as it a switch was thrown my legs were dead

bushpixy

So yesterday I popped out and put in 27 miles. Up until mile 23 I felt on top of the world. I'd been cruising along around 20-22mph in Zone 3 (HR) with no problem at all pushing a bit harder on the slight inclines Lincolnshire has to offer. Average speed was shown as 19.0mph up until this point. (I'd been stopping every now and then to check the phone map app because I wasn't sure I was heading in the right direction all the time so I think my average was hurt a little from the slowing down and speeding up).

After 23 miles in my legs felt completely dead with nothing to give. I could push for 10 seconds to pick the pace back up to 20mph, but couldn't for the life of me hold onto it. It was as if a switch had been thrown and suddenly I was gone. Average speed dropped to 18.5mph. Not the end of the world, but still a little frustrating.

Granted I hadn't eaten all that well before the ride so I'm not reading too much into it.

If i'd been blasting along in Zone 4 I would expect to be zonked by now. The total ride my HR averaged at 158bpm with my Zone 3 being 150-168bpm. I would of thought I could of completed 27 miles without feeling like I had nothing left to give.

ai_1

It's not clear from your post if you suddenly couldn't maintain the work rate or if your speed simply dropped. They're not the same thing. Maybe you were flying until you turned into the wind? Did your HR change at the same time your speed changed? If so did it go up or down?
Speed is NOT typically a good indicator of cycling performance unless you're very certain of all the pertinent variables that could effect it.

bushpixy

my apologies

this is my ride http://app.strava.com/activities/145902890/analysis

wind was very low that day. 5mph at most. blowing south east.

From the looks of it my HR did rise towards the end of the ride after I'd stopped briefly at a friends house probably because I was trying that bit harder to keep my speed up.

markhewitt1978

I suppose the only way to be sure is with a power meter then you would have an objective view of what you are doing; but it sounds like for whatever reason you just exhausted your glycogen supply and that was that?

I think the fact you were trying to keep your speed up is a thing, rather than just going as fast as you can maintain?

Calpol

You made the mistake of stopping! I joined the club at the cafe on Sunday after 40 miles. 40 minutes later when I left I had started to stiffen up and getting the legs moving again was a struggle.

markhewitt1978

Calpol wrote:

You made the mistake of stopping! I joined the club at the cafe on Sunday after 40 miles. 40 minutes later when I left I had started to stiffen up and getting the legs moving again was a struggle.

+1, I used to think on long rides then the longer the stop the better, but learned through experience that certainly isn't the case! A few weeks ago I happened to be doing a sportive with another rider who was eager to get away from the feed stops as soon as possible, and to my surprise I didn't feel any less rested for the shorter stop and hadn't cooled down as much.

bushpixy

is it normal to just hit the cliff and be zonked just like that? I had to stop for several minutes around the time I was starting to struggle at a level crossing. waited what felt like 5 or 6 minutes while 2 very long trains passed.

daxplusplus

Very quickly looking at the profile of the ride and it looks like for the first 10 miles or so it's a very slow descent\false flat? That could fool you if your looking at speed + effort rather than just effort?

bushpixy

Could be Dax, although the 10-20 mile part it looks like I was slightly faster. The Garmin has broke the elevation because I stopped, but that looks like it's a slight incline too.

I just don't get why it felt like a wall at around 23 miles when previously I felt great. must have been that tiny change from downhill/flat into uphill even though in Lincolnshire everything is flat haha.

ai_1

That can be how it feels when you run out of gylcogen while working reasonably hard. Although this ride doesn't seem long enough.

PS
That's why marathon runners call it "hitting the wall"

kajjal

Some of it depends on how your individual body works. Mine will only last about two hours without food without a marked drop off in performance. Other people I have ridden with last a lot longer without eating. Also you may have been a bit run down which also has an impact. Stopping too long also affects me as well.

wavefront

'like a switch was thrown' is exactly how it is for me. Had this a few times, and apart from one time, I can only think it was to do with lack of food during a ride, or not eating so well beforehand.

I did a hard training session on Sat and thought I'd recovered and eaten well, so joined a very long ride with the club on Sun. It was quite pacy at times and although I was getting a little tired near the end, I could still climb well and push on. I didn't take enough bars with me, and about 10k from home, 'bang', absolutely no power, on a flat section!! I was forced to change to the small ring and almost came to a standstill . It wasn't quite a bonk, but I could only put out 1/4 of the watts I'd been averaging all day. I managed to get to a shop, downed a sandwich, coke (and I never drink coke!), some fruit, and a choc bar. After 30 mins resting on the grass in the sun, got back on my bike and I had my power back. (Well, more than enough to get me home the last 5k)

Even though I got it wrong this weekend, getting your nutrition right is a big part of riding well.

BrandonA

Why did you stop for 20 mins towards the end? Did your performance drop after this point? I stopped at the pub on Sunday for a quick pint, it took a bit of time for my legs to re-warm up.

You have also dismissed eating badly before the ride. How can you rule this out? Maybe you ran out of reserves.

You also got lots of PBs at the end of the ride which is strange if you bonked.

bushpixy

I stopped at a friends as I was passing. I felt it starting more like mile 21. then had to stop for what looks like 4 mins at the level crossing. I felt a tiny bit better after that stop I though, although that was probably in my head more than my legs.

I picked up some water as I only took 1 bottle and had drank all that. Mostly after I started to feel a bit gone rather than throughout the ride.

I think I can pretty much put it down to not being fuelled right as I don't think I was pushing all that hard. Borderline Z4 with solid Z3 work.

That average was a lot higher than I've been putting in in the last couple of months though. After winter I was shocked to find I couldn't hold 17mph averages on rides over 15 miles and a friend said it was because I'd been blasting round in Z4 all day and was now bonking after an hour so I concentrated on riding in Z2 and slowly I've started to get faster while keeping my HR down. I only went as fast as I did yesterday because my legs felt good and the speed was up as high as it was.

If I had the money I'd buy a power meter. that would give the answer hopefully.

Cheers for the replies guys.