Go Back  Bike Forums > Bike Forums > Fifty Plus (50+)
Reload this Page >

Trouble with back-to-back rides

Search
Notices
Fifty Plus (50+) Share the victories, challenges, successes and special concerns of bicyclists 50 and older. Especially useful for those entering or reentering bicycling.

Trouble with back-to-back rides

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Old 09-01-09, 03:18 PM
  #1  
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
tntyz's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Nabob, WI
Posts: 1,278

Bikes: 2018 Domane SL7

Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 36 Post(s)
Liked 41 Times in 24 Posts
Trouble with back-to-back rides

Yesterday had a great 50-mile ride home from visiting my mom - Sheboygan Falls to Slinger. Right through the Kettle Moraine State Forest, for those who know it. Plenty of quiet miles. Some hills, too!

Today decided to ride out to Horicon (of Horicon Marsh fame) and back. Saw literally hundreds of Sandhill Cranes - really spectacular. Gotta remember to pack a camera one of these days. Gorgeous day for a ride - nothing but blue sky overhead.

Have to say, though, that things were getting a little hard at mile 20. At mile 30 I was sure that there was no way I could push through. At mile 40 I called my wife to pick me up, but cell coverage wasn't so good out in the boonies. Pushed through all that and made it home on my own. Lousy average speed, but I made it!

Everything hurts right now deep down in my muscles. Plus my butt is a bit tender. Thought I was in better shape than this, but guess I need some work!

Final thought: Special thanks to all those inventors who made my ride especially fun today. Derailleurs, carbon fiber, GPS, Internet, fabrics, pedals, shoes. Biking is an amazingly low-tech way to enjoy high technology.
tntyz is offline  
Old 09-01-09, 03:39 PM
  #2  
Climbing Above It All
 
BikeWNC's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Basking in the Sun.
Posts: 4,146
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
So what did you eat after the ride yesterday? Did you have a recovery drink with some protein and carbs right after you finished the ride? It sounds like you did not fully replenish your glycogen stores. What did you eat on the bike today? Did you drink enough? Did you drink enough yesterday? All these things will affect today's ride.
BikeWNC is offline  
Old 09-01-09, 05:07 PM
  #3  
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
tntyz's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Nabob, WI
Posts: 1,278

Bikes: 2018 Domane SL7

Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 36 Post(s)
Liked 41 Times in 24 Posts
Eat? I drank two glasses of port and had some cheese. Maybe that's my problem?

Actually, I rode pretty hard (for me) the day before and I thought I could go back-to-back. Silly me! I still had a good time, though!
tntyz is offline  
Old 09-01-09, 10:31 PM
  #4  
Senior Member
 
zonatandem's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Tucson, AZ
Posts: 11,016

Bikes: Custom Zona c/f tandem + Scott Plasma single

Mentioned: 3 Post(s)
Tagged: 1 Thread(s)
Quoted: 77 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 19 Times in 11 Posts
Balanced eating/drinking works fine for me. I do not use energy drinks/bars. Real fruit/food/hard candy and water work. Have done back-to-back-to-back centuries that way; actually 325 miles with 22,000 ft. of elevation gain in 3 days.
Have done double century in 12 hours and added iced tea for a change of taste (and bit of caffeine). But was only in my late 50s and early 60s then!
What ever your body dictates . . .
zonatandem is offline  
Old 09-02-09, 02:53 PM
  #5  
Time for a change.
 
stapfam's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: 6 miles inland from the coast of Sussex, in the South East of England
Posts: 19,913

Bikes: Dale MT2000. Bianchi FS920 Kona Explosif. Giant TCR C. Boreas Ignis. Pinarello Fp Uno.

Mentioned: 2 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 5 Times in 4 Posts
The body may have been OK after the first ride but recovery wasn't. Don't know if you planned back to back rides- but that first ride would have taken any store of "Energy" you had in the body. And it would have depleted any "Spare" liquid in the body too.

One thing I do after a long ride is weigh myself. I may have lost weight on the ride- even though I may have been eating and drinking on the ride- and most of the weight loss would be liquid. So any more than 2lbs loss and I drink -a lot. If I was planning a ride the next day- I would also have eaten enough to replace the calories I would have used on the ride. You can use 600 calories per hour- so on a 50 mile ride that means replacing 2,000 calories. That is a lot but a "large portion of Carbo- Hydrates in the form of pasta- rice- bread- potatoes and the Forums favourite of PIE would go a long way to replacing those lost calories.

But I know my limits. Thanks to a Butt problem that I have I would have done the two days ride in one. No way would I have been comfortable on the second day.


Edit--- Heard it on one of the racing forums and it was an interview with one of the TDF riders. They also weigh themselves and if they do not replace the weight loss from a days ride with liquid within an hour- they will not be riding well the next day.
__________________
How long was I in the army? Five foot seven.


Spike Milligan

Last edited by stapfam; 09-02-09 at 03:06 PM.
stapfam is offline  
Old 09-02-09, 03:01 PM
  #6  
Galveston County Texas
 
10 Wheels's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: In The Wind
Posts: 33,222

Bikes: 02 GTO, 2011 Magnum

Mentioned: 19 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1350 Post(s)
Liked 1,245 Times in 623 Posts
These Ten riders just finished The 42 Ride.
New York City to Los Angles .

58 Days of back to back riding, None took any day off, they rode every mile.
5,100 miles for The Northern Group.
4,200 miles for the Southern Group. I was on the Southern Route.

__________________
Fred "The Real Fred"

10 Wheels is offline  
Old 09-02-09, 03:51 PM
  #7  
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
tntyz's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Nabob, WI
Posts: 1,278

Bikes: 2018 Domane SL7

Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 36 Post(s)
Liked 41 Times in 24 Posts
Originally Posted by stapfam
The body may have been OK after the first ride but recovery wasn't. Don't know if you planned back to back rides- but that first ride would have taken any store of "Energy" you had in the body. And it would have depleted any "Spare" liquid in the body too.

One thing I do after a long ride is weigh myself. I may have lost weight on the ride- even though I may have been eating and drinking on the ride- and most of the weight loss would be liquid. So any more than 2lbs loss and I drink -a lot. If I was planning a ride the next day- I would also have eaten enough to replace the calories I would have used on the ride. You can use 600 calories per hour- so on a 50 mile ride that means replacing 2,000 calories. That is a lot but a "large portion of Carbo- Hydrates in the form of pasta- rice- bread- potatoes and the Forums favourite of PIE would go a long way to replacing those lost calories.

But I know my limits. Thanks to a Butt problem that I have I would have done the two days ride in one. No way would I have been comfortable on the second day.


Edit--- Heard it on one of the racing forums and it was an interview with one of the TDF riders. They also weigh themselves and if they do not replace the weight loss from a days ride with liquid within an hour- they will not be riding well the next day.
I didn't actually plan the rides. Since I am off of work this week I had simply planned on riding as much as I could each day. I though I was in good enough shape to do back-to-back 50's, but it wasn't so easy.

Did 25 today and hit the wall at about 20 miles. But to put it in perspective, I'm riding miles that I never dreamed of a year ago.
tntyz is offline  
Old 09-02-09, 04:02 PM
  #8  
Shredding Grandma!
 
Pamestique's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: So Cal
Posts: 4,803

Bikes: I don't own any bikes

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 46 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
I routinely do week long rides... it's funny, the second day is always the hardest. The first day I go out and am all excited and probably push too hard. I pay the second day and on the third hate the thought of riding but... it gets better. By the 4th day I am feeling really good. And by the end of the week I hate to stop my trip. Generally these rides are from 40 - 80 miles with one century day thrown in.

Just keep riding. Don't get discouraged. If you can, get out the third day but don't push... just cruise and shake out the legs. You'll be surprised how good you feel.
__________________
______________________________________________________________

Private docent led mountain bike rides through Limestone Canyon. Go to letsgooutside.org and register today! Also available: hikes, equestrian rides and family events as well as trail maintenance and science study.
Pamestique is offline  

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off



Contact Us - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.