Weird sleep/dreams after cycling

[ttcycle]

I've been on a few cycle rides recently, get home, eat and rest and after a good few hours go to sleep.

However my sleep has been really disturbed and not restful every time I have been on the bike and I wake up remembering very odd and florid dreams and feeling absolutely shattered.

I've been dreaming a lot lately but never had trouble sleeping after rides. Have insomnia every now and then but not at the moment.
I sometimes have trouble sleeping if I've cycled at night and close to sleeping but it's not been the case recently, all been day rides.

Anyone else get this? Any ideas how to improve the sleep?

 

[fossyant]

Can't help - had all sorts of weird dreams recently - from the drugs I WAS taking for nerve pain. Still getting some very vivid dreams. Was chasing a guy who half hinched my best bike last night, from in the garage as I was in the back, I was on my fixed and ran out of gears, so hooked a lift of a wing mirror of a car. Weird - daft thing is my bikes are always bolted down ?

Can't help about sleep either - what's that !

 

[Baggy]

Sometimes if I've not eaten quite enough (honest, sometimes it does happen to me!) after longer periods of exercise I sleep more lightly than usual, almost an "anxious" kind of sleep.

 

[ttcycle]

Baggy, that's interesting, I'll have to see if that's the case but don't think so.

Foss, I dreamt about large triangles of bright yellow earwax dropping out of my ears..much larger than the holes would allow but I like the sound of your dream!

 

[marinyork]

Anyone else get this? Any ideas how to improve the sleep?

I get this often after long rides especially if I fall asleep early due to physical exhaustion say 7pm-9pm rather than 2 or 3am. I just figured it is a side effect of being dehydrated.

 

[ttcycle]

I get this often after long rides especially if I fall asleep early due to physical exhaustion say 7pm-9pm rather than 2 or 3am. I just figured it is a side effect of being dehydrated.

I don't think it's dehydration MY. Drink plenty and sleeping at normal times. Has happened for both long rides and shorter very local rides- hence why I'm puzzled.

 

[marinyork]

After long rides I just wake up many times and really need a drink. Many half asleep/seeing things and repeatedly drifting in and out of sleep. I sometimes can stay awake for a few hours but it seems to make no difference whether I do or go to sleep straight away - same thing. Don't necessarily feel good in the morning either even if it is after 8 or 9hrs sleep - very unusual for me.

No idea what you have, but what you said sounds very similar to what I have after very long rides (especially in autumn/winter). I certainly don't get it every time I've been on the bike, that would not be good . I do find the effects of rides can last 3-4hrs after though.

 

[Garz]

Stay off the cheese!

 

[slowmotion]

I'm not an expert by any means, but I think this is just a side effect of hard physical exertion. A long time ago, I did a couple of ten day mountain hikes carrying a 30 pound pack. At the end of each day I was absolutely drained. Every night I slept really badly. Usually I sleep like a log. Somebody told me that it was really common but I have forgotten the chemical explanation.

 

[ColinJ]

I usually sleep really well after cycling, but I've been having weird dreams for the past 7 weeks of non-cycling! In fact I had one last night which was so surreal, it was like a sketch from a TV comedy show ...

I was walking on a fire road through a forest in British Columbia, with towering mountains in the distance, a crystal clear lake below me, and dense trees either side.

I was so taken by the scenery that I wasn't watching where I was going and twisted my ankle when my foot slipped into a deep rut left by a logging truck.

I was lying on the ground clasping my mangled ankle when I heard a blood-curdling snarl from my left. I looked up and saw a huge slathering, snarling brown bear heading straight for me. I screamed in terror and said a quick atheist prayer that my death would be swift, and would take place before the bear-feeding!

The bear suddenly veered off and continued down the fire road as I heard the sound of an engine revving. Suddenly, a man about 7 feet tall came running out of the forest. He wore a bloodstained boiler suit, a mask on his face and was swinging a huge chainsaw from side to side. Oh super - it was the guy from Texas Chainsaw Massacre on steroids! Instead of being eaten to death, I was going to be sawn to death!

But Chainsaw guy, like the bear before him, veered off and continued down the fire road and I heard the sound of thundering paws. Suddenly, a pack of wolves came loping out of the forest towards me. They looked crazy with hunger. Okay, I was wolf lunch!

But no! Before the wolves came in for kill, they too veered away, and ran off down the fire road. Silence ...

Perhaps I would survive the day, after all? I wondered if my phone would get a signal. My ankle was killing me and I wouldn't be ...

Oh sheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet - The entire high-speed Rage-zombie cast of 28 Days Later were now bearing down on me!

They ran straight past too! I was getting nervous ... What demonic denizen of the forest could so terrify a massive bear, a madman with a chainsaw, a pack of wolves, and a snarl of Rage-zombies?

The bushes to my left rustled, then parted and a smartly-dressed young couple emerged and walked over to me. They were both dressed in black and had perfect teeth. I reached up to take the hand of the man and he pulled me to my feet. My ankle was really hurting and I needed their help to support me so we walked along, my left arm over the man's shoulder, and my right over the woman's. I was just started to calm down when the young man began to speak ...






"Are you ready to welcome Jehovah, the almighty God, Creator of the universe, into your life?"

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh ...

And then I woke up! WTF was all that about?

 

[HLaB]

tt, are you taking a particularly large amount of energy gels, drinks or bars?

 

[potsy]

I've been on a few cycle rides recently

Sorry but you lost me after the first sentence, it just isn't believable

 

[ttcycle]

Sorry but you lost me after the first sentence, it just isn't believable

I've always thought you had comprehension problems Pots...

sm- I have a hill start/finish whichever direction from home but most of the rides have been easy going and some short, so don't know if it would be due to high levels of exertion.

Hlab- no gels or energy drinks, usually water or very diluted ribena

Had the same problem last night but without cycling so it may be a more generalised thing.

Colin, that sounds like a brilliant dream!!

 

[ColinJ]

Colin, that sounds like a brilliant dream!!

I think what happened was that the scary bits started to wake me up, and in my half-awake, half-asleep state I somehow mutated it into a joke. I woke up sweating, but chuckling!

 

[Garz]

Suddenly, a man about 7 feet tall came running out of the forest.

Wasn't much bigger than you then!

VERY strange dreams there though Colin, surprised you didn't wake up sooner!