Legs feel fried (newbie to road riding 2 months)

sigorman85

Hi guys my legs feel knackerd I ride every day apart from Saturday .through the week I commute to work 9 miles there and back.and on Sunday I go for about 35-50 miles my average speed is 15.8 I have a giant defy 4 not the lightest but i didn't want to spend loads in my first road bike any way should I be having more of a rest than just the one day off? I don't exactly do a lot of miles compered to some of you guys. I'm more of a rugby player build I'm not a racing snake put it that way lol I'm 5 11 and weigh 15 stone it's slowly decreasing I also eat healthy.so does the aching pain go over time?

Oh an I've only been on my road bike for 2 months now and really enjoy it even tho the weather is crap

smidsy

2 months is no time at all. Your legs will take time to develop the muscles/tendons etc. Riding 6 days out of 7 is quite a lot if you are not used to it. I would say commute 3 days a week and then do your Sunday ride (and maybe not 50 miles) until you build some strength/stamina up.

Listen to your body - it is very self regulating and tells you when you are over doing it.

elderone

sounds like your over doing it,as you need time to recover and develop.

sigorman85

My legs a quite big my quads are 28 inches around I am quite fit as played rugby for the army but I have been out for 2 years now so has dropped a bit :-s

I have been riding Xc for 2 years befor I found my love for road bikes.i have done a few charity rides 30 mile off road both years this was with my lbs last year I coverd 1657 miles on it this includes the commute but not every day

So I guess I'm trying to hard like smidsy and eldrone say
I never thought it would have this kind of impact on the body
Just from changing riding types

Camus

I don't think you necessarily have to have a day off but if you're doing the same sport every day, you will also be more sensitive to when you're feeling under par or not performing at your best, maybe this is as much a psychological thing as a physical one. It's really frustrating when you're thinking 'I'm definitely better than this' but you're having difficulty doing anything about it!

If you don't want to stay in, maybe try another sport once or twice a week that will have positive effects/compliment your cycling as well, or just go in the gym and do some resistance exercises with free weights, some stretches and some light cardio to try and disperse the lactic acid from your legs.

sigorman85

Brilliant info guys cheers

apreading

You may find that you are also pushing too hard in too high a gear - this will put alot more strain on the muscles and if doing this on hills even worse. Try a spinning a bit faster in one gear lower than you have been doing - if can make a MASSIVE difference to leg aches.

Superbalicious

Take a look here for some good info

http://www.bhf.org.uk/get-involved/events/training-zone/cycling-training-zone/cycling-training-schedule.aspx

And here

http://www.bhf.org.uk/pdf/beginners%20cycling%20training%20schedule.pdf

danlikesbikes

apreading wrote:

You may find that you are also pushing too hard in too high a gear - this will put alot more strain on the muscles and if doing this on hills even worse. Try a spinning a bit faster in one gear lower than you have been doing - if can make a MASSIVE difference to leg aches.

+ 1 on that part.

Good to hear that your are adding to the fitness with the commute miles, possibly look to do a few of them as more gentle rides & others are harder efforts mid week to build up your power, strength & stamina. So say Tue/Thur are your harder work out commutes and then use Mon/Wed/Fri as form of active recovery riding at a nice steady but easy pace in a lighter gear. As you get fitter you can then start to add in more hill work (if you have on the route home) or add a few miles into your ride.

Keep at it, it does get easier & as you get fitter and your tone up and lose weight you will notice a difference.

unixnerd

Take a week off from commuting. You'll be amazed at the difference, you'll come back supercharged! Your body has gone though a lot of change and your muscles need time to recover.

pride4ever

Interval training on a turbo is the answer but be warned if your not puking or almost puking your not trying hard enough. Its not for the faint of heart but will give you surprising results. Oh and have rest days or else you will hinder your progress.