Morning Cycling

stringybob

I'm popping my sportive cherry this weekend at Hexham. Going for the 'small' one which is 52 miles with 4600ft climbing which I'm not too concerned about as I've done many similar type training rides. I would like to get a decent time though, at least a Silver (i.e. average over 14mph).

My main concern is that my body doesn't seem to like morning rides. I always feel particularly sluggish for the first hour, especially my legs. Not sure if it is my breakfast (I usually have a bowl of cereal, a coffee and banana) or should I do some sort of warm up before I jump on the bike? Or are some people just not suited to mornings?

Any tips?

markhewitt1978

I dunno because I've always been a morning person, nowt better than getting up and getting straight on it. I do my best rides early on, best with no breakfast - but that's like 15 miles, so a bit different.

Your breakfast seems ok tbh. I'm just posting to say I'll be doing Hexham too

chrisrandall1984

Hey, I'm pretty new to cycling...... however have been involved in nutrition and weight training for many years.

It may sound weird but maybe try and change your breakfast to meat and nuts nuts - it can help set up your neurotransmitters and allow you to feel more awake and energetic. Its something ive been doing for a while now and something that a lot of fitness and body building guys also do.

Obviously you can also have the banana. (I'm guessing this is for a carb source?)

700c

Interesting point about neurotransmitters, above - totally over my head though!..

I can feel sluggish in the mornings too, but I do find it better to wait a while after eating before getting on my bike.
My breakfast is similar to yours, though I sometimes add a carrot juice or even a caffeine gel if I'm about to set off on a particularly long ride and feel tired..

I cycle on an empty stomach if it's a short ride though.

diamonddog

Just get up an hour earlier than you usually do.

diamonddog

As I said in my previous reply I would get up about an hour earlier and do a gentle warm up just to get the blood flowing and the muscles warmed up. Good luck with the ride.

stringybob

Thanks for the replies. I guess there will be a bit more time than normal between getting up and getting on the bike by the time I drive to the start and get registered etc. so hopefully that will help.
Chris -I didnt even know I had neurotransmitters! I'll have to look into that one, cheers

markhewitt1978

I've found it much more difficult to go for morning rides since it's been darker in the morning, compared to getting up when it's fully light outside. Perhaps lots of daylight lamps in the house?

simonhead

I now prefer the morning but never used to, its taken a few years of really pushing myself to get up and out to enjoy it. Still cant ride without coffee though.

Schoie81

markhewitt1978 wrote:

I dunno because I've always been a morning person, nowt better than getting up and getting straight on it. I do my best rides early on, best with no breakfast - but that's like 15 miles, so a bit different.

Your breakfast seems ok tbh. I'm just posting to say I'll be doing Hexham too

Me too - many of my rides are in the morning - wake up, go and lose a bit of weight, throw some water over my face to 'wash the sleep out of my eyes', then a glass of water and on the bike. Nothing to eat until I've finished. Furthest i've done doing this though is 24miles, so I suspect the empty stomach wouldn't be a great idea for 52....

Mikey23

Most of these sportives start at silly o'clock ... And you've got to get there and get sorted... And make sure you get on the loo at the right time

I'm not a morning person but have done over 300 running races and always find that the adrenalin buzz gets you through. Make sure you do a good warm up and you will be fine

denzzz28

I suggest get your house warmer than usual the night before. leave the heating overnight so you'll feel warm when you wake up. it helps dilate your veins so you have better blood flow. a cold body can really feel dragging especially when your not a morning person. our body is like a diesel engine and your blood is the oil. a cold engine runs sluggish when its cold. it will also help with a hot shower.

another thing is a full stomach can make you feel sluggish. you may also want to try eating plenty the night before so you can avoid eating in the morning. im sure a lot of people will disagree but if you are not a morning person then most probably you dont really eat breakfast as usual. so even if its just cereals and banana it will make you full or feel full. so a coffee and toast should be enough. I normally feel much better when im slightly empty when i start riding or running. but when i have something to eat then it really feels heavy. I feel like going back to bed after a good breakfast LOL!.

A slow start (10-12mph) with high cadence can also warm you up faster than using small gears. do this until you feel better then you can go back to your normal cadence.

this is just based on my personal experience. It may or may not work for anyone but theres no harm in trying. Good luck on your first sportive. have fun and be safe

andyh01

my personal experience on an early start is milk can turn your stomach, maybe try toast or dry cereal or even water with cereal also coffee dehydrates, tea can also make you feel awake too, good luck with the ride

desweller

I usually need a fairly robust breakfast (say, 2 or 3 scrambled eggs with a bit of bacon and spring onion) plus some pretty punchy coffee if I'm going to be starting a big ride early doors. Even then I expect to spend the first 20 or 30 minutes of the ride in warmup.

kwi

AndyH01 wrote:

my personal experience on an early start is milk can turn your stomach, maybe try toast or dry cereal or even water with cereal also coffee dehydrates, tea can also make you feel awake too, good luck with the ride

A lot of nutritionists are saying the mild diuretic effect of caffeine is far out stripped by its benefits, and is infact so mild as to hardly register. Drink it black before your early ride and burn fat while retaining muscle glycogen.

markhewitt1978

kwi wrote:

Drink it black before your early ride and burn fat while retaining muscle glycogen.

Caffeine has that effect?

kwi

Allegedly it helps, read it on here in one of the articles as well as a few books lying about the house, haven't done any studies in the area myself, in person, but then again didn't read it in The Sun.

It's in this paper too. (Though it casts doubt on the fat burning bit, but where else is the energy coming from?)
http://www.acsm.org/docs/current-commen ... ercise.pdf

navrig

Depends what you mean by sluggish.

I prefer to exercise first thing so getting up, having breakfast, putting on the kit and getting out is not a problem. Once of the bike however I take a while to warm up and get the muscles moving - they have been inactive for the last 6-8 hours. About 5-8miles in and I am normally fully warmed up and can get a rhythm going.

If, however, I decided to go for a ride about lunchtime the warm up distance would be shorter simply because I have been up and about for a few hours and the overnight "stiffness" (oooer missus) will have gone.

zardoz

Get up earlier, ideally leave about 2 hours between breakfast and your ride and make sure you warm up adequately. People who say they are more afternoon/evening people forget that they have had several hours of light warming up during the day so to do vigorous excercise in the morning requires a proper warm up.

I found that the more often I rode in the mornings the more my body got used to it.

markhewitt1978

zardoz wrote:

Get up earlier, ideally leave about 2 hours between breakfast and your ride and make sure you warm up adequately. .

LOL! I order to leave 2 hours between breakfast and my ride and still have time to get to work I'd have to get up at 4am!

stringybob

Navrig wrote:

Depends what you mean by sluggish.

I prefer to exercise first thing so getting up, having breakfast, putting on the kit and getting out is not a problem. Once of the bike however I take a while to warm up and get the muscles moving - they have been inactive for the last 6-8 hours. About 5-8miles in and I am normally fully warmed up and can get a rhythm going.

If, however, I decided to go for a ride about lunchtime the warm up distance would be shorter simply because I have been up and about for a few hours and the overnight "stiffness" (oooer missus) will have gone.

Thats just what I mean. The fact that I live at the bottom of a hill so I usually have to start every ride with a climb probably doesnt help either.
Hopefully I should be fine on Sunday as I should have good 2 hours or so between getting up and starting peddling. (Checking the weather for Sunday and it looks a bit breezy to say the least, so my hopes for a decent time could be in the balance )

diamonddog

You will be fine just get out and enjoy yourself, don't over think it it's just a bit longer bike ride.

markhewitt1978

Bottom of the hill is best, especially on a cold morning. What's best is getting straight out and straight onto a decent hill climb, warms you up really quickly, then when you're on your way home, you're warmed up and there's the welcome downhill at the end.

I used to live at the top of a hill which meant the first 2-3 miles was always a freezing cold decent, which was horrible so by the time you actually got going you were really freezing, and then just when you didn't need it, a big climb at the end of the ride.

Initialised

Definitely agree with that, on colder evenings I know I'll be warm once I'm up the hill.

BTW I'm riding to the start of Hell of Hexham. See you on the hills!

kajjal

markhewitt1978 wrote:

Bottom of the hill is best, especially on a cold morning. What's best is getting straight out and straight onto a decent hill climb, warms you up really quickly, then when you're on your way home, you're warmed up and there's the welcome downhill at the end.

I used to live at the top of a hill which meant the first 2-3 miles was always a freezing cold decent, which was horrible so by the time you actually got going you were really freezing, and then just when you didn't need it, a big climb at the end of the ride.

Did that mountain biking once. Parked the car at the top of a very steep hill. Fours later dragging ourselves up the hill to the car was torture. Never made that mistake again.

kwi

I used to live just below the summit of a mountain, now my house is 12m above sea level (And 20m from the shoreline.), I know which I prefer.

Initialised

So...

How did you get on with the Hexham Hell?

I did the epic at a paltry 12mph average, but there was over 10000ft of really nasty climbing.

stringybob

Had a great day thanks. My average was 13.5mph which was enough for a silver as they adjusted the grading taking into account the winds, so I'm really chuffed with that (especially as I took a wrong turn before Blanchland and did an extra 2 miles)
I've got a fair bit of training to do before I'm ready for 10000ft though, especially in those conditions -well done.

markhewitt1978

I did a 13.1mph average which also got a silver - I did the short course and I was completely knackered at the end. I was feeling good around the reservoir but there was that final little climb which I otherwise wouldn't notice and it finished me off!

The wind was awful, lovely roads which I'd like to ride again some day when I'm not struggling to keep my bike upright and going forwards!

I think a lot of people took that wrong turn before Blanchland, was supposed to be a straight on arrow but for whatever reason pointed right. Meant that my mate was well ahead of me but I beat him to Blanchland by some margin!

Tony Mc

Did the Epic and for my first centruy found it hard but really enjoyed the day and now realise the good cycling routes I have on my door step. Found the final climb to the Race course a killer but knew it had to be comming

Camcycle1974

Forget all the nonsense about neurotransmitters etc. Get up, get kit on and get out on the bike. Up to two hours or so fasted is fine in my experience. Eat a decent meal when back. Try a fasted ride, the last thing you will feel is sluggish!