Soreness after bike ride

[MikeG]

[QUOTE 3089987, member: 9609"]I never get that on a bike, even if I do something stupid like last Friday, 105mile 7500' ascent, which is massive for me. No stiffness or pain, just very very tired legs, and tired everything else (and I couldn't stop eating sunday)
And yet if I done something equally out of the ordinary in hillwalking (even when I was a very fit hillwalker) I would suffer the lactic acid burn that could take many days to go away. and can be quite painful.[/QUOTE]
Actually, as an aside, the latest research suggests that this isn't lactic acid burn you feel for days after, but micro-tears in the muscle fibres.

 

[Nigelnaturist]

Actually, as an aside, the latest research suggests that this isn't lactic acid burn you feel for days after, but micro-tears in the muscle fibres.

This makes sense to be honest. Mike, because I have been cycling slightly differently lower gear/high cad and its using slightly different muscles compared with how I cycled last year, the reason for the slight change are better gearing options one tooth stepping from 13-17 and 2 tooth 17-19-21 where as last year it was 2 tooth through the range, so i can spin better in different conditions, where as I sometimes was a gear was too high or low

 

[Donger]

For a bit of context, I've been riding seriously for about 6 years now. I've gone over 70 miles a handfull of times and do distances of over 50 miles perhaps 6 or 7 times per year, typically totalling about 1,500 miles per year. To this day, I still haven't yet felt like doing more than 20 miles the day after any of those longer rides. I agree that you really need to try a 50 miler on your own first. Either that or try 2 or 3 consecutive days of 20+ miles and see how prepared you feel then. Otherwise you could be in for a world of pain - not to mention the logistical problem of how to get home if you need to bail out. When I first started doing longer distances, I always made sure I had a mobile phone and enough money on me for a taxi fare if things went horribly wrong. Good luck to you anyway.

 

[Trull]

If you use the two miles as a recover ride and build up to doing 45 miles then you'll manage 60, make sure you have low gears and the biggest tyres you can fit at a lower pressure. Then so long as you fit your bike reasonably well (visit your LBS or speak to a touring cyclist) and eat and drink well then you should be OK. Before I rode End to End (200k x 7days) I did a 250k day and would tackle a 100k 2500m of climb and be feeling OK the next day. So, long as your pacing is right you will manage it… note I say manage, didn't say it would be easy or painless.

As mentioned above - you need to get some proper training done, so the next time you visit the relies/shops/cinema/club... take the bike!

 

[NorvernRob]

This January I bought a road bike, I hadn't been on any sort of bike for around 15 years. I'm relatively fit (a postie) and after a few sessions on the turbo decided to do a 57 mile ride with a mate.

By 25 miles my legs were shot and I barely made it home! There's no way I could have done it again the next day.

However, 4 months later and I do 50+ mile rides in the Peak District virtually every weekend and could do it 3 days in a row without too much bother. I do a 20 mile training ride 2-3 times per week and anything from 30-75 miles on a Sunday depending on time/weather etc.

So my advice is get out and start riding, you'll soon toughen up and be knocking off decent distances.