Electricview

Anyone else when they were new back into riding again find that after riding for a little while ach day (even as low as 4 to 5 miles) that they got really tired a little while after? I'm only 24 yet when i get home after riding, and i sit and watch tv for 20 to 25 minutes, i can hardly stay awake my body just wants to shut down and sleep, and when i dont ride i stay awake for waaay longer.. I dont feel pysically exhausted when i'm done riding.. I guess biking really is GOOD excercise if it makes my whole body tired like that? (and not just my legs)..

Rowan

Are you paying enough attention to rehydration (drinking enough fluids) during your rides? If you are in the northern hemisphere, you might be finding that the extra heat of summer is taking it out of you. I find one of the symptoms of not drinking enough is feeling exhausted at the end and wanting to sleep. Much less so when I rehydrate properly.

R

Electricview

Well after todays ride (30 miles!) i found my water bottle was empty half way through the trip, although i did refill it, i was very sparingly on drinking.. i think i might need to take 2 water bottles with me becuase i would have liked to drink more along the way.. I will try your suggestion, it might be the problem! (i'm in wa state, so any sun we get is rare ) it wasn't that hot today and i rode in the late evening, i was completely dead tired when i got home either today...

DnvrFox

Congrats on the 30 miles.

The old adage is "Drink before you are thirsty, eat before you are hungry."

One water bottle is definitely not enough for most folks on a 30 miler.

Also, a 30 miler will exhaust most newbies to biking. Your bodies reaction is normal. Additionally, are you giving enough rest days between rides? After stressfult rides, your body needs a day or two to recover. For a newbie, 30 miles is stressful. Either don't ride the next day or do an easy "recovery ride."

Good luck.

trappermark

hmmm...i actually found the opposite. I only started regular riding this summer...typically do a course around the city 5-6 times a week that takes about 45 minutes, plenty of up and down.

Even after my earliest rides, while my muscles might have been quite sore, I felt an exhilaration of energy, much more awake and alive. Wonder why the difference. Were you in pretty lousy shape when you started riding? Often short of breath after climbing stairs? I think the rehydration thing already pointed out could be important, too. Also, are you getting adequate sleep at night?

mark
t

Electricview

Pretty out of shape (and about 40 or 50 pounds over weight!) i started biking again about 2 weeks ago only ridden about 4 or 5 times since then, the first time out was like just a little test ride and stuff no biggy.. then the next time i did about 15 miles.. and was tired that day then did like a little around the block 4 or 5 mile thing and when i came hom and sat down (maybe i was bored) i found i was nrealy falling asleep again.. But yesterday after the 30 miles i'm not that physically tired my legs do feel tired (slightly painfull all day cuz i worked em out pretty good) I was thinking of taking a healing day today and letting them rest they are a bit a sore.. then maybe trying to ride again tomorrow or the next day..

I wouldn't say i would used to get winded climbing stairs (we have small 3 flights to our apartment) but i couldn't make it up even the smaller of hills on my bike before my legs got really hot and tired quick.. now i'm finding i can make it up smaller (semi steep) hills even tho i get that hot tired feeling... I cant even imagine being able to make it up most hills without having to get off and walk it!

but this 30 miles is basically my second long ride out of about 4 or 5 rides.. i was pretty proud of myself.. when i turned around at the 15 mile mark, i felt like i could have keep going further but ultimately i was getting a little fatigued (going 14-15mph there then dropping to 12-13 mph back, couldn't sustain 14-15 back).. and the bugs.. oh man they come out at duskish time i guess. 2 or 3 of them flew into my eyes .. ouch.. I'm not sure if i'll aim for 40 miles or not my next ride.. my butt still gets pretty sore!

Natophelia

Hey you sound like you're doing pretty damn good! I started riding last year and after a 30 mile ride I would come home and immediately crash for an hour nap or so. I don't know if it was because of the heat or what. I was in really good shape, so that wasn't the issue. I don't do that anymore, and I don't know what 'fixed' it really. After the first time I just DIDN'T let myself take a nap, I haven't needed one since. Maybe it's something you're body's getting used to? Maybe don't come home and sit..do something to keep yourself lightly occupied till it passes?

Guest

Sometimes, if you're falling asleep after exercise, it could just be an indication that you're overtraining. If you're new to exercising, you may want to cut back on your exercise, and gradually increase your exercise over time.

I think it's great that you want to tackle so much mileage, but definitely, mileage is something you want to work towards building, especially to avoid the burn out factor.

When you do come home, turn on the lights, and be sure you're not in an environment that's too warm. Dark rooms and warm rooms are also more likely to make you want to fall asleep if you're exercising and getting home in the evening.

Do take at least 2 days off for rest days in the beginning, when you're just getting into exercise. Your body needs time to adapt to the exercise, and it needs time to heal. Don't forget- you exercise to stimulate muscle growth, which will lead to a higher metabolism, but the way you stimulate muscle growth is to tear the muscle from exercise, then allow yourself to heal the muscle tearing- and THAT is what stimulates muscle growth. If you spend all your time tearing muscle, and not enough time letting the muscle heal, you will never get the gains you want. You need that healing time!

Cut back for at least a month, and start it a little more slowly, then report back in a month and let us know how things are with you.

Koffee

Guest

Whoops- P.S. Get some cycling sunglasses. You can avoid having those bugs hitting your eyeballs!

KB

Electricview

Hehe I should worn sun glasses.. I have some saftey glasses i could probably wear.. not sure how they differ from cycling glasses...


Thanks very much for the help guys! maybe i'll take tomorrow off too... Do you think i shouldn't aim for 30 miles again should i go lower next time?

Guest

Start with 10 miles and see how it goes. If that's good, then slowly add the mileage on until you find the amount of miles that will challenge you, but not exhaust you.

As you get fitter and ride more regularly, you can start upping your miles. But listen to your body, and when it says stop, then stop.

Koffee

khuon

I think after your body adapts to your riding, you'll find the opposite thing happening. My wife can't get me to sit still after I come home for a ride. I try and do something... anything. Combined with my manic-compulsiveness this can be a dangerous thing. BTW, ditto on the advice about the sunglasses... besides, I don't think Koffee Brown wants to hear anything more about bugs.

Guest

NO MORE BUGS!

Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz......................................

Electricview

i was wanting to go out again today, my legs dont hurt that bad actually, but i didnt .. the bugs sucked at least i didnt swallow any but in my eyes sucks.. there was swarms and swarms of them, it just so happens this bike trail runs along a small creek/non moving river/ call it what you will.. they were probably there for the mosture..

RiPHRaPH

energy begets energy. bodies at rest tend to stay at rest. bodies in motion tend to stay in motion (taking friction out of the equation)

Electricview

That is true, but i remember in my weight training class years ago, they said, if you dont give your muscles time to recover you'll wear them out and exhaust them and its bad for them to do so becuase they never bulid up.. either way i took 2 days off and i want to go out again so i'm going to day! i might not push 30 miles tho i might push more! who knows!! bring the SLEEP ON!!

Guest

Attaboy, Electricview!

Go sleep, go!

Electricview

WOW i did 50 miles today.. i was SPENT at about 40 but i pushed and pushed and pushed and made it! the bike trail ended somewhere in seattle at around 23 and half miles so i rode around a bit to get it up to 26 miles and headed back. i got tired and it got dark, but i had to keep my sunglasses on becuase the BUGS oh man, you couldn't see them but every few half miles you could FEEL you were riding through a HUGE ball of them just cluttering around.. pulled one out of my eye when i got home, must have swallowed 1 or 2 on the way.. (had to wash it down with water YICK!!) there was alot of bugs.. i could feel them hit my skin and my face.. if i hadn't kept my sunglass on i would have had alot more in my eyes... Anyways my second longest ride and it was 50 miles! I dont know if i'll be pushing that hard agian, maybe just 40 next time, or maybe 35 .. i'm sitting here sore as a button! if that makes any sense? who knows i'm dead wasted!!! I probably shouldn't have had the 2 cheeseburgers and fries from burger king after the ride but i was STARVING.. i kept thinking of all the food i wanted to eat on the way home!! (I only had a 6 inch under 6 sandwhich from subway before i rode, i knew i'd need some energy, never knew i'd burn it off about 1/4th of the way there!) I clocked in at 3 hours and 53 minutes, averaging 13.1 miles per hour (i got tired and hence slower on the way back!) and 50.53 miles..thank goodness for my bike computer!

"If you dont mind, i think i'll pass out!" - Robter De Niro - Ronin

khuon

Be careful with keeping your sunglasses on after dark... I had a bad experience with that last year.

https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...threadid=16098

If you're so inclined, you could participate in the following exercise...

https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...threadid=30263


It sounds like you rode along the Sammamish River Trail or some trail that parallels a slough. There's a lot of bugs on those trails... especially around sunset. You may want to try planning a route a little bit aways from standing water areas to avoid bugs. Admittedly, it's a bit hard to do in this area because if you don't pick up swarms of bugs from near water then you get them from the woods.

At anyrate, congrats on your new mileage. Keep riding. Perhaps we'll run into each other (not literally) out there sometimes.

Guest

If you need sunglasses and you're riding after dark, consider getting lenses you can switch out. I have black lenses for the daytime, then in the evening, I have yellow tinted sunglasses, so I can see perfectly at night. In fact, I like my yellow glasses because it prevents a glare from the street and car lights as I'm riding in the dark.

Great job, though! Now, this is where I'd recommend a definite rest day- and a well earned rest that was!

Congrats!

Koffee

khuon

Yep, I think replacable lenses are a must for cycling glasses. I have dark grey lenses for daytime and clear for lowlight/night. I have also considered getting yellow but I'm not sure if there's a huge benefit over clear.

Electricview

heheh I didnt know there was any other trails, i liked the samamish trial becuase its long and nicely paved and mostly straight aways! I'm riding it every few days now.. I'm the one without a helmet on a green trek 7200 with 2 water bottles and a pony tail

Electricview

well the glasses i have tint everything a slightly blue darker color.. but the trail has overpassing tree's and such there were times with them i couldn't see anything, and even with them off it got tricky to see, its pretty much non lit most of the trail.. I could have wore my safety glasses but again i'd look like a total dork probably I think i just should start planning my trips to back before 8 or 8:30, thats when they start to appear i think..

khuon

While I admit I often use the same route over and over again to guage myself, it will get boring after a while. If you want to add some variety, you may want to check out:

https://www.metrokc.gov/kcdot/tp/bike/bikemap.htm

While, I'm not about to play helmet-nazi, I will say that helmets have saved my noggin many a times. I've gone through quite a few helmets over the years and in every time, the cause for replacement was that of a cracked shell due to a crash. I started riding with a helmet before there were many helmets to choose from. During my teenage years, a friend of mine had a loose quick release that came open as we were crossing some railroad tracks. The front wheel popped out and he went over the handlebars... hard... headfirst onto the ties. Luckily his head missed the actual rails. The results were still not pretty and he spent a couple of days in the hospital in a coma. He eventually recovered with some memory loss. After seeing that, I begged my parents to buy me a helmet but they refused, stating that I didn't need one because it wasn't like I was racing or anything. I eventually saved up enough lunch money to buy my own... a $30 Bell with limited venting and a lycra cover.

Electricview

Yea I understand.. I appreciate the words of wisdom.. I just grew up with bikes and never had a helmet, had a few spills but never hit my head.. and never anything serious.. it just feels awkward for me to wear a helmet and I really just dont wana.. I guess untill i see an accident or get into my one self it will be hard to convince me otherwise.. even when i get that ticket from the police one of these days (even tho i found no reference in the wa Legislature that says adult on bicycles have to wear helmets)