rumrunn6

toward the end of a recent ride I was thinking how in order to finish I had to keep going even if it meant just throwing my legs over repeatedly and letting their weight move the crank. somewhat like how I keep going in the pool. meaning, so long as I can still lift my arms and throw their weight up and over they will fall into the water where I can pull them back again.

in terms if cycling "discipline" I think there is a lot written about spinning; climbing; nutrition., etc but not enough about the final 10 or 20 miles and what we must do mentally and physically to push on and finish. I'm not talking about bonking but I'm not excluding it either and I don't want this to focus on bonking.

any thought on your final 10 or 20 miles? I think the end of a ride exemplifies the sport as much as other aspects.

lpolliard

Fail...I thought I would give you a bump and another chance at a response.

Ygduf

My final ten are usually the same home stretch of 3 routes to get back to my place. They're easy, because everyone else has turned to head to their homes so I can just soft-pedal my way in and enjoy the calm after a hard ride.

On doubles, the final 20 miles are a breeze. By that time I know I'll finish, usually know my time, and can relax and enjoy the endorphins.

People who race probably have a different experience on the end.

zatopek

I think I can relate to your feeling of "survival spinning" the last parts of a longer ride. To get the most out of the last 10 to 20 miles of the 70 to 90 mile rides that I do on weekends is all about nutrition and hydration prior to and during the ride. In order to be able to maintain a good pace, decent cadence and feeling that I am actually training, as opposed to simply staggering home, I've got to eat and drink correctly before I get to the last 20 miles. Also, my weekend rides usually consist of 20 miles from home to the group ride assembly point, 35 to 50 miles with the hammerheads and 20 miles to get back home. First 20 is warming up and establishing a pace that feels like a tempo workout. Next 35 to 50 varies between hard steady pace, intervals or maintaining a cohesive pace line. No matter what the group does, I always have that solo 20 miles back home with no one to push me, no wheel to suck and very little left in the tank. It's probably as physiologically valuable as the mush faster, more aggressive parts of the ride that precede it. I really focus on maintaining a cadence of 90 to 100 rpm, good posture, efficient spinning technique, etc. It's all about good form and efficiency for me. I even try to practice some short bursts for 30 to 60 seconds, especially uphill, to simulate attacking when I'm tired. And, when I am toast, I pay special attention to really deep breathing just at the time when, if left to my own devices, my breathing disintegrates into rapid, shallow gasps.
I'm not sure what I have written is worth a darn. I think I am trying to say that I try to use the final stages of a long hard workout not simply as a "cool down", but as a time to work on efficiency when I am pretty much all used up. My hope is this practice will transfer to better success in the later stages of longer races or in short races when I am putting in an effort above my normal pace.

Staarkhand

Yeah I kind of don't get it. Do you bonk every long ride? Unless I've done something very wrong the last 10 miles are usually some of my strongest. I feel like I can completely bury myself without worrying about getting stuck out there so I just ride with abandon, try to leave it all out on the road.

The tough miles for me on long solo rides are the last 10 before the turn around, or about 2/3 of the way into a loop, all other conditions being equal.

rumrunn6

no I don't think so. I had a recent long ride and perhaps I didn't drink enough early on or I burned myself out by not laying off the gas and climbing almost everything out of the saddle. it's the start of the long ride season for me so I'm going to be paying attention to how I finish these long rides. (4+ hrs in the saddle)

maybe I'm swimming too far as well and I should swim shorter distances to be sure my technique doesn't suffer near the end of my swim training. but honestly I love the last 2 laps of my 1500 meters because I'm no longer worried about bonking in the water and I can really apply some speed.

my last long rides were pretty spread out: 50 in November; 46 in February and 56 last weekend. last weekend's ride was at the end of an intense long week of overtraining with swimming; running and weight training. I only felt recovered enough this morning to get in the pool again (1500 meters) and run at lunch (2 miles). weight training tomorrow morning so it looks like a light week for me but I'm not worried so long as I stay injury free. my right IT band has been healing for 4 weeks (no cycling) and my right shoulder has be something to keep an eye on ...

hey if you guys aren't worn out by the end of your long rides maybe you should be riding longer?

palookabutt

As always, it depends...

Last 10-20 of a century and it's hammer time -- I'm basically time-trialling.
Last 10-20 of an interval ride I'm usually doing my last ITT intervals followed by ~5 miles of recovery.
Last 10-20 of an easy ride near sundown or an early morning summer ride and I'm basking in the glow.
Last 10-20 of a hard training ride in the wind, rain and cold and I'm muttering expletives at anything else that moves.

Yaniel

Unless I rode with the intention of that happening, I can usually plan my ride and effort so I spend my last bit of energy prior to the cool down. Sometimes I just ride until I can barely pedal anymore. But if i go out for a 60 mile(or any other predetermined distance) ride, I know how hard I can push, and normally go hardest at the end and leave it all on the road before the cool down.

calamarichris

Most of the training guidelines I've read suggest finishing every training ride feeling as if you could have done more. It's kind of like coitus interruptus, and some days it's hard to reign-in-the-ponies when you really feel like hurting.
But then every event becomes a honeymoon and you can just let yourself go all the way to the end.

Machka 

The final 10 or 20 km of a ride are usually great for me. It's like my bicycle can smell the barn and just sort of takes off on its own. If I'm going to struggle on a ride, it's usually the 10 or 20 km prior to the final 10 or 20 km.

If you're struggling with the final 10 or 20 km you probably need to have something to eat and drink at the 20 to 30 km to go point ... and/or you need to start riding longer distances.

RacerOne

The last five almost always end up fast for me, but it's more due to geography than anything. I'm usually pulling out of town towards home, the road opens up to 4 lanes divided, smooth with only one hill. It begs for speed.

RedWhiteandRed

I find the same thing on the first 20k. Just seems tougher.

umd

If you are dying in the last 10 or 20 miles of your ride then you didn't pace yourself very well.

GP

My last 13 are usually from the meet-up parking lot to my house. I'm thinking about which of the 6 coffee shops I pass I should stop at.

umd

That's a good point... when I go on group rides they are always across town and I have about 10 miles to get home. No matter how much I thrash myself on the ride, I can always ride home at an easy enough pace.

OP, are you trying to maintain some kind of average speed for your ride such that you are continuing to push yourself hard to the end?

This may sound obvious, but if you are having trouble at the end of your rides, just shift to an easier gear and don't push as hard. You just have to free yourself from the "average speed" tyrrany.

Voodoo76

Try to plan your long rides so you are finishing with the wind.

calamarichris

Tyranny is such an ugly word. I prefer to think of her more as a demanding mistress.



Seriously though; how did you free yourself? Not poking fun, I'm in deadly earnest.

umd

The tyranny of power is stronger

calamarichris

So you've just traded one tyrant for another? I guess that's better than taking on another one, which is what I did.

[Edit: today's word is "dominatrices". It pays to enrich your word power.]

umd

Well the true tyrant is my coach. He tells me what to do.

But seriously, if I am doing a ride to have fun I don't care how fast I go. If it's a group ride or race I only care how fast I go relative to others, and if it training I have some workout that I am supposed to do that usually includes hard parts and easy parts.

calamarichris

Man, that would be sweet. Lately I've started all my rides chanting, "Recovery pace-recovery pace-RECOVERY pace", then some wobbly guy with a Discovery Channel jersey & aero bars goes by and looks back at me like I'm Ullrich or something, then everything goes kinda fuzzy and I wake up at home with a coppery taste in my mouth and no idea where I've been or for how long.

rumrunn6

I planned on 44 miles so the additional 12 wasn't planned. I just rode hard for fun not for a specific avrg speed.

palookabutt

Been there.

It's hard to resist, especially when they're going 1/2 mph faster than your recovery pace. That's a good moment to distract yourself with some bike-handling practice (track stands, anyone?) or a few one-legged drills.

caloso

The sprint lines for our local hammerfests are out of downtown so the last 10 are either an amiable social time or a bitter ride of shame. Either way it's slow and easy.

umd

You obviously rode too hard for the length of your ride and your level of fitness. Trying to "just ride hard" and trying to keep to "average speed" are two sides of the same coin.