

Piratebike

Thanks for the replies. I guess I kind of misspoke about out or breath. It's more like out of energy. Yes I am over 50 but just barely at 53. Yes I am under a doctor's watch after having had a heart attack at 48. Not that I was way over weight it was mainly cholesterol that got me. Inherent in my genes!! That's why I got into riding. I just hated running so biking seemed to be the best cardio I could get.

i ride about 20-25 miles every evening after work. Not a hard ride but an average of 14-17 mph on a given day. Just some days I feel strong and get the 17 mph easy. Some days getting the 14 mph is tough. It is probably a combination of food and water and even rest. Add in thes dang drugs for my heart and well, I am just not that young anymore.

Dirt Road

Hi, Piratebike - Maybe your cardiac medications need tweaking. I sort of found out that my beta blocker was not compatible with my desired lifestyle.

ironwood

If you are on statins, they might be causing muscle weakness.

tsl

First, men are not machines. There is a natural rise and fall in our abilities. An ebb and flow. That's life.

Take heart that even the riders in the pro peloton have good days and bad. Sometimes a string of bad, or even a month, or a year. These are the most highly trained endurance athletes on the planet, and they retire in their late 30s!

Those boys have also discovered that somewhere in the season, you have to yield to nature, drop off form for a few weeks, before rebuilding. Which is why you'll never see a pro ride all the spring classics, then all three grand tours, the worlds, then the late season races. They always take a break or two in there to allow the natural cycle to take its course.

So I think the first order of business is to stop worrying about natural body cycles.

That said, there are things that can disrupt normal variation. The trick is to tease out the differences.

One thing I've found that I just have to wait through, is recovery from anything viral, particularly anything flu-like. My first experience with this was when I got H1N1 back in June 2010. It took somewhere between six and nine months to fully recover from that. The symptoms were good days widely spaced between bad, with really good good days every so often, and crushing general fatigue in between.

Despite a flu shot last autumn, I got something very flu-like this past February. After having a remarkable year last year, when I went for weeks and weeks between bad days, this year has been the complete reverse. I recognize it from 2010, so I'm just riding it out. Last week was the first time this year when I put together an entire week of good days--at right around that six month mark. This week I'm feeling fatigued. So I know I'm on track.

Disappointed certainly, but not worried at all.

Dfrost 

+1, at age 65. These days three commuting days (37 mile round trip, steep climb at the end) is OK, then a day off and I feel fast all over again.

I also started to have "out of breath" symptoms on climbs that had been easy, and stopped taking statins three months ago (cholesterol is fine without), which seemed to make the difference since I'm now feeling stronger than I have in several years, as long as I take that day off every so often. I'll be seeing my cardiologist, who OK'd the statin stop, next month. I bet there's a stress EKG in my near future. Ugggh!

1loosemoose

Thanks for clearing that up for me. I'm not much on today's music so I had no clue.

chasm54

On the money. "Feel isn't real". Some days I feel crap, some days I feel great. The difference in my performance on those days is much, much smaller.

Piratebike

Yea I hate these statins but doctor says learn to live with them. Genes just won't let me stop.

Miami Biker

Hey Mr. Pirate

You've got a good cross section of advice. I'm strong every day I ride; however need an easy recovery day or day off between hard rides. Hard for me is 45+ miles up to 19.5 in a group on flat land. Age 69 and been riding road bike for almost 3 years and hybrid 3 years before that.

What does all this mean to you? Probably nothing as we are all different. While agree overuse of health care system is wrong, if you are over 50 you should be aware of any symptoms and risk factors you have. With this knowledge you may be better prepared to understand how and why your body is reacting the way it is.

Meaning get to the root cause; everyone here is speculating as you shared some information but no knowledge Yes could be diet, sleep, hydration, conditioning and more like low air in tires if not filled each time out. Internet is great but not up for this challenge unfortunately.

Let us know what you are doing about it?

Dave Cutter

I live at the lower end of a huge hill. Every ride I take starts with a climb. Once or maybe twice a year.... I dismount and walk my bicycle part way up that hill. I've blamed just about every reason mentioned in this thread for my "bad day" on the hill. The actual cause isn't important. The important part is that it is rare.... that my body fails to meet the expectation I have for it.