Do I'm in my 60's and started riding on my $50 Schwinn hybrid 6 weeks ago. Worked up to 23 miles a week, which includes riding 5 or 6 times a week. Every day now, I feel wiped out and so tired. Does this go away? The heaviness in my legs when I first start out, does that go away? I'm doing 90% trail riding, lots of up and down with little hills. Thank you.

23 miles a week, or 23 miles a day, repeated five or 6 times during the week?

If it's 23 miles per ride, I would suggest giving your legs a day or two off between rides. Even if you're only doing five or six miles per ride, if you're feeling wiped out afterwards, I'd recommend you take the following day off for your muscles to recover.

lol, Lord Bill, If I tried 23 miles a day for 5 times a week, they'd find me lying over in some ditch like Geronimo on a drunk, on the first or 2nd day.
I edited my post for clearer communication. I figured the 2 days rest per week is good enough for recovery but... and taking a boat load of supplements that body builders take. Guess I'll tough it through and find out.

See how many 5 mile rides you can do in one day. 5 miles Rest, 5 miles Rest, repeat.

I did 10 @ 5 miles 40 miles around the block when I was 65 y/o

You might be overdoing it for your level of fitness. Try going every other day (you've got to get some rest days in), starting with low mileage then bumping it up an extra mile each week.

Yeah, thanks Bransom, I'm probably overdoing it; building up too fast.

5 x 10 is 50 braggart.

Do what you can and keep it fun.

You will meet a lot of your neighbors if you ride around the block.

Already enjoying that aspect Texas; you see so mch more don't you!?
So just for inspiration, what's the most miles you've done in one week?

Yes it does go away. Steady as you go, go easier on the days when you feel tired or take an extra day off.

First Ten Days of a NY to LA ride did 860 miles. Was young at 67 y/o.

Had 8,000 miles on my legs when I landed in NY.

We all didn't look alike.

+1 that is what is the key, keeping it fun / enjoyable will allow you to stay consistent . Doing so will find you increasing your distance without realizing it . Enjoy .

I didn't get back into riding until my wife bought me a bicycle for my 63rd birthday. For the first couple of weeks, I was lucky to get in 1-2 mile rides without my legs feeling like they were on fire and still be able to walk. I'm now 70 and average over 200 miles a week. My latest thing is doing as many 1,000 mile months as I can during a year. Like others have said, start off easy and don't try to put in too many miles unless you've worked up to it and you really feel comfortable doing them. Enjoy the miles you are riding and don't feel as if you have to compete with anyone but yourself.

I walked into a bike shop a few years ago that has a sign over the counter that reads, "The more you ride, the better you get. The better you get, the more you ride." It's been my cycling motto ever since.

I'm thinking 10Wheels is Lance Armstrong. Great ride.
I pushing too much I guess...23 miles this week and feel guilty if I miss a day.

Thanks all.

Unless there's a medical reason for taking those supplements, I recommend that you stop. For what you're doing, your body doesn't need them. If anything, increase your protein intake using real food - us old guys need more protein than the kids do. I'd also recommend cutting back to four days a week until it feels easier, then ratchet it up a bit. What you're feeling is your body saying, "Hey, I ain't used to this stuff!" It just takes a while.

And five miles a day on trails with lots of up and down is nothing to sneeze at, it's a lot tougher than riding on level streets.

FWIW, there are a bunch of us here around your age (I'm 64) for whom 200 miles is a short week. We're not special, we've just been doing this a while.

Just keep in fun and you will go along ways.

I take Magnesium, B-12, Vitamin E

I can guarantee that all those tired... and any good feelings... will sooner or later surrender to no feelings whatsoever. Hopefully... that will be decades from today. I entered my exercise program (mostly I just enjoy cycling) shortly after I retired (early) at about your age.

I had my 1st annual check-up when I took up cycling. I also bought a heart monitoring watch, and a bathroom scale that can measure my bodies moisture content.

Many... if not most of us cyclists are old geezers (like myself). Cycling is a great, low impact, and fun way to get outside, sweat, be active, burn a few extra calories, and just enjoy life. But cycling is also serious exercise. Make sure your doctor approves of your new activity. Watch out that your not over doing the exercise. And stay well rested and hydrated as you get into condition.

Don't ride every day... a few days off is ok.
But also consider a few longer rides. 10 miles? 20 miles? Mixing it up allows you to get stronger. Force your body to adapt to 20 mile rides and the 5 mile rides will feel short.

Make sure your bicycle is well tuned. I could imagine 10 miles dragging a sofa down the street behind my bike A well tuned bike may save that little extra effort.

You mentioned age in the mid 60's. Lots of cyclists older than that. What about weight? Either overweight or underweight can be an issue.

Keep in mind that it may take 10 times as long to build muscles in your 60's as it did when you were a teenager.... and even that wasn't quick. So have a little patience, and keep up the hard work.

Sounds like OP has been victimized by the too much, too soon, too old for it bug. Happens often and in many different sports when older individuals try to recapture that feeling of invincibility of the younger days. Haven't played baseball in years so out to the field throwing the ball around and the next day the arm feels like it is ready to fall off. Haven't run in years, put on some shoes and head out for a few miles. Feels great while running and next day can hardly walk.

Come back slowly, avoid injury, enjoy the experience then upgrade the bike.

Generally it does go away. When I was younger it would take about 4 weeks or so of aerobics (mainly running) to reach a kind of comfort level with the routine. It could take much longer at your age, I don't know, but I suspect you will reach a point soon where the difficulty level quickly dissipates.

But I would recommend longer rides but every other day - give yourself a day to recover. And I don't know about "a boat load of supplements supplements that body builders take" - not sure what that is but I suspect it's not necessary at all, just eat a balanced and healthy diet. You don't need any kind of extreme diet at this stage. If those supplements are mostly protein you might not be getting enough carbs!

My thoughts:

You're riding a heavy bike up and down hills, probably on rough terrain. It's not easy to get warmed up under those conditions. Basically, you're jumping on a bike and then trying to do too much too soon.

I suggest warming up a little on flat ground, preferably by spinning for two or three miles, before getting on that trial and attacking the hills.

I met a younger cyclist on a ride last weekend. He was exhausted and out of water. He was about 33 miles into a 38 mile ride and had another 1,000 ft of climbing to do. I gave him some water before carrying on, but while we chatted he said, "I rode across the country 17 years ago. This year, the longest ride before today was 12 miles". Kudo's to him for the effort - just not very wise. I phoned a friend who went and picked him up and drove him the last 4 miles. If only we could all still do what we could 17 years ago.

Day On, Day Off. While you're building up muscle and using muscle all sorts of metabolic products are floating around in your body. Your body needs just as much time to build up the systems to deal with this as it does to build up muscle. The day off gives your body to deal with all the crap. Sometimes it might need 2 days off. Listen to your body! Eventually you'll reach the stage when you can do a good ride each day.

Get off the supplements. You don't need them for bicycle riding. And they may well be contributing to your issues. There is no solution to getting fit in a pill. Only hard work with appropriate attention to adequate diet.

Take the advice, however, about rest. It's when your body builds strength. Overtraining leads to higher heart rate, restless sleep patterns and general lethargy.

Edit: The body bulding supplements thing also concerns me because it implies that you are mashing your pedals at a low cadence in the misguided belief that this will improve your leg strength instantly. If this is so, you need to cultivate a higher pedalling cadence, in at least the 75 to 80rpm range, in order for you to ride without risk of injury, and to improve your aerobic capacity... and your riding enjoyment.

Good advice about the cadence. I wound up gearing my primary bike a lot lower; I have had a whole lot more success going up hills pedaling faster rather than trying to mash pedals harder.