A fatigue issue (is it just me?)
 

So, I love cycling (as I'm sure you all do too) and it wakes me up in the morning or whenever I'm riding feeling exhilerated and ready to go about the day. But after I sit down at work, I just want to take a big nap! Is this just me?

I'm kinda there with ya but its not really fatigue. After my 12 mile ride I take a quick shower, and then I eat some breakfast while i chill out, read emails, bikeforums, etc. It's more of a relaxed feeling though. Nap would be nice but I don't feel groggy like I would when driving to work. My morning coffee is more of a treat than a necessity.

Yes. It's just you.

Are you a fairly recent convert to the euphoria of bicycle commuting, and were you previously sedentary?

I don't get morning fatigue, but sometimes if I've really been piling on the miles and the hours at work, I need to take a few days off. Sometimes that means off the bike and drive to work, sometimes that means off from work and just ride my bike. It depends if I'm physically tired from riding/working so much, or mentally exhausted.

make sure ur getting a big breakfast without much sugar and plenty of sleep. Eggs keep me energized, but clog the arteries

Thats backward of my day.

Drive to work:

COFFEEE! SWEET GLORIOUS COFFEE! 20oz later....i need sleep.........

Same can be said for after lunch, by 1:30 I'm longing for the 15 minute nap I get @ 3pm.


Bike to work:

Rinse in the shower, grab 20oz of Coffee and some oatmeal or a bagel. Have plenty of energy for the rest of the day. No 3pm nap.

However when I get home, thats when I lack the energy. But if anything I'm asleep by a decent hour instead of 1-2am.

You definitely need to look at your riding food. Keep breakfast high in protein without too much carbs. Also, if your ride is longer than a few miles you may want to consider eating during the ride, a granola bar or some such should do fine.

Eh. I think OP might do well to look at his/her nutrition; I disagree that a big increase in calories or protein, or "riding food" (food during a ride) is automatically called for just because someone starts biking to work. Most Americans consume too many calories as it is, and getting off the couch and doing a little exercise isn't going to create a need for more calories in most cases. What it does call for is better nutrition: an absence of junk and a presence of nutritious food. You don't do yourself any favors by packing Powerbars on top of your existing calories, particularly not in the middle of the average commute, which really doesn't need any supplementary nutrition at all.

Ditto.
My 12 miles doesn't require any riding food. I just bring along a nutritious breakfast and refuel when I arrive. Or eat it before I leave and have a small snack sometime after I arrive. Same amount of food as if I wasn't riding.

Watch what you eat and be careful in increasing your milage too much and too soon.

Gas, .69 cents the price of a can of beans.

Hot and Cold shower, banana and coffee, before I ride... wakes me up for the whole day...

I seriously believe that bananas are the perfect food for monkeys (including human ones) :D

Agreed.

I went through a phase of buying protein bars and drinks on top of my normal diet, as I'd read about in a nutrition forum, (this was in the early days of my current longish commute), thinking it was the right thing to do.

Went through a lean patch financially, cut out these extras and noticed no difference in my energy levels post ride and no difference in the time of my commute or speed during commute.

What does effect how I'm feeling after my ride in is the amount of alcohol I've had the night before, the amount of sleep I've had and diet, (some foods make me feel bloated and crappy).

I'm not saying protein is not essential in keeping yourself healthy, but I don't see the need to go overboard.

You probably need to ride a little more than just your commute, in order to be in good shape to ride your commute. Get a little extra riding in (or other exercise) and I bet you'll solve your fatigue problem.

only when I return home from my commute

I am sort of the same way. Except in my case I know the commute does not induce tiredness/sleepiness. It actually delays it. If I don't commute by bike, I'm just sleepy the whole morning. If I do, then I'm sleepy before the commute and shortly after. I just don't like mornings. :)

I feel the same way. People always talk about exercising wakes them up in the morning. I find I need a nap afterwards...I don't understand it either. Maybe more sleep during the night?

Make sure you sleep enough and drink enough. Make sure you eat good food, not junkfood. Maybe you need a snack whenyou get tired? Search the forums. This has been discussed before. i remember some good answers but no details..

It's worth trying -- a lot of people get insufficient and/or poor quality sleep. You can get away with it if you're sedentary and try to "manage" with caffeine, but as soon as you become active, it'll catch up with you.

Thanks for your help guys, I will take all insights into consideration. But for the record, I'm not sedentary! I'm an active triathlete! :D

Very true. I have 4 kids from 6 months to 9 yrs, and I get maybe 6 hours a night, if I don't wake up in the middle. I used to do the 4-5 hour thing in the service, but that went away after I got out. Now Im 32 and finding that the reason the lack of sleep didn't affect me then-weight and health wise- was because of the PT daily and other things. Now that i'm not in that environment anymore I pay a lot more attention to articles about sleep deprivation and its effects on hormones and metabolism. Ive found that when i've consciously gotten 7-8 hours of sleep the weight seems to drop off, while when I skimp its a lot more difficult to see gains. Being a Clyde, im tired a bit when I get to work, but thats just because of hauling me the 6 miles to work and back. It will get better, though. After a few weeks last year I felt great and didnt feel like I needed a nap at my desk anymore.

Sometimes I feel sleepy when I get to work but I only have an 8 minute commute...my sleep patterns are out of whack due to noisy roommates and gigantic amounts of stress. I used to go to bed at 10 pm and wake up just after 6 am. Now it's almost 11:30 and I try to sleep to 6:45 am but noisy roommates wake me up. Blah blah blah.

For me, it's the other way around. I'm falling asleep on rides early in the morning and feeling super energized throughout the day.

Some notes from last night & this mornings commute.

Napping for an hour @ 8pm seems like a good idea. As does a 10pm bike commute to stock up on groceries. No dinner and 3 beers seemed also seemed like a good idea! As did playing video games till 2am.

Due to all those good ideas I added nearly 15 minutes to my commute this morning! Hopefully I'll normalize once I get home tonight. (Man you take a week off from commuting and your schedule will go to hell!)

Working nights, I have noticed that the nights I ride seem to go smoother than the night I have to drive.