Post big ride sleep (or lack of).

rick_chasey

I know it's a bit of a teenage Nirvana esq gripe, but does anyone else get the "so-tired-i-can't-sleep" problem?


I seem to get it whenever I do a long ride - say anything over 120km or a tough 100km.

Never sleep well that night.

Any thoughts/comments/solutions?

danowat

Very common problem, I did a 12hr TT yesterday and had a terrible night last night, some people swear by SIS Nocte, other's swear by a bit of "horizontal tango", just think you've got to find your own way by experimentation, or accept it.
Also, drinks/bars/gels with caffine in will have an effect too, so be mindfull of that.

Herbsman

Have sex or a wank

keef66

Long, hot bath and get the bedroom as cold as possible

rozzer32

I find getting to sleep a big problem no matter what really. It takes me probably at least an hour to doze off. Sometimes it can be a lot more. Pi$$es me right off.

ShutUpLegs

I log on here and read through the Training threads, sends me to sleep in minutes...

P_Tucker

ShutUpLegs wrote:

I log on here and read through the Training threads, sends me to sleep in minutes...

alihisgreat

Herbsman wrote:

Have sex or a rub

keef66 wrote:

Long, hot bath and get the bedroom as cold as possible

why not combine the two above?

dw300

Why don't you have a sleep before you go to bed so that you're not to tired to go to sleep when you go to bed?

willhub

I suffer from this.

I just get someone to bash me up.

keef66

I hope that's not a euphemism for something :shock:

Headhuunter

Yeah I sometimes find that after a long ride I can't sleep... Camomile tea helps

Pross

Herbsman wrote:

Have sex or a rub

I think that amounts to the same thing for Rick

junglist_matty

Not to rub it in; I'm usually fast asleep within 10minutes of going to bed ...Very rarely it takes me longer than that!

rick_chasey

Headhuunter wrote:

Yeah I sometimes find that after a long ride I can't sleep... Camomile tea helps

Noo.

That would mean the GF is right....

Zingzang

junglist_matty wrote:

Not to rub it in; I'm usually fast asleep within 10minutes of going to bed ...Very rarely it takes me longer than that!

You're not rubbing anything in. The less advanced the machine, the less time it needs to shut down.

B.M.R.

Sometimes I find that exercise (particuarly late in the day) increases my body temp and makes it harder for me to drop off.

Was it in a recent Cycling Plus they interviewed a bloke who had this problem and found you could buy sweat-wicking bedclothes and linen to help regulate body temp at night?

P_Tucker

Zingzang wrote:

junglist_matty wrote:

Not to rub it in; I'm usually fast asleep within 10minutes of going to bed ...Very rarely it takes me longer than that!

You're not rubbing anything in. The less advanced the machine, the less time it needs to shut down.

t.m.h.n.e.t

B.M.R. wrote:

Sometimes I find that exercise (particuarly late in the day) increases my body temp and makes it harder for me to drop off.

Was it in a recent Cycling Plus they interviewed a bloke who had this problem and found you could buy sweat-wicking bedclothes and linen to help regulate body temp at night?

Or you could perhaps wear less in bed or open a window?

verylonglegs

I had this more back when I was playing football, a saturday afternoon game, out on town for the evening and then sunday league in the morning. I was always shattered by sunday evening but for some reason just wouldn't drift off and suffered terribly on mondays at work. A cold room helped a lot as I would burn up in bed but I never did really solve it completely, I think it was because I was too switched on mentally from all the weekend activity rather than my physical state as work mon-fri wasn't challenging at the time and I loved my football.

dw300

Just have a half hour snooze as soon as you've come back, eaten post ride food and had a shower.

Headhuunter

Rick Chasey wrote:

Headhuunter wrote:

Yeah I sometimes find that after a long ride I can't sleep... Camomile tea helps

Noo.

That would mean the GF is right....

Seriously give it a try. I started drinking it at work many years ago when I fancied something different from the usual coffee and tea and then I couldn't understand why I could barely keep my eyes open in the afternoon... Then someone told me it was the camomile tea. It has a definite, noticeable relaxing effect on the body and sends me straight to sleep...

Abdoujaparov

It's because your metabolism speeds up after hard-exericse which is exacerbated by frequent snacking.

Flies in the face of most 'healthy living' advice, but I'd have thought ways to counter this include eating lots and infrequently (rather than 'little and often'!) after your ride and indulging in fatty foods. Of course don't do this regularly because it's bad for you!

rubyrider

I'm new to road cycling - have had my bike a few weeks - and I am also struggling to sleep, even though I am tired. I think it's because I'm enjoying it SO much! I think it's the equivalent of a runners high Hopefully it will settle in time.

I went through a similar thing years ago when I started swimming in the evenings.... Eventually I calmed down.

dw300

I get this if I have a weekend ride planned and I'm looking forward to it too much.