Tough Ride This a.m.
 

This is probably more pertinent to the Nutrition/Fitness forum, but, I'm a clyde and I value you all's opinions. So, 'm puttin' it here :D

Background
Due to my job, I am awake in the morning between 4 and 5am, leaving the house at either 4:30 or 5:30. I have done this for a long while. I cannot remember when I last slept past 6 o'clock. Many days, I wake before the alarm clock. This morning, I woke up at 7:01, mainly because my wife got up--I probably would have kept sleeping. I was late, so I hopped out of bed and jumped in the car to make a ride this morning.

Three weeks ago, I came down with what I thought was a cold. However, nasal discharge was clear and I later surmised it was just allergies (eyes had also been itching a bit) or a small sinus infection. I was under the weather for about 3-4 days. Took off from riding. When I returned, it took a couple days to re-acclimatize, but I was then riding very well, spinning up climbs and dropping others, lasting longer than before, and at higher paces.

One week ago, I started coming down with a real cold: nasal discharge was green/yellow. It was worst on Monday/Tuesday this past week. My last ride was Thursday the week previous (nine days ago).

Today
This morning, I went riding with a group for about 57 miles. It was not terribly hilly: I've done worse in 50+ miles. I knew I was recovering a bit, but it was my only chance for a ride in 2-3 weeks time.

In the beginning, I had at least some strength. As the ride went on, I had nothing. I could maintain a pace (a slower one than I have before), but could not power up any short hills, nor jump to accelerate, and at the end, I couldn't hold the wheel of the guy in front of me at 22mph (easily done before). About 11 miles from the finish, we stopped at Carl Jr's for a potty break, I picked up a Lipton Iced Tea for a bit of sugar and seemed to recover a bit from here on out: I could hold the wheel of the guy in front me, but that's all I tried to do.

Overall, just a feeling of tiredness. During, I seemed to be pushing a low cadence (mid-80s), not spinning as I had before (90--100).

When I got home, I realized my legs were really sore and stiff. The muscles felt as if they had gotten a real hard workout. This was a new sensation to me. It was as if I had just exercised for the first time in years.

Questions

1. Was my sleeping-in indicative of my not fully recovering from my cold? Especially when combined with the other data?
2. Because my legs were sore, had I just been relying on them to make the ride as opposed to my cardiovascular system?
3. Was my tiredness/lack of punch because of my previous cold or the fact that I hadn't been riding in 9 days? Can you lose fitness this quickly?
4. Should I push through this sickness and keep riding (when I get my lights fixed)?

Recommendations? Thoughts, ideas, feedback?

Combination of factors. First:

Histamine reaction from your cold will reduce your stamina as well as reduce tha body's ability to flush lactic acid out of the muscles.

Your hydration probably suffered a bit due to the nasal discharge and overproduction of mucus.
EDIT: A bad cold can also reduce lung capacity aslightly

9 days off the bike: Well, that was a factor as well!

If you have any fever, rest, hydrate and recover.....

Would a little dehydration produce symptoms of lack of energy, no jump or snap?

I remember you posting what your graduate program is, but I forget. But, thanks for the advice.

Probably a little of both. I read somewhere that you lose about half your hard-earned fitness in 12 days. I don't really think it's quite that quick, but it may be. I think it was the combination of the cold and nine days off the bike.

Walter

Yes! But not to the degree that you say.

I suspect it's a combination of all the factors, as I said.:D

you might check to see that your seat height hasn't crept down... I find that it doesn't take much to make
me start to work harder on a ride...