61 miles and tired

radiation man

i did a solo ride on sunday 61 miles some moderate hills, ride time was 3hrs 53mins, average speed was at 16.9 but at the end had dropped to 15.5, i was very tired at the end, been riding for 7 yrs now im 52, should i be doing this distance, or should i just do about 30 miles, my legs are still tired today, and i didnt sleep well on sun night, or maybe im pushing myself too much and i should take longer to do the ride, but guess that wont get me much fitter.

gavt0333

Are you trained for it? Have you been over-training? No reason why you can't do 60 miles at your age but the restless sleep sounds like over-training a bit..

meanredspider

I'm only 2 years younger than you and did 105 solo miles on Saturday and 42 on Sunday. They were flat (not much I can do about NL) but, with absolutely no cover, the wind is brutal. I averaged 17.6mph on Saturday and 17mph on Sunday's recovery ride. The only point I'm making is that there's absolutely no reason you shouldn't be doing 60-mile rides - you just need to to more riding more often.

hypster

I'm 58 and did 86 miles in a steady group ride on Saturday - 6 of us are training for the Marmotte in July so deliberately kept the pace down to endurance level and averaged 16.1 mph. I then did a solo, one hour tempo ride on Sunday and averaged 17.7 mph after warming up for 20 minutes. Legs a little bit stiff today but nothing unusual. I'm going out tomorrow with another mate (he's 61 by the way) who is also doing the Marmotte with me and we will do our usual 45 mile hilly circuit. As you might be able to tell we are both retired so have plenty of time on our hands to train (and recover!)

60-odd miles on your own will be challenging and it sound like you were pushing reasonably hard to average 16.9 mph originally so I'm guessing you're used to this sort of mileage. The drop-off in performance makes me think you might not be fuelling enough on the ride, you should be consuming around 60g of carbohydrate per hour on any ride over 2 hours.

As I say riding on your own can be challenging because it's difficult to get any real motivation to go out for that length of time solo. I'm presuming you have no mates who ride so maybe you should think about enquiring about local clubs. You will find that there are a variety of levels within most clubs, it's not just youngsters tear-arsing around. Riding with other people will give you much more of a purpose for going out and clubs usually organise a variety of events throughout the year which will also give you a focal point for training. Also, you should be able to get a lot of help and advice about the best way to train and ride for different events.

dabber

I don't usually put up ride data but just to put into perspective....
I'm 66 and rode just under 250 miles (all solo) last week. On Saturday I did a 61 mile ride at 16.6 mph and on Sunday a 46 mile ride at 17 mph. I haven't been riding all my life and started more serious riding about 3 years ago.

I did take today off though

Mikey23

62 here and did 200 last week and an average of 180 per week this year. I'm not overly fussed about speed as I do it for enjoyment. About 14 mph average but I do live in cornwall and did one hill that maxed at 22% today. Legs are tired but I intend to do 50 tomorrow. It depends why you are doing it. I suspect at 50 plus we ain't going to be world beaters!

cougie

HTFU.

Ive been riding for decades and as has been said - sometimes a 60 miler can knacker me.
If you're too tired - ease it back a bit next time - but dropping it to 30 miles - well it's hardly worth getting out of bed for that.

Training during the week might help ?

kajjal

It depends what you want from your riding. Most people can't even ride 61 miles let alone at the speed you did. At any age you have to listen to what your body is telling you and be mindful of any pre existing conditions. A short very slim person doing 61 miles is a lot different to a tall, well build rider doing the same distance.

For me preparation and recovery for a ride of 50 miles or more means getting good nights sleep before / after, eating well and keeping hydrated. If you are doing all this then maybe you have just reached your limit for that distance. Don't beat yourself up or put yourself under too much pressure most of us have busy lives and fit cycling in rather than it being our main focus.

Hollow-legs

I argree with other members ,The most important thing is the preperation and body conditioning.
Rest ,a good nights sleep before a ride is important,Fuel, before the ride and during,
Recovery and rest after and before the next ride,not overtraining:

But the most important thing to remember is everybodys body is diffferent,we could all ride 62 miles but some of us manage it better or recover quicker..Due to training ,health issues,conditioning ,lifestlye, diet,the slightest thing .

The hardest thing i find is learning how to recongnise overtraining symptoms...with my body it only takes a bad nights sleep or a busy stressful day at work to lessen my recovery.

I am 48 ,Not retired ,but so wish i was

markhewitt1978

radiation man wrote:

i did a solo ride on sunday 61 miles some moderate hills, ride time was 3hrs 53mins, average speed was at 16.9 but at the end had dropped to 15.5, i was very tired at the end, been riding for 7 yrs now im 52, should i be doing this distance, or should i just do about 30 miles, my legs are still tired today, and i didnt sleep well on sun night, or maybe im pushing myself too much and i should take longer to do the ride, but guess that wont get me much fitter.

Your age shouldn't have much bearing at 52. There's guys on my club 10 years older than that and they're doing 70+ miles twice a week, with some 100 mile rides too.

sloppyschleckonds

Is there actually a question in here?

davep1

radiation man wrote:

i did a solo ride on sunday 61 miles some moderate hills, ride time was 3hrs 53mins, average speed was at 16.9 but at the end had dropped to 15.5, i was very tired at the end, been riding for 7 yrs now im 52, should i be doing this distance, or should i just do about 30 miles, my legs are still tired today, and i didnt sleep well on sun night, or maybe im pushing myself too much and i should take longer to do the ride, but guess that wont get me much fitter.

I'm 49 and ride about 400 miles a month at this time of year. I'd say my times are similar to yours above, and would expect to slow down by the end of a long ride like that. What I'd look at if it was me was the miles and type of riding I had done before - when was your last ride, how hard did you push yourself, have you done anything else physical in the last 2-4 days that might mean you're feeling less strong? I commute to work a couple of times a week, 10-20 miles each way, and a longer ride at the weekend. Depending how hard the last ride(s) was I can feel fairly knackered all week! Sometimes I need 4-5 days off to feel strong again, but sometimes that is just a mental thing and if I get on the bike I feel good.

I am training for Ridelondon and trying to ride without stopping for 2.5 - 3 hrs; last time I did this I felt cack at about 2 hrs 40 and gave myself a 10 min stop and ate a sandwich from a corner shop. The next time I tried this it wasn't as bad. No matter how well you think you know your body and what you can throw at it, it can surprise you either way.

Calpol

In the summer last year I would do 60-70-80 mile rides in reasonable comfort. At the moment since only riding once a week I am struggling to 40 miles. Added to the fact I have just had a some virus for the last two weeks which has wiped me out I reckon 30 would be about as much as I have in me at present. (Cougie says thats not worth bothering about!!)
Point is - everyone is different. Listen to you body and enjoy riding. The more you do, generally the better you get.

markhewitt1978

Well I can't speak for anyone else but I'm 80 next week and I'm disappointed I'm only doing 90 mile rides as 25mph average, is there anything I can do to improve my speed?

apreading

markhewitt1978 wrote:

Well I can't speak for anyone else but I'm 80 next week and I'm disappointed I'm only doing 90 mile rides as 25mph average, is there anything I can do to improve my speed?

Get some lighter wheels - your average should be 1mph faster for every 10g you shave off those, it is rotational weight you know...! Get carbon rims and you will also get an automatic 50% uplift.

Should have you up to 200miles at a 35mph average, easily...

markhewitt1978

Thanks I will start a "What wheels?" thread.

apreading

markhewitt1978 wrote:

Thanks I will start a "What wheels?" thread.

It always amazes me that more people don't think about changing their wheels. Well either that or they dont need any advice because nobody seems to ask about it on here... :twisted:

meanredspider

madasahattersley wrote:

SloppySchleckonds wrote:

Is there actually a question in here?

There was, but sadly this thread is a perfect platform for people to boast about how fit they are for their age and how they do such massive miles at such a blisteringly fast pace :roll:

I think that's disingenuous. The OP's question related age, distance and speed and questioned each of those. It's pretty hard to respond without explaining the possibilities of age, distance and speed. If I've learned anything in the last few years (and I've learned the hard way) it's that you're limited more often than not by what you think is possible rather than what is really possible. Giving the OP some examples should help him realise that this is the case for him.

markhewitt1978

Absolutely, as said I know quite a few riders older than the OP who do considerable distances every week.

keef66

Well I'm 56 and I've been back on a road bike for about 6 years. Sadly not yet retired, so I'm restricted to a couple of midweek evening rides of 15-20 miles and a longer one at the weekend. Through the winter that one is usually 35-40 miles and in the summer it's anything from 40 to 80 plus.

So given the lower mileage in the winter I reckon if I did a 61 miler at the weekend it might leave me a bit tired. In the summer I'd be riding further and it would seem a lot easier.

radiation man

guess at the moment my work, home and cycling life are just too much, so im expecting to much from my body, i work fulltime 5 days a week, so dont feel like cycling at night at the moment, and i only have weekends, i cycle to work everyday but its only 6 miles each way. i also do about 8 sportives a year and some rides at the weekend between 30 and 70 miles, but because i try and beat my previous sportive times the fun has gone out of them.

Mikey23

I suspect that you are. Why not leave all the gps gear at home, forget about strava and what everyone else is doing and just go out and enjoy the experience...

apreading

radiation man wrote:

i cycle to work everyday but its only 6 miles each way.

I used to think like that, then one day I realised that my commute doesnt have to be using the most direct route - it can be as long as I want it to be!

davep1

apreading wrote:

radiation man wrote:

i cycle to work everyday but its only 6 miles each way.

I used to think like that, then one day I realised that my commute doesnt have to be using the most direct route - it can be as long as I want it to be!

Me too! In fact the most direct way for me is on a very dangerous road so I rarely use it. My commute is 7 miles but I usually do 17+ on the way in and more on the way home.

One benefit of night riding I find, is that it is easier to ignore the Garmin and just pedal at whatever speed I feel like. If I want to go balls out, fine, but if I am a bit tired or not really in the mood bimbling along is just as good.

damocles10

I guess it depends on your hours and how convenient a deviation can be.....I work for myself so a 2 hour ride in the morning won't get me sacked as I don't really have to work exact hours a day. Bumping up your week day rides will help though.

It does sound like you are doing 61 miles without a solid base, sorry if my interpretation is wrong.

markhewitt1978

radiation man wrote:

because i try and beat my previous sportive times the fun has gone out of them.

Which is silly, sportives are all about a fun day out. Personally if I'm repeating a sportive I will try to make it a bit different somehow, e.g. doing a different route etc, flogging yourself silly to beat an arbitrary time goal isn't my idea of fun but I guess it is for some.