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meanredspider
meanredspider Posts: 12,337
edited September 2014 in Commuting chat
Just back from a lovely ride in the Highlands today - 107k 1020m elevation 18c - some amazing scenery. Covered the first 32k in under an hour (you'll see in minute why I mention this). Now, I'm back home and I'm spent. I should add that I did 45k last night too so I covered nearly a century in the last 24 hours. Added to which, I've hardly done any cycling due to other commitment in August except for my sprint commute.

Cutting to the chase, at what point do you come back from a ride a little tired but refresh and on that exercise "high" and where's the cross-over to being flat out on the sofa not wanting to move? One is pleasurable and the other feels like some sort of penance (and I'm sure is necessary "training"). I don't really want this thread to turn into mileage quotes but more about what aspect is it that turns it from one to the other? (Maybe described in TSS for those that care about such things)
ROAD < Scott Foil HMX Di2, Volagi Liscio Di2, Jamis Renegade Elite Di2, Cube Reaction Race > ROUGH

Comments

  • itboffin
    itboffin Posts: 20,072
    After 60 miles @ 3000+ ft I need a good feed and a rest otherwise I'm fine in fact I don't even take food on rides under 50 miles.
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  • It all depends on how well I've fed / watered during the ride. I've done 100 miles and felt fine afterwards (and taken the protein recovery drink so I was fine the next day) then I've done 50 miles on a hot day and got home with spinny lights going off in my head.

    I suffered last weekend (70 miles) and I knew it was due to energy levels as the gels were basically giving me enough to stagger home on. When I got home I damn near collapsed on the bed after my shower. I can get to 40 miles (ish) without eating, so I aim to START before 20 if I'm doing more than that.
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    2011 Trek Madone 4.5
    2012 Felt F65X
    Proud CX Pervert and quiet roadie. 12 mile commuter
  • slowbike
    slowbike Posts: 8,498
    Can we get one thing right please.

    Feed is a verb ... it's an act of giving sustenance to another being - not to yourself. When on your bike you don't have a feed - you eat ... it's quite simple and bluddy annoying with all you lot going on about FEED all the time ...

    perhaps this should be in the rants thread ... :)
  • slowbike
    slowbike Posts: 8,498
    Can we get one thing right please.

    Feed is a verb ... it's an act of giving sustenance to another being - not to yourself. When on your bike you don't have a feed - you eat ... it's quite simple and bluddy annoying with all you lot going on about FEED all the time ...

    perhaps this should be in the rants thread ... :)
  • dhope
    dhope Posts: 6,699
    Slowbike wrote:
    Can we get one thing right please.

    Feed is a verb ... it's an act of giving sustenance to another being - not to yourself. When on your bike you don't have a feed - you eat ... it's quite simple and bluddy annoying with all you lot going on about FEED all the time ...

    perhaps this should be in the rants thread ... :)

    It's also a noun
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  • Slowbike wrote:
    Can we get one thing right please.

    Feed is a verb ... it's an act of giving sustenance to another being - not to yourself. When on your bike you don't have a feed - you eat ... it's quite simple and bluddy annoying with all you lot going on about FEED all the time ...

    perhaps this should be in the rants thread ... :)

    What about chicken feed? Is that not a noun? Acceptable usage of the word if you ask me.
  • feed
    noun

    : food for animals

    : a large meal

    : a part of a machine or system that sends material or electricity to other parts



    feed noun (FOOD)
    › [C] UK (US feeding) an occasion when a baby has something to eat or drink: The baby had a feed an hour ago, so she can't be hungry. › food eaten by animals that are not kept as pets: cattle/animal feed
    See also
    chickenfeed
    › [C] old-fashioned a large meal
    feed noun (MACHINE PART)
    › [C] the part of a machine through which it is supplied with fuel or with something else that it needs: the car's oil feed the printer's paper feed
    Chunky Cyclists need your love too! :-)
    2009 Specialized Tricross Sport
    2011 Trek Madone 4.5
    2012 Felt F65X
    Proud CX Pervert and quiet roadie. 12 mile commuter
  • elbowloh
    elbowloh Posts: 7,078
    Slowbike wrote:
    Can we get one thing right please.

    Feed is a verb ... it's an act of giving sustenance to another being - not to yourself. When on your bike you don't have a feed - you eat ... it's quite simple and bluddy annoying with all you lot going on about FEED all the time ...

    perhaps this should be in the rants thread ... :)
    How is one supposed to medal or podium without a good feed?

    :wink:
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  • elbowloh wrote:
    How is one supposed to medal or podium without a good eat?

    :wink:

    FTFY :wink:
    ROAD < Scott Foil HMX Di2, Volagi Liscio Di2, Jamis Renegade Elite Di2, Cube Reaction Race > ROUGH
  • slowbike
    slowbike Posts: 8,498
    elbowloh wrote:
    How is one supposed to medal or podium without a good eat?

    :wink:

    FTFY :wink:

    How is one supposed to medal or podium without eating well?

    FFS people, it's not difficult ... ;)
  • slowbike
    slowbike Posts: 8,498
    feed
    noun

    : food for animals
    You're nothing but a bunch of animals!

    : a large meal
    Meat and 2 veg on your bike - but not for eating!
    : a part of a machine or system that sends material or electricity to other parts
    Illuminating!! :D

    feed noun (FOOD)
    › [C] UK (US feeding) an occasion when a baby has something to eat or drink: The baby had a feed an hour ago, so she can't be hungry. › food eaten by animals that are not kept as pets: cattle/animal feed
    See also
    chickenfeed
    › [C] old-fashioned a large meal
    feed noun (MACHINE PART)
    › [C] the part of a machine through which it is supplied with fuel or with something else that it needs: the car's oil feed the printer's paper feed
    Yes - something that happens to a 3rd party... not yourself!
  • Well that went off topic pretty quickly.

    For me it depends on:

    1. What came before the ride in terms of other stresses on the body seems to have the biggest impact - so will tend to flake out almost regardless of the ride if previous x days I've done some "hard" rides.

    2. As for the actual ride itself - I've been wondering about this myself. Not got proof\evidence just yet but I've got a working hypothesis that I may tend to feel more all over body knackered coming back from a consistently HR zone 2 ride than a ride that has a lot of high intensity work but also loads of time to recover. An example of the former being a 1 1/2 commute and the later being the ride to and back from a 10 mile TT. The high intensity work tends to leave me with me sore legs, which can make walking down stairs fun but the HR zone 2 is a more all over fatigue where I just want to go to sleep.

    my 2 cents ..
    Sometimes you're the hammer, sometimes you're the nail

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  • point 1 being the TSS you mentioned.
    Sometimes you're the hammer, sometimes you're the nail

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  • I'm not calling you a liar - but I'm not seeing a Strava link...

    :shock:

    I was out yesterday, just for a quickie when I got up (currently working nights), The second layer turned out to be excessive.
  • elbowloh
    elbowloh Posts: 7,078
    elbowloh wrote:
    How is one supposed to medal or podium without a good eat?

    :wink:

    FTFY :wink:
    So you're happy with medal and podium as verbs?
    Felt F1 2014
    Felt Z6 2012
    Red Arthur Caygill steel frame
    Tall....
    www.seewildlife.co.uk
  • Well that went off topic pretty quickly.

    I was just giving feed to the troll :wink:
    Chunky Cyclists need your love too! :-)
    2009 Specialized Tricross Sport
    2011 Trek Madone 4.5
    2012 Felt F65X
    Proud CX Pervert and quiet roadie. 12 mile commuter
  • slowbike
    slowbike Posts: 8,498
    Well that went off topic pretty quickly.

    I was just giving feed to the troll :wink:


    Oh, that's class ... coming from the forum caped animal .... :p
  • I'm not calling you a liar - but I'm not seeing a Strava link...

    Trust a (local) cop to want evidence.... :roll: :wink:

    Voila - pics n everything http://app.strava.com/activities/192587357 8)
    ROAD < Scott Foil HMX Di2, Volagi Liscio Di2, Jamis Renegade Elite Di2, Cube Reaction Race > ROUGH
  • Just back from a lovely ride in the Highlands today - 107k 1020m elevation 18c - some amazing scenery. Covered the first 32k in under an hour (you'll see in minute why I mention this). Now, I'm back home and I'm spent. I should add that I did 45k last night too so I covered nearly a century in the last 24 hours. Added to which, I've hardly done any cycling due to other commitment in August except for my sprint commute.

    Cutting to the chase, at what point do you come back from a ride a little tired but refresh and on that exercise "high" and where's the cross-over to being flat out on the sofa not wanting to move? One is pleasurable and the other feels like some sort of penance (and I'm sure is necessary "training"). I don't really want this thread to turn into mileage quotes but more about what aspect is it that turns it from one to the other? (Maybe described in TSS for those that care about such things)

    It's a really interesting question that I've been pondering a lot recently, but I haven't got any answers.

    Last Sunday I did a century with 11000 feet of climbing, I felt tired after 40 miles and it was a mental battle to complete the ride and was pretty knackered at the end. Yesterday I did another century with 12000 feet of ascent and felt good throughout, felt quite fresh at the end and could've carried on for quite a few more climbs and miles and I felt quite good when I got home.

    Ate similar meals the night beforez, slept the same, same breakfast. TSS AND NP were very similar for both rides, same food and drink on the bike too.
    Hydration, nutrition and all the other factors of course can make a big difference but I think when those things are similar then it points some underlying natural cycle. Some days you gave good legs some days you don't. I think the body fluctuates as to how much energy it can produce, how efficient it is.

    Of course this is purely anecdotal and I have nothing to back it up with. But for me it isn't a TSS That leaves me fatigued but something about how I feel on the day. But what that is I am yet to work out.
  • It's not just the ride length, but what you've been doing before it. I've now done 190 miles since Sunday morning (including a hilly 60 mile ride on Sunday), and to be honest, the 15 mile ride home this evening is not looking appealing.

    I'm even contemplating driving the 11 miles to the Ripley Cycle Jumble tomorrow morning, when it's a lovely ride.....
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  • Rhodrich wrote:
    It's not just the ride length, but what you've been doing before it. I've now done 190 miles since Sunday morning (including a hilly 60 mile ride on Sunday), and to be honest, the 15 mile ride home this evening is not looking appealing.

    I'm even contemplating driving the 11 miles to the Ripley Cycle Jumble tomorrow morning, when it's a lovely ride.....

    I just drop into pootle home mode. I deliberately use one gear lower than normal and just gently spin along. Some days it's just good to take in the view.
    Chunky Cyclists need your love too! :-)
    2009 Specialized Tricross Sport
    2011 Trek Madone 4.5
    2012 Felt F65X
    Proud CX Pervert and quiet roadie. 12 mile commuter
  • as a newbie I find for 100k I have to get the fuelling right for a few days in advance or I end up so hungry and tired that I just can not consume enough to pull myself back. This hunger will last into the next day
  • I just drop into pootle home mode. I deliberately use one gear lower than normal and just gently spin along. Some days it's just good to take in the view.

    There does come a point when I think even pootle mode is making things worse (from a recovery point of view). I suppose it does depend on the route though .. if it's flat you might get away with it .. and also whether your trying to achieve some sort of training goal. But regardless of whether your training or not - it's not particularly enjoyable riding when this tired either.

    For me 2-3 days a week are in pootle mode anyway due to the riding I've done on the other days and sometimes I just have to admit that my body is knackered and it needs a rest day instead. Otherwise I'm simply delaying recovery .. and will feel worse the next day.

    Case in point was yesterday .. no point cycling in as I was trashed even though I knew I've got today and the whole of the weekend off the bike. Frustrating but I was knackered and not admitting it, and cycling in to work in spite of it, was not going to help.

    Instead I'll see if I can sneak a session in over the next 3 days that will actually achieve something.

    Sure sometimes (a lot of the time) your legs are lying when they complain but not your whole body - for me anyway.
    Sometimes you're the hammer, sometimes you're the nail

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  • as a newbie I find for 100k I have to get the fuelling right for a few days in advance or I end up so hungry and tired that I just can not consume enough to pull myself back. This hunger will last into the next day

    Definitely a newbie thing - your body will get used to that kind of mileage over time and be less demanding on the amount of food you need to consume. Something before hand, then little and often on the ride itself will eventually be sufficient.

    Also you've got to figure out what works for you .. it's can be a pretty personal thing.
    Sometimes you're the hammer, sometimes you're the nail

    strava profile