warming up.

[ColinJ]

I find that I take a long time to get fully warmed up. I've done rides where I feel sluggish for 4 or 5 hours but then slowly realise that I'm starting to feel good!

From where I live I have to climb from sea level to a few hundred feet in the first four or five mile, and I do find this hard work. what I need is some warming up before I set out. I have tried stretching, & going for a walk before hand but with little success.

Local audax event Season of Mists starts off almost immediately doing the climb from Hebden Bridge to the hilltop village of Heptonstall. It climbs about 150 metres in 1.5 kms but the first 300 metres are not too bad, so the main climb is about 1:8 (12.5%), and the last section is cobbled! It absolutely kills me from a cold start so I try to get to event HQ early to do a 20 minute warm-up on the valley road beforehand.

 

[GrasB]

I find that I take a long time to get fully warmed up. I've done rides where I feel sluggish for 4 or 5 hours but then slowly realise that I'm starting to feel good!

I always find I've gone blisteringly quick on those types of rides. For some reason I've felt sluggish but when I actually look I've been at my normal level, then suddenly I find that I've got loads of extra power

 

[lulubel]

I don't compete in any way, or even actively train to improve my fitness, although some days I do push myself harder than others. I find it takes about 30 minutes before a level of effort that felt like bloody hard work changes to feeling comfortable to maintain, so I assume that's how long it takes me to be fully warmed up.