Tired within the first 5 minutes. Help!

benno68

I got back into cycling last November (after a 15 year break).

Yesterday I felt out of breath within the first 5 minutes and thought about turning back and calling it a day. Thinking about it, I often find the first 5 minutes hard going!

I eat some porridge and a banana 1/2 an hour before leaving and also drank about 1ltr of water.

I felt good for the rest of the ride (including a 10% climb of just under 1/2 mile) and I felt ok when I got home although I only did 15 miles (one hour).

What am I doing wrong?

bigricky1969

just takes time mate ! don't worry!

Crapaud

Sounds like you're jumping on the bike and going hell for leather. Take it easy for the first mile or so as a warm-up.

batch78

Warm up, warm up, warm up.

15 years off the bike and a 15 mile ride, with warm up and down, I'd say about 10-12 mph should be your average. 5 minutes at 40 ish%, ride at 90%, 5 minutes at 40%.

You'll soon be averaging 17-18mph, remember to work to your capabilities, not trying to match what you may have rode before or what others ride now.

roger_merriman

i quite often feel worse within the first 5/10 mins as takes time to warm up, be fine for the next few hours assuming i'm not pushing too hard.

FatLarry

You need to give your blood vessels time to expand so that they can carry all of the extra oxygen you need around your body.

Whether you're Lance Armstrong or Rik Waller, that takes 15 minutes.

benno68

Thanks for the advice all.

It must be the excitement of getting back on a bike again and I'm not pacing myself right!

felgen

I remember what you describe well. It was 7 years off the bike for me in fact 7 years of pretty much nothing. It will be knackering - just keep it up. Just make sure you do a set amount of time on the bike, and the distance will take care of itself. It takes a couple of years to get the increased vascular capillarity in your muscles in order to be able to perform the sustained efforts of a decent cyclist....

pneumatic

I always feel rubbish for the first five miles and I find it hard to control myself when I am supposed to be warming up.

However, there are six roads out of my village and five of them are uphill. If I start by taking the other one which is flat/downhill for the first couple of miles, I usually feel ready for the first big effort when the time comes to make it.

graeme_s-2

I often find I feel more tired after my 5 mile commute than I feel 10 or 15 miles into a longer ride at the weekend. As others have said, it takes a little while to warm up.

robthehungrymonkey

I find that the first 10 minutes or so are better if i put it in an overly small gear and get my legs moving fast, not putting any pressure on your quads.

Not sure if it's what you should be doing, but seems to work as a warm up for me.

ColinJ

The older I get (I'm now 53), the longer it takes for me to warm up properly. That's a bit of a nuisance because I have some major climbs within a couple of minutes of my house e.g. 4.5 miles up the Keighley Road. If I really wanted to go up that as fast as possible, I'd either ride up and down the valley road first or do 15 minutes or more on my exercise bike before setting off.

As for eating breakfast 30 minutes before a ride - that wouldn't agree with me either. The Spring Into The Dales audax event takes place every year from my town of Hebden Bridge and it goes straight up the Keighley Road from a cold start. A few years back, I ate my breakfast too close to the start of the event and then tried to stay with the fast riders up the climb. By the time we got 1 mile up the hill I was struggling to keep it down!

I'd eat breakfast at least an hour before your rides, preferably two hours before, and I'd ride very gently for 15-20 minutes to warm up.

on the road

You can't just jump on a bike after 15 years and expect to be fit enough to ride long distances at very fast pace, you have to know your limits and stick to them for the time being. Then you can gradually increase distance and speed over the next couple of weeks, but it takes time.

kingrollo

this still happens to me - its just how it is - I often think that people cycle for 15-20 minutes - then say I was knackered, and never get into cycling - I try to tell them that they are only doing the hardest part - once you get past 20 minutes or so, your breathing adapts, and the edorphins flow......ah ....if only I wasn't at work !