lf111561

More out of curiousity than anything else I am asking this question. Did a century ride yesterday. Averaged 18 mph for the ride/was intense for me (I ride a steel bike weighing about 23 lbs). I am a 49 yo female about 5 feet 1 inch. My weight fluctuates between 109 and 110.

Anyway, I drank ALOT of DILUTED powerade zero and water yesterday...had breakfast.. then during the ride: a cliff bar, a couple of clif gel shots , 1/2 sandwich and a banana....then afterwards of course I had lobster, some salad and a couple of drinks....(figured I deserved it)...noticed today the weight went up. If anything I figured it would go down. My legs are sore, for sure, could this be fluid retention?? I Noticed today I am not going to the bathroom a ton, even thou I have had like 6 glasses of water today. Not upset about it, but curious more than anything else why I didnt have a temporary weight drop.

Machka 

This is perfectly normal. I (and many others) have experienced this after most/all our long rides ... I'm even experiencing it on shorter rides lately (hilly, strenuous 50 km rides, for example).

The way I understand it, your body retains water when you put it through a situation like that. On Tuesday or Wednesday you'll wear a path in the floor going to the toilet, and then you'll be back down to your normal weight.

lf111561

LOL. ok. Like I said, not going to worry about it too much. Figured it was something like that. making myself have another 2 cups of water right now. And staying AWAY from the scale till mid week! And thanks for the response.

hooligancyclist

Exactly! With long rides that are hard, I might also experience a higher resting heart rate and higher core temp, even a slight fever if I went very hard. This is also common.

vision646

Similar to Machka I also see this after I ride about 30 miles, particularly in the AZ heat (it can b 90 or 95 by the time I finish my rides). The next day I'm typically a pound or two heavier than I typically vary. Usually after the second day I'm back within my normal range.

DataJunkie

Same here. I don't bother weighing myself until three days after a long ride.

Pat

I have not bothered to weigh myself after a century or even a series of sequential centuries. But on a century, one drinks copiously and eats a fair bit at least if one is going at any kind of speed (which you were). So a modest weight gain is no big deal.

Carbonfiberboy 

And besides all that, a heckuva job there. Way to go.

CbadRider

I have had fluid retention after long rides when I drink mostly water. For me it takes about 5 days to go away. I can tell it's fluid retention because if I look at my feet I can't see any of the bones or my ankle bones.

I tried drinking full-strength sport drinks on long rides instead of water and that helped immensely.

lf111561

Thanks for the responses. I am really surprised I am not that sore...just a wee bit... I felt like I could get back on the bike yesterday! But I didnt
Not gonna worry about the weight either, especially after all the responses I am seeing. Sounds like it's pretty normal.

Brontide

On 2+ hour rides your body has burned through muscle glycogen that needs to be replenished. This cycle requires quite a bit of fluids. In a few days you will pee every hour all day and it will be back to normal.

badbradclark

My wife always thinks I'm crazy for going on a ride the day after I do a century ride. It's a recovery ride for sure, but I think it helps keep the soreness from sticking around too long.

lf111561

Taught a spin class tonite..felt pretty good. And I showed no mercy on the hills....

lf111561

Yep-you all were right, of course. Back down to where I was.