Tiredness the day after bigger effort rides

[Grant Fondo]

Sorry I'd have to disagree with the point re middle-age - when this begins being moot point. Our GP surgery doesn't consider people old till 80+ - it's the local demographic which creates this.

Back to the point. The group I mainly ride with are 64-73, I'm 66. We regularly knock out 100+ rides and would go for a 30 mile recovery the next day. The majority of our club members are 45-50 years and older and most are very capable of 70/80 mile rides and more - these are riders who at best get out Tuesday evening for a 30 miler followed by 70+ on a Sunday.

Age really has nothing to do with it.

Point taken, there was no intention to be 'age-ist'. I struggle with distance rides now, compared to my 20s and 30s, but everyones different

 

[PaulSB]

Point taken, there was no intention to be 'age-ist'. I struggle with distance rides now, compared to my 20s and 30s, but everyones different

Oh no problem, I didn't begin to think you were being ageist.

 

[derrick]

Was curious about this topic as twice now i've been much more tired than usual the day after a bigger effort ride. Any decent effort ride reminds me the next day of what i was doing the day before, but usually stiffer legs, lower back etc and all that eases up during the course of the day. In this case it was slightly different in that the following day i felt very tired (could of just gone to sleep) in the afternoon and just zonked out later that evening which is something i never do. Wondered if i was coming down with something but otherwise i feel absolutely fine so ruled that out and it did remind me that i was pretty much the same on a previous occasion which was also the day after a bigger effort ride. I know it's hard to judge without knowing fitness, energy and effort levels but was interested to see if this is something common ?

Or is it all just an excuse as i'm getting older

How big is a bigger effort ride?

 

[Ridgeway]

How big is a bigger effort ride?

It was around 160km with 2000m of the up stuff, funnily enough it also had 2000m of the down stuff but for some reason that wasn't an issue First 3hrs was wet though which perhaps did take an extra toll ? it certainly killed my average speed

 

[lane]

I would be knackered for a day or two after that. It's a hard ride.

 

[PaulSB]

It was around 160km with 2000m of the up stuff, funnily enough it also had 2000m of the down stuff but for some reason that wasn't an issue First 3hrs was wet though which perhaps did take an extra toll ? it certainly killed my average speed

This is a good ride. Congratulations. 👏 Most people would be tired after this effort though it does sound as though you were excessively tired afterwards - three days seems quite a long recovery period.

You don't say what your usual distance is so gauging the step up is difficult. My riding regime is this; either 5 x 30/35 milers a week or 3 x 60/70 and I don't find stepping up to 100+ a problem.

You say you're time poor and I think, quite understandably, your difficulty stems from lack of time to build the stamina for long rides of this type. You may be able to drive yourself through it but the effort, not surprisingly, takes its toll.

 

[bikingdad90]

Yep! Longer rides are tough when you hit middle age, though it is all about stamina conditioning. I am trying to build up 30, 40, 50 milers over the summer, but gradually does it

Bet your partner (if you have one) is reaping the benefits... you stallion; all the conditioning paying off in other places. Ha ha ha

 

[lane]

Another thing to take into account is that cycling is not in isolation to the rest of your life. If you had a busy week you may have been somewhat tired going into the ride whether you realised it or not. After a busy week we may need some recovery it the weekend but went into a 160k hard ride. It may be unsurprising you feel tired.