Stamina

dannyharris

I'm not a long distance rider at the moment. Average 30-40 mile rides.
I'm ashamed to say I had to call the mrs to pick me up today.
Just couldn't make my way up the hills.

Had porridge for breakfast took an energy gel,flapjack and a bottle of water.
Managed to get to my destination no problem. As soon as I started to head back my brain and body just couldn't do it.

https://www.strava.com/rides/43856220

Did I do something wrong?

Riding a standard carrera tdf 2011

pride4ever

How many calories did you ingest during the ride? Awesome part of the world to ride bro, I do LadyBower all the time.

Mikey23

I wouldn't beat yourself up. Looking at your stats you have done 600 miles overall and 60 this year and over 46 rides is an average of about 13 miles per ride? You were doing over 14mph and about 75 ft per mile of climbing which seems quite tough. And you were coming back into a very strong east wind which would have tired you out very quickly. Seems like more time on the bike and not trying to do more than you are physically capable of is my prescription...

litwardle

It can happen, called a BONK! I did that with far, far less miles in the past. Things like gels etc need to be eaten during the ride, generally every hour.... What liquids where you on also? And is this normal? When was the last time you rode that distance in the Same conditions? Be very Interested to hear...

dannyharris

One gel and about half a flap jack. Probably only a few hundred cals.
Love the roads over there. Always wanted to try it out.

And yea that average is about right. I have started commuting about 10 mile a day.
Well I'm glad to see someone thinks its a tough ride. Thought I was being a wimp as loads of cyclist flew past me.

And wow just looked through my rides. November was my last log ride. And only climbed a max of 1000 feet.
Only had water. Normally only take water on any ride and porridge an hour before.
Gels and food are new to me while riding.

thefd

litwardle wrote:

It can happen, called a BONK! I did that with far, far less miles in the past. Things like gels etc need to be eaten during the ride, generally every hour.... What liquids where you on also? And is this normal? When was the last time you rode that distance in the Same conditions? Be very Interested to hear...

I don't think this was a 'bonk'. Bonking is when there is no energy left in the tank at all. The OP had breakfast and was out for 'only 2.5' hours. Very unlikely to have bonked in that time.

I agree with above. It was fairly hilly, and he hadn't ridden since November. More likely to be that his head got the better of him, or just an off day!

OP I wouldn't worry too much about it. Just get more miles in and you'll be fine.

Buckled_Rims

As mostly above. eat a bit every half hour. As your new to eating and riding, try different foods ie flapjacks, gels, jelly beans, sausage rolls etc. Experiment and see whats best for you. Some gels can give an upset stomach for example. If you go a sportive, try and take the foods you know will carry you through, rather then take from the stations as they'll be an unknown quantity.

The other thing, 1400 cals is not really enough IMO to bonk. Looking at your Strava details, I'll guess it's the cold that knocked you out rather then lack of calories. hard climbs heat you and long descents chill you.

litwardle

TheFD wrote:

litwardle wrote:

It can happen, called a BONK! I did that with far, far less miles in the past. Things like gels etc need to be eaten during the ride, generally every hour.... What liquids where you on also? And is this normal? When was the last time you rode that distance in the Same conditions? Be very Interested to hear...

I don't think this was a 'bonk'. Bonking is when there is no energy left in the tank at all. The OP had breakfast and was out for 'only 2.5' hours. Very unlikely to have bonked in that time.

I agree with above. It was fairly hilly, and he hadn't ridden since November. More likely to be that his head got the better of him, or just an off day!

OP I wouldn't worry too much about it. Just get more miles in and you'll be fine.

Fair enough, I experienced it once and it taught me a tough lesson! I found myself lying on the side of the road with the world spinning. Felt like I'd been hit by a train. It was the first time I'd been out for months and months, are very little prior and was out with two very fit cyclists and I was trying to keep up. I pushed far too hard to the and save face and on no fuel. Big mistake!!

dannyharris

Well thanks for the advice everyone.
More than likely was the cold that done it. After half hour sat in the car I felt I could have finished the ride.

motd2k

At the risk of sounding a bit contrarian, I really don't think you'll need to eat anything at all during a 2-3hour ride. Water, yes, but you'll not be burning enough to deplete your glycogen stores (assuming you ate at least somewhat healthily the evening before); that being said, everyone has an off-day... just take it on the chin, but don't start carb-loading for training rides because of it... that'd be counterproductive!

Mikey23

+1. I wouldn't be overfussed about the gel thing. Sensible eating in advance plus one bottle on the ride should be perfectly fine for 2 to 3 hours riding ...

smidsy

Judging by your 2 top 10's and a PB you were not hanging about.

Add in the hilly nature of the ride and the weather conditions and I would say you simply went at it too hard.

I bet if you took 2mph off the average you could do 60 miles next time.

DHTT

When you reached your destination, did you stop for over 20 minutes time you might of got Cafe Legs? Then its horrible to try and get going again, especially on the colder days and a decent chunk into your ride.

ShutUpLegs

I agree with Smidsy

Looks like your riding buddy has a little bit more in his legs.

andi1363

What you ate the day before is important. What did you have?

dannyharris

My buddy is a machine does 60 miles daily.

I had eaten jacket potato chicken and veg the night before.

I put it down to trying too hard and the snow.

Gren82

Did some of that route last week (Barnsley > holme moss > snake pass > strines) completely bonked about a mile from home. Had to flop out on the grass verge for 10 minutes until I could coast home. Never good when you don't even have the energy to go downhill.

http://app.strava.com/activities/43092830

rolf_f

dannyharris wrote:

Well thanks for the advice everyone.
More than likely was the cold that done it. After half hour sat in the car I felt I could have finished the ride.

Ahh, but then you would have been fighting a tough headwind back.

dannyharris

Yea the wind was horrible and the snow.

To top it off woke this morning with pain in the right side if my chest. Feels like my lung is gonna explode.
Had to walk slowly to work to avoid the pain.

thefd

dannyharris wrote:

Yea the wind was horrible and the snow.

To top it off woke this morning with pain in the right side if my chest. Feels like my lung is gonna explode.
Had to walk slowly to work to avoid the pain.

This is meant to be "fun" and "good for you"

johnmcsorley

Exact same thing happened to me yesterday, although i did 50 miles.

At around the 23 mile mark I had the Torq Gel AND a cereal bar, in the water bottles (x2) I had nuun tabs but when I got to 45 miles the head was spinning and the legs were tight and painful.

I did do 3,928ft of climbs though and not sure I took enough with me.

Oh, new to road cycling too, 6 months in with just a few 'big' rides in the 50 / 60 miles.

It would be great if there was a chart, saying expected hills, length of ride = you need this much calories

But I suppose everyone is different.

dannyharris

Yea I thought that too.

Maybe time to invest in a turbo trainer so I can cycle infront of the tv.

dannyharris

Nice climb John. Got a strata link so I can check out the ride?