Breaking a 40 mile wall

[Synthetic]

Evening guys,

So a little about myself: I got back into cycling after doing it quite a lot when I was younger as a means to lose some weight and get around the place faster. That was about 8 months ago but I never really got into cycling further than a couple of miles. Low and behold over the last two months of strict diet and cycling I have lost around 20kg. I now sit at a ripe 90- still overweight but a hell of a lot better. I am absolutely loving cycling but clearly I am quite a rookie when it comes to it.

I was using a hybrid bike - and mainly sticking to flat beach side roads, and managed to total up about 40 miles a day over the last few weeks around 3-4 times a week. Sometimes less, sometimes more, but I always seem to hit a wall at around 35 miles and push to the 40- then i almost have to call it quits because it feels as though my muscles are going to just pack up, although I know they won't. That becomes overwhelmingly difficult to deal with. I am usually chaining it as hard as my feet will allow (or all the people that are down the beach will allow too!)

I picked up a snazzy road bike yesterday and took it on a blast for about 25 miles today and absolutely loved it- however my legs are actually probably more sore than when I was doing my 40 mile rides because I actually used it on more than just a simple beach flat and got through quite a few hills. Doing that on my hybrid was an absolute nightmare.

Now to cut a story short, I want to try and get to a 100 mile ride by the start of September as its a goal I set out for myself ontop of losing weight. I'm on a quite strict diet of around 1200-1500 calories a day. I believe that this is most likely the culprit in terms of my muscles packing up and hitting that 35 mile wall as I mentioned before. My mental state of mind also becomes very bleak at that point and my mind really screws and screams at me... However, I'm not entirely sure if this is what is causing it, because the next day I can get straight back onto the bike with no difficulty at all - as in my leg muscles are completely fine.

Could anyone give me any suggestions in terms of what I could do to get over what seems like my only real hurdle at the moment? Or am I really shooting way above me weight in terms of what I'll be able to achieve by September?

Thanks so much.

 

[Plumster]

The Works have a book called "Fitter Further Faster", which deals with the build up to 100 mile sportive, it may be of some help, and its only £4
http://www.theworks.co.uk/p/cycling...t-for-sportives-and-road-riding/9781408832615

 

[si_c]

What are you eating/drinking whilst riding? I find I get by fine on rides of up to about 40miles, but if I want to go further comfortably I need to eat something mid ride, couple of bananas or whatnot.

Also for that sort of distance I use zero-cal electrolyte drinks to avoid cramping and tiredness.

If you are regularly riding 35-40miles, you should be able to push further relatively easily.

 

[ColinJ]

You are not eating enough!

You are probably already about 1,000 calories a day down on what you'd need to maintain your weight so you would be losing weight even without doing the cycling. The cycling probably burns off well over another 1,000 calories, maybe closer to 2,000 calories. That is too much of a deficit.

I would increase the daily intake by at least 500 calories on non-riding days, and maybe by 1,500 calories on days when you are riding 40 miles. You would still lose weight, but at a more sustainable rate, and you'd have enough energy reserves to do your longer rides.

(I would probably take in 4,000 calories on a day when I rode 100 miles, and I would still lose about a pound in weight.)

 

[Synthetic]

Hmm.. I assumed it might be up to not eating enough. I usually will chow down a banana while I'm riding along with some beef jerky or an apple. I keep myself quite thoroughly hydrated, I try and make a conscious effort to drink small slow sips and end up drinking around 600ml of water every hour or so. I believe the fasted I whipped out the 40 mile stretch was about 2 hours and 30 minutes. Drinking that much water can start to feel a little "sloshy" so to speak though.

I will check out the book. Thanks for the link, I have actually just ordered it. Can't go wrong really for four quid lol.

As ridiculous as this might sound, I tried to drink a Powerade while I was riding and all it seemed to do was make my mouth sticky and I felt as though I was more dehydrated than normal. I wasn't able to push further than the 40 on that day either. Yes, I know a Powerade isn't exactly going to work miracles but I expected to at least make a slight difference... Before I head out I eat a bowl of porridge or so.

On the days I want to ride 40 miles I am happy to ramp up the calories - not excessively, however if it will mean that I can get further I'm more than willing to do so. What sort of things do you recommend eating? would it be worth pulling over and having some lunch at say 25-30 miles? I usually have a sandwich for lunch.

 

[alicat]

You are putting a lot of effort into this. I'm not training that hard and I am training to pedal from London to Paris in September.

You are doing lots of short, fast rides yet your goal is an endurance ride. Could you be trying too hard and treating it as a punishment regime. Is your goal the problem?

Cut out two of the rides and devise a loop that gradually gets bigger and do it once a week. Have cafe stop mid way round. Then do a short, easy ride once or twice mid week. Don't worry about the speed. Add in hills: they make you stronger.

Stop worrying about what is going in. Eat more day to day and make sure you have a banana in your back pocket.

And focus on the enjoyment not the adrenaline or the goal.

Good luck!

 

[Kajjal]

If you don't eat enough you make very hard if not impossible to do longer distances. The night before a long ride i make i have a good sized meal and get a good night's sleep. Also have a good breakfast. Then just water and muesli bars while riding.

Also for longer distances go a bit slower than normal and speed up once you get the feel for it.

 

[Broadside]

Your body will typically have enough stored energy to get you through about 90 mins exercise comfortably. That probably gets you close to 30 miles and then you are finding the rest a slog. That is exactly how I started out with road riding back in 2008. I was doing the same, shedding quite a bit of weight while getting fit.

It's hard achieving both at the same time. I agree with he comments up thread you need to eat more.

While controlling your intake for the rest of the day for weight loss. Bananas are great and what I use for rides up to 80 miles. Try eating something like flapjack at 15 miles as this will give some slow release energy and then a banana every 10 miles. Water is a personal thing and depends on temperature but that is possibly slightly on the high side. Try using some
Electrolyte powder or tablets, or just add a good punch of salt to your water and a bit of squash to make it palatable. The bananas will give you potassium as well which is good.

If you can manage 40 under fuelled then 60 miles with fuel is easily reachable.

 

[rugby bloke]

You are putting a lot of effort into this. I'm not training that hard and I am training to pedal from London to Paris in September.

You are doing lots of short, fast rides yet your goal is an endurance ride. Could you be trying too hard and treating it as a punishment regime. Is your goal the problem?

Cut out two of the rides and devise a loop that gradually gets bigger and do it once a week. Have cafe stop mid way round. Then do a short, easy ride once or twice mid week. Don't worry about the speed. Add in hills: they make you stronger.

Stop worrying about what is going in. Eat more day to day and make sure you have a banana in your back pocket.

And focus on the enjoyment not the adrenaline or the goal.

Good luck!

I would echo all of this. Don't get sucked into training for training's sake. Remember to enjoy the rides, drop the speed, increase the number of stops and you will see an improvement. Last year I went from nothing to completing the Ride London. I drove myself really hard but to be frank I found a lot of the training a chore and did not enjoy it. I've now learnt to relax and enjoy the journey.

 

[raleighnut]

I'd agree with a couple of the posts here in that you're going at it too hard from the off, try spending the first 20-30 minutes in a lower gear without pushing yourself until the muscles are 'warmed up'.

 

[rugby bloke]

The other thing is that a lot of cycling is in the head ... the infamous "bail monkey" that has been quoted in one of my posts. Finding a way of keeping the monkey in his cage is part of the process.

 

[Dogtrousers]

My recipe. Find cafe (or pub) 21 miles away with no convenient railway stations between you and home. Ride to cafe unhurriedly, taking in the sights. Eat cake or pie. Drink coffee. Relax. Start to ride back. You don't have much choice now but to ride home and break the 40 mile barrier.

Now find cafes 25, 30, 50 miles away ...

 

[Synthetic]

All of these are very valid points. I think at times it could feel quite laborious cycling for 40 miles every day and seeming to hit the wall, return unmotivated and not really wanting to hit the roads the day after. It's probably a good idea for me to cut out one of the rides, and yes perhaps I am sort of "training for trainings sake" while if I just relaxed a little bit and didn't try to gun the 40 miles it would be much better. I kind of think that if I stop and have a rest it will make t harder to get back on the bike, while if I just ride flat out and non stop its more physically gruelling? (Strange mind, I know).

I really love the mental aspect of it but maybe I should just slow it down, eat some more, and build slowly by the sounds of it. I guess I'm not in a massive rush. The cafe idea is a great one and one that I utilise at the moment. Now to plan some journeys!!

 

[Broadside]

I'm with you, I usually ride continuously and might just stop by the roadside to eat, it can be hard to get going again if a cafe stop is more than 20 mins I find.

I agree with @Dogtrousers though, ride somewhere a long way away and then ride back, don't do loops nearby to home as that makes bailing out an easy option. Make it difficult for yourself to give up and it will help you to dig in to reserves.

It's also far more rewarding to ride somewhere that feels a long way from home.

 

[Dogtrousers]

Blasting along as hard as you can can be good, and fun too. But it doesn't go very well on a ride where you are trying to build distances. So if you're short of time, that's when you find your "favourite" local hill and ride up and down it as hard as you can until your eyes pop out. Distances are about efficiency and getting the mental approach right.

If you have even an ounce of nerdiness in you you may be able to find "things" that you want to visit. Windmills perhaps, or canal bridges or something. Cultivate your inner nerd in planning routes. You'll soon be pushing the distance so you can go out and bag a distant milestone. (OK maybe I'm expecting a rather inflated level of nerdiness in others)