3 stages to my longer rides!

[Deanno1dad]

Hiya,Is it just me but now I've got into the cycling scene and going for my London 2 Brighton,My sunday morning 30 milers seem to consist of 3 stages.
Firstly I start off..and seem to puff a bit for the first mile..then secondly from miles 2 to about 25 I seem really in the zone and feel at ease and not out off breath..lastly about 30 miles or not so much now as used to this distance ,a brick wall appears and I'm willing the ride to finish...although I'm upping the training shortly to 40 miles so this will hopefully be my new wall!

Is it normal to puff away for a mile after you leave home until you get in the zone? and
Is this normal for a once a week cyclist?

 

[KateK]

Hiya, as you know I'm definitely not an expert...but they do say that first few miles should be done not too fast so that your legs can warm up. I do find it can be hard as I'm usually on an busy arterial road out of town and you need a certain amount of speed to be able to negotiate with the traffic. My other problem is pushing myself in too high a gear and dropping my pedalling rate, (am trying singing Staying Alive - the nearest thing I have to a cadence meter ... and also very useful for CPR). This does mean you end up running out of steam because your legs get used up (moggy technical term, as in Come and open the door as I can't get through the catflap because my legs are all used up)

 

[Nosaj]

Is it normal to puff away for a mile after you leave home until you get in the zone? and
Is this normal for a once a week cyclist?

I ride more than once a week but depending on weather Hot-Cold etc it can be take me up to about 4-7 miles to actually warm up (20-30 minutes) and get into the groove. If I stop for a food break I have to go through the whole process again albeit I get back into the groove quicker.

My last club run towards the end of the ride I had nothing left. Hit a Brick wall not a bonk but the others rode on as normal and it felt as though they upped their pace dramatically and my legs just would not respond.

Completely normal unless I am weird as well (which may well be the case)

 

[Gary E]

Unfortunately because of where I live the first mile of my rides is up a bl**dy hill, so yes, the first mile sucks!

 

[Gary E]

The last mile's not too bad though

 

[Fubar]

Hiya,Is it just me but now I've got into the cycling scene and going for my London 2 Brighton,My sunday morning 30 milers seem to consist of 3 stages.
Firstly I start off..and seem to puff a bit for the first mile..then secondly from miles 2 to about 25 I seem really in the zone and feel at ease and not out off breath..lastly about 30 miles or not so much now as used to this distance ,a brick wall appears and I'm willing the ride to finish...although I'm upping the training shortly to 40 miles so this will hopefully be my new wall!

Is it normal to puff away for a mile after you leave home until you get in the zone? and
Is this normal for a once a week cyclist?

I get this for the first few miles, seems to level out once I'm going - though after yesterday I'm not so sure! Probably an age thing as well... - or maybe just me.

 

[colly]

The first 3 or 4 miles can be a real effort. Just take them steady and the rest of the ride will be so much better.

 

[mangid]

Hiya,Is it just me but now I've got into the cycling scene and going for my London 2 Brighton,My sunday morning 30 milers seem to consist of 3 stages.
Firstly I start off..and seem to puff a bit for the first mile..then secondly from miles 2 to about 25 I seem really in the zone and feel at ease and not out off breath..lastly about 30 miles or not so much now as used to this distance ,a brick wall appears and I'm willing the ride to finish...although I'm upping the training shortly to 40 miles so this will hopefully be my new wall!

Is it normal to puff away for a mile after you leave home until you get in the zone? and
Is this normal for a once a week cyclist?

As others say, the first couple of miles can seem hard, I'm out most days, and even going over the railway bridge a few hundred meters from home is hard (strada reckons I putting out < 50% of what I do at the end). Sounds like you're doing fine to me. Endurance will just come with time.

 

[lb81]

Only speaking from personal experience but I ride 20 mile each way commute at least 3 x a week and its not normally until around 5 miles that I really get in to it. Bizarrely coming home I get in to it straight away and its 15 - 20 I struggle with.

Yet on a weekend ride of around 30 miles once I get past the initial 4 - 5 miles I feel like I could just keep going, in fact sometimes I do keep going and add on another 5 or 10 miles depending on how I feel!

I guess its all down to individuals + there are so many other factors such as diet, hills, weather, weight on and off the bike, tyre pressures.....

 

[mangid]

Only speaking from personal experience but I ride 20 mile each way commute at least 3 x a week and its not normally until around 5 miles that I really get in to it. Bizarrely coming home I get in to it straight away and its 15 - 20 I struggle with.

Same here, riding home in the evenings when I get the chance is a blast from the off.

Possibly something to do with getting up at 5:30 ;-)

 

[redcard]

Pretty much the same for me. My commute is 8 miles each way. Around miles 5-6 I get a little disappointed as I know I'm finishing up shortly. Not quite at the stage where I want to increase my commute yet - I'm just concentrating on doing it faster.

My weekend rides are also similar to yours. I'm amazed how quickly I recover at the end of a ride - a 2 minute rest and I feel like I could do another 30 miles. Running and football used to totally kill me.

 

[Randochap]

Perfectly natural; it's called "opening up the lungs." Go to any race and you'll see riders warming up on rollers/wind-trainer, especially if the race requires a full-on start, as in criterium or time-trial.

Mix up your training with long/slow, and throw in some "intervals." Most importantly, get enough rest. That's where adaptation occurs, so "horizontal training" is the most important phase.

Look up "periodization."

 

[Col5632]

I have the same problem, puffing away after 1-5 miles and after that i seem to settle until i hit the 40-50 mark and due to me not doing a great deal more than these distances its where i begin to feel tired

 

[tyred]

It seems to take me about 5 - 10 miles to get going properly. My rides, especially in winter, always start of "thinking why am I doing this, puff, pant, I should have sat at the fireside." Then a few miles down the road, it all slots into place and I can happily cycle for hours if I want.

 

[Col5632]

It seems to take me about 5 - 10 miles to get going properly. My rides, especially in winter, always start of "thinking why am I doing this, puff, pant, I should have sat at the fireside." Then a few miles down the road, it all slots into place and I can happily cycle for hours if I want.

Winter is a nightmare cause i think about nothing than how cold my hands are