Cough after ride

ed_j

Got back a couple of hours ago from basically my first ever serious bike ride. By serious I mean I went a fair distance - for me -15 miles and really pushed myself to hold a decent pace. The ride starts with a 200m rise over a couple of miles then rolling hills for the rest. Despite doing very little exercise I still managed an average of 18mph, which for first ride I was pleased with. What puzzled me was that afterwards I had a cough. It was sporadic, but I would also cough whenever I took a deep breath. I drank 500ml of water on the ride. Any ideas what could have caused it? Did I just overexert myself?

Thanks for any advice/suggestions in advance.

BowtomePhil

Over exertion probably, maybe a fly went down your throat?

Bustacapp

Ed J wrote:

Got back a couple of hours ago from basically my first ever serious bike ride. By serious I mean I went a fair distance - for me -15 miles and really pushed myself to hold a decent pace. The ride starts with a 200m rise over a couple of miles then rolling hills for the rest. Despite doing very little exercise I still managed an average of 18mph, which for first ride I was pleased with. What puzzled me was that afterwards I had a cough. It was sporadic, but I would also cough whenever I took a deep breath. I drank 500ml of water on the ride. Any ideas what could have caused it? Did I just overexert myself?

Thanks for any advice/suggestions in advance.

Did it feel like you had a tickle on your lungs when you breathed in?

pinarellokid

i used to get this in my early ride days,, bit like a tickly cough

was nothing to worry about for me as it seemed to go by itself after a couple of rides

ed_j

From previous experience I tend to notice when I swallow a fly...

Yeah, it was tickly. Feels like a tickle when I breathed in deeply that caused me to cough. It's gone now, three hours post ride.

jonomc4

I get the same - not so much down to distance as effort I put in.

I put it down to either pollution or that fact that us to 5 years ago I had smoked for 15 years.

Mikey23

But could also be a symptom of exercise induced asthma... If it persists get it checked out

ed_j

Mikey23 wrote:

But could also be a symptom of exercise induced asthma... If it persists get it checked out

Interesting. If I did have this would it just be an annoyance or an actual perfomance hinderence?

hixstar

I get it after every ride (only been riding a few weeks). I push myself every ride so just put it down to that. It's normally gone later in the day or the following morning.

Schobiedoo

+1 for the possibility of being asthma. Before you get worried, it's not a problem - it doesn't hinder performance and doesn't have to be an annoyance.

If it continues then go and see your GP. They will probably test you with an inhaler. If you have asthma the inhaler will work, if it is not asthma then the inhaler will do nothing. An inhaler will prevent the tightening of the airways (or relax if already tight). If it is not asthma and therefore not a tightening of the airways then an inhaler does nothing - it doesn't make them bigger (or everyone would want one). If you do have asthma then a puff before you go riding will normally be enough to keep you cough free.

ed_j

Schobiedoo wrote:

+1 for the possibility of being asthma. Before you get worried, it's not a problem - it doesn't hinder performance and doesn't have to be an annoyance.

If it continues then go and see your GP. They will probably test you with an inhaler. If you have asthma the inhaler will work, if it is not asthma then the inhaler will do nothing. An inhaler will prevent the tightening of the airways (or relax if already tight). If it is not asthma and therefore not a tightening of the airways then an inhaler does nothing - it doesn't make them bigger (or everyone would want one). If you do have asthma then a puff before you go riding will normally be enough to keep you cough free.

Nice one thanks. Worth doing now, or wait until a few rides later just to be on the safe side that I'm not just horrendously unfit?

mooseface2r

Do you breath in through your nose? Breathing through your mouth will dry your throat and give you a cough for a wile.

diy

Sounds like exercise induced bronchospasm / Asthma

Caused by the air and pollutants etc burning/irritating the air ways and causing them to constrict. Do you
get hay fever at all?

of course it could also be lung cancer.

Leeuw

A doctor can check your peak flow - which will vary massively dependant an age/build etc. These days, they show the results as graphical info so not only do you see the volume/peak, but also which part of the breath is strongest/weakest. Depending on results, they can then consider the ailment and maybe inhalers.

For asthma, it's more of a tightening of the airways/lungs during riding - or at least that's my experience with my asthma.

But it could be down to your lungs not being used to that level of exertion - find an video of an interview with Chris Boardman just after he'd raced. Always coughing...

If it is asthma, then it's a case of learning what your lungs can cope with - I wasn't the best climber as I couldn't get enough oxygen in, but keep out of my way on the descents! Also, I used to do quite a hard warm up - it was like the lungs needed stressing properly, then 5mins into a race they were fine.

Another idea if it is asthma is invest in a PowerBreathe type device which can help strengthen your breathing muscles - I found it didn't help with the oxygen-into-bloodstream part, but I could suck air in and out easier.

Bustacapp

Always used to get it when doing heavy breathing exercises after a long period of abstinence.

just a bit of lung fatigue.