Dead Legs
 

Hi, I ride over 5000 miles a year ( i'm at the end of my 3rd year cycling) started racing this year Cat 5 and just got upgraded to Cat 4 and will be racing masters next year as I am 48 .
Last sunday I did a sunday group ride and I started from another location to add miles (16) to the 32 miles of the group ride and my legs went south and I got dropped about 7 miles into the group ride. I did a pull right before 3 back to back climbs ( wasn't aware ) and got dropped , but this is only about 22 miles into my ride and I did finish the ride and head back to my start totaling 63 miles but my legs where dead well before the group ride was over .. I am no stranger to long rides in the saddle, my training miles per a week have come down but still doing 100 miles a week. I eat well and drank enough before and during the ride..
My question what is happening in the legs when they just won't put out any power (btw I ride with a power meter).. I didn't Bonk , as I know that feeling …

Perhaps it is time to rest? If you've been racing and going hard all summer, you may now experiencing some cumulative fatigue. Take a week off the bike, go for a walk, sleep in a bit, have some pie. Getting a year older doesn't help, either. Spend a month or so just doing tempo before you start building base miles for next year's season.

I would be curious to see what your training load metrics look like. Probably just need a bit of rest.

I've been suckered into that too on a route I didn't know. My guess would be just low glycogen. You didn't bonk because you were eating, but your power and I bet HR dropped off. Did you modify your diet when you cut your mileage back? It is a good time to take a little rest. I just took a week completely off. My standing HR this morning was 59. I'll do a long high cadence drill on the rollers today. Gotta stimulate 'em after this rest.

As stated above my guess is that it is a one time thing. Some glitch in your nutrition leading up to the day or your body was off for some reason. Repeat the ride and see what happens.

Thank you for your replies . I think my poor performance was a combination of low glycogen , poor nutrition for the days leading up to the ride as I've had a relaxed attitude post race reason and fatigue…
I'm going to start tracking my resting HR … I did a short Mtm. bike ride the day after and will be taking the rest of the week off and see how I feel this sunday ********** Thanks again

Rusko method: After you take your resting HR, stand and note your standing HR after 2 minutes. After doing this for a few years, I think standing HR is actually a better indicator:
http://sportsmedicine.about.com/cs/o.../aa062499a.htm

OK, 5 days off the bike , I slept good last night, my diet has been full of good fuel, and I was well hydrated .. Went out today to redeem myself from last weeks ride drop.. My legs felt great, all the climbs felt easy and pulled more than I should have ( but only after I knew I was in good form ) . Finished with the first group ( started out with about 30 , down to 5 ).. and once I got home and uploaded my power numbers , I was surprised to see some really good numbers. As I was looking at them I got a training peaks notice with a threshold increase from 266 to 273 , I double checked the numbers in my Golden cheetah program and it all checks out.
It's amazing what some time off the bike and good nutrition will do for your performance. My legs feel good and more importantly I mentally feel better ;-)

... Glad it worked out for you.

....... And, all in all, it was a very cheap lesson.

After my rest, mentioned above, I did a group ride today with 10 Strava PRs.