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I can't get into my stride until 25 miles in, any help appreciated!

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J

jasontate

Jun 2, 2013
1
0
0
Hi there,

I ride on average 100 miles a week, year round, sometimes more, sometimes less. I ride with my friends in Sportives, usually with friendly competitiveness. I also ride local 10's during the summer.

I'm 5ft 9' 10st 12 and 38. My problem is both in training and at long day events. I only seem to get my legs properly from 25 miles in. Up to that point I feel 'bad', struggle up the climbs and generally feel rubbish. I know it takes a while to warm up, but 25 miles seems unusual. As my friends start to feel the first signs of fatigue, I catch the wind in my sails and start climbing well and feel great. Any advice of how to shorten the time it takes to get in to my stride? I also think it affects my TT performance as I have the same 'not firing' feeling.

Thanks
J
 
J

JayKosta

Nov 25, 2010
1,165
64
10,580
I'm older than you (64) and I start feeling good after about 6 miles.

For you, it might involve how recently you've eaten, and how much. Do you eat a large meal less than 2 hours before riding?

---
Edit/clarification June 3, 2013: I think you should avoid doing hard riding too soon after a large meal - allow enough time for the meal to be digested before the ride.
---

For my late morning 30+ mile rides, I usually just have 6 'fig newtons' about an hour before riding, and have Gatorade in the bottle. Then eat a largish lunch that includes protein and carbs soon after the ride.

Jay Kosta
Endwell NY USA
 
C

cocteau_ireland

Sep 11, 2010
867
9
9,995
jasontate said:
Hi there,

I ride on average 100 miles a week, year round, sometimes more, sometimes less. I ride with my friends in Sportives, usually with friendly competitiveness. I also ride local 10's during the summer.

I'm 5ft 9' 10st 12 and 38. My problem is both in training and at long day events. I only seem to get my legs properly from 25 miles in. Up to that point I feel 'bad', struggle up the climbs and generally feel rubbish. I know it takes a while to warm up, but 25 miles seems unusual. As my friends start to feel the first signs of fatigue, I catch the wind in my sails and start climbing well and feel great. Any advice of how to shorten the time it takes to get in to my stride? I also think it affects my TT performance as I have the same 'not firing' feeling.

Thanks

I'm the same age but do 100k to your miles weekly. It rings a bell with me and stats bear it out. When (unassumingly) doing Strava in last 2yrs, i notice that any early (pre 15k) efforts are rubbish compared to 25-50k when i feel awesome. Only then start to feel legs. Maybe your legs need a machine warm up or your routine up to the spirtives needs examined. When i feel rubbish on the bike i occasionally think of jens voight or even horner if i'm up for a laugh. God, the winter here was so long i'm just glad i'm back on the bike.
Click to expand...
 
hiero2

hiero2

Jul 10, 2010
2,906
1
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We certainly need to get some more replies here - I am certain we have people who can help illuminate this.

The only thing I can add is that, when I was 38, I was racing - and I didn't get "warmed up" until some 10-15 miles along or better. I didn't feel like I was "garbage" before I warmed up - but there was a diff.

Jay Kosta is pretty knowledgable, I think. But his answer here seems odd to me. I don't understand his thinking.

I also remember, from competitive swimming when I was MUCH younger, that some folk just did better after their "2nd wind" - which could be a significant way along, depending on condition and the athlete's personal characteristics.
 
BroDeal

BroDeal

Mar 18, 2009
14,644
72
22,580
jasontate said:
I'm 5ft 9' 10st 12 and 38. My problem is both in training and at long day events. I only seem to get my legs properly from 25 miles in. Up to that point I feel 'bad', struggle up the climbs and generally feel rubbish. I know it takes a while to warm up, but 25 miles seems unusual. As my friends start to feel the first signs of fatigue, I catch the wind in my sails and start climbing well and feel great. Any advice of how to shorten the time it takes to get in to my stride? I also think it affects my TT performance as I have the same 'not firing' feeling.
Click to expand...

Welcome to my world. 25 miles seems excessive, but it seems to take me twenty to forty minutes to warm the engine up. Doing twenty minute hill repeats, the first always sucks. The second is the best of the day. I often feel fantastic at four or five hours while friends are feeling the hurt.

One thing that works for me is to jam a hill in the red zone, recover, and it seems like my body warms up and gets used to the higher ventilation rate and workload.
 
Master50

Master50

Mar 10, 2009
1,295
0
0
Captain Serious said:
Hmm, interesting. What allergies?
Click to expand...

grass and pollen from trees. worst is usually late may to early July. Generally if I ride Saturday and Sunday that Sunday rides are always better as the Saturday reduces my congestion. I took an inhaler for about 5 years but this year I am managing without the drugs. Feel sluggish and like there is less oxygen in the air.
 
Boeing

Boeing

Jul 17, 2009
4,316
2
0
I'm a 12 mile man. And I hate riding with guys who go flat out from the gun for this reason.

also concur with hill climb early. both in and out of saddle gets things warm for me.

Worst is the Food Park trend to surge early weekdays here the past few years. It eats me up and spits me put. But in the long rides on weekends I'm on form at the end and dudes are spent. does nothing for training IMHO and is against the rues I thought ;)


Could be an old thing
 
Captain Serious

Captain Serious

Mar 9, 2009
536
4
9,585
Master50 said:
grass and pollen from trees. worst is usually late may to early July. Generally if I ride Saturday and Sunday that Sunday rides are always better as the Saturday reduces my congestion. I took an inhaler for about 5 years but this year I am managing without the drugs. Feel sluggish and like there is less oxygen in the air.
Click to expand...
Thanks. I've always wanted to try a legal ventolin. :D
 
veganrob

veganrob

Aug 30, 2010
3,688
350
14,180
@jasontate

You can train yourself to be able to go harder right out of the box. Set aside one day of the week to do short higher intesity interval workout. Short warmup and get right into it. total ride should not last more than 40 min.
I am 58 yrs and would prefer a nice 10 mile ride before getting into tempo or LT but some of the guys I ride with are young and want to just hammer from the start. I don't like it but my breathing will eventually catch up. My legs are not the problem. Same with running, I need two miles to get all the kinks out and body fluid and breathing steady.
Good luck
 
Boeing

Boeing

Jul 17, 2009
4,316
2
0
veganrob said:
@jasontate

You can train yourself to be able to go harder right out of the box. Set aside one day of the week to do short higher intesity interval workout. Short warmup and get right into it. total ride should not last more than 40 min.
I am 58 yrs and would prefer a nice 10 mile ride before getting into tempo or LT but some of the guys I ride with are young and want to just hammer from the start. I don't like it but my breathing will eventually catch up. My legs are not the problem. Same with running, I need two miles to get all the kinks out and body fluid and breathing steady.
Good luck
Click to expand...

10 miles? Dude you must be fit for your age?

nice
 
R

richwagmn

Jun 18, 2009
2,079
2
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BroDeal said:
One thing that works for me is to jam a hill in the red zone, recover, and it seems like my body warms up and gets used to the higher ventilation rate and workload.
Click to expand...

No idea why this works, but it does for me. In my younger days I used to warm before races by doing some short intense intervals. Recover a bit and I was good to go. But I also remember showing up late with no warm up time and getting shelled out the back early on.

I've recently started using SportLegs too. For me, it works well for reducing burn and eliminating cramping.
 
Parrot23

Parrot23

Apr 11, 2009
2,250
0
0
Short, simple 20 minutes: hit the different zones briefly each, finish with a few very short intense efforts (short enough that you're not accumulating much lactate, so less than 20 secs.)

Works for Sky:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3VL5JCqQhQ&list=UUaXxanOHeArdOMmhNaXE67Q

Pro cyclists who warm up for much longer than 20 minutes, e.g., 45 mins and longer are being plain silly: burning matches for no purpose. Used to remember Discovery doing this, and many still do for no valid reason. It's about pump-priming, not burning matches. :rolleyes:

Equally, going from full out 30 min finale in a race (with loads of accumulated lactate) to zero in 10 secs. is equally silly, without "warming down". Those who lampoon warming down have never heard of lactate clearance, and thus never heard of lactate threshold, etc. Gotta wonder sometimes....

(One other thing: try taking a caffeine gel just before start of ride; see lit. on effects of caffeine on short-term cycling performance, e.g., http://home.trainingpeaks.com/articles/nutrition/caffeine-and-the-endurance-athlete.aspx)
 
Boeing

Boeing

Jul 17, 2009
4,316
2
0
Parrot23 said:
Short, simple 20 minutes: hit the different zones briefly each, finish with a few very short intense efforts (short enough that you're not accumulating much lactate, so less than 20 secs.)

Works for Sky:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3VL5JCqQhQ&list=UUaXxanOHeArdOMmhNaXE67Q

Pro cyclists who warm up for much longer than 20 minutes, e.g., 45 mins and longer are being plain silly: burning matches for no purpose. Used to remember Discovery doing this, and many still do for no valid reason. It's about pump-priming, not burning matches. :rolleyes:

Equally, going from full out 30 min finale in a race (with loads of accumulated lactate) to zero in 10 secs. is equally silly, without "warming down". Those who lampoon warming down have never heard of lactate clearance, and thus never heard of lactate threshold, etc. Gotta wonder sometimes....

(One other thing: try taking a caffeine gel just before start of ride; see lit. on effects of caffeine on short-term cycling performance, e.g., http://home.trainingpeaks.com/articles/nutrition/caffeine-and-the-endurance-athlete.aspx)
Click to expand...


nice advice thanks
 
S

Steve H.

Nov 11, 2011
94
0
0
Stretching off the bike beforehand always helps me for a quick start. When I follow a program, such as yoga, it helps tremendously.
 
elapid

elapid

Mar 18, 2009
2,442
0
0
Steve H. said:
Stretching off the bike beforehand always helps me for a quick start. When I follow a program, such as yoga, it helps tremendously.
Click to expand...

Stretching before being warmed up increases the risk of injury and is no longer recommended.
 
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