leg fatigue on a ride

[brecon710]

hi i brought my road bike about 8 weeks ago now with the aim of getting fit and losing weight so far i've lost a stone so all good there ,i get out every other day now,and have increased my distance to max of 32km,and average speed on the flat to 30kph,,for a short while then my legs seem to lose all energy for a while so i go into spinning mode for a while till i get energy back into them ,, now is this normal for a new rider like myself and will it improve the more times i get out and get used to it ??
thanks

 

[raleighnut]

Yep just keep at it. Try using a higher cadence/ lower gear before you hit that point though.

 

[MickeyBlueEyes]

is this normal for a new rider like myself and will it improve the more times i get out and get used to it ??
thanks

To be honest I have much more leg fatigue now than I did when I started four years ago, but now I'm riding 25% quicker and 5 times further. I think it does improve but as you start to build you get quicker/ride further so there will always be some fatigue if you are putting some decent effort in. Of course as you become fitter you can bimble about over distances/at speeds that are well below your top effort but well above where you started from. Main thing is to stick at it. Sustained gains will only become apparent after you've been at it for a while.

 

[MikeG]

.......... i go into spinning mode for a while till i get energy back into them......

There's your clue.

Spinning does NOT mean riding slowly, it just means keeping your cadence up. Watch the pros and see how fast their legs go around. Higher revs, lower gears = longer distances.

 

[albion]

In running somewhere close to the 10 second mark for 100 metres is common.
People do it, but can they do 100 seconds for 1000 metres ?

Not on your nellie.

 

[Nigelnaturist]

In running somewhere close to the 10 second mark for 100 metres is common.
People do it, but can they do 100 seconds for 1000 metres ?

Not on your nellie.

This is because a body cant sustain a sprint much more than about 60's and many of us less than this, this is way 400 meters is a sprint and the 800 meters isn't. Not sure on records but I would have thought mid 40's for the 400 and a 1min 20-30's for the 800.

Sustained gains will only become apparent after you've been at it for a while.

This, we see rapid improvements when we start, but it takes time for the body to improve beyond this as there are so many changes happening, I ache today (thighs) after a easy (as in flat) ride yesterday, but I put more effort into it, this is after two years.

 

[boydj]

For your longer runs, you are better going at a steady speed that you can maintain for the whole run - this will build your endurance and allow you to go further for longer. If you want to push yourself, then do intervals - hard efforts, followed by recoveries. You can achieve a lot with relatively short sessions, but remember to include a warm-up and cool-down as part of the session.