Bicyclists: dealing with post-ride exhaustion?

[MichiganMat]

Just got a new mountain bike, a Giant AC1 freeride monster, and I've been out on it on a few trails here in NorCal. Love this bike:



I've been hitting some pretty gnarly trails lately, lots of climbing, and the result is always the same: complete and total exhaustion for the rest of the day. I drink plenty of water on the trail, I eat well, Im in pretty good shape too, but I can't deal with this exhaustion. I end up coming home, eating a little bit of food, taking a nap, and just sitting in front of the tube for the rest of the night because I can barely muster the strength to stand.

Any of you OT bikers out there have any suggestions or secret recipes for dealing with this?

[Joeaksa]

Try doing a 175 mile bike race then see how you feel. How I did this as a kid I will never know but it sure helped me later on in life.

We just ate lots of fruits and pasta, then rested for a while after the races. Then it was not unusual to ride 10-15 miles home after the race...

[nostatic]

how old are you?

My heavy biking days were in my 30s. We would routinely do 30-50 miles off-road, plenty of hike-a-bike. And this was before suspension. I'd usually be pretty wiped, but they were 6-12 hour days in the saddle, so I didn't schedule much afterwards.

Training rides, either road or mountain, were 1-3 hours, and I was fine afterwards. You need to have plenty of carbs in you and hydrate. I used to have one water bottle with water, one with exceed. Later I used a camelback with water and a bottle with exceed (or other carb drink).

Not sure how I'd fare now in my 40s...

[MichiganMat]

Im, uh, 26 {cough} years old. My rides have mostly been 2 to 3 hour rides, fire roads and single track. Im using two bottles right now, both water, followed by a Gatorade at the end of the ride. CliffBar usuallly before I start.

Maybe Im just out of shape?

[nostatic]

its lugging that crap-arse full suspension nonsense around. I've been meaning to get back in the saddle, but before I do I'm yanking my front fork (an old Judy modified with Englund air cartridges) and putting on an IF rigid fork. Should be just right for my YBBeat.

oh, and you're out of shape

[Eric H]

Two bottles of water for a 2-3 hour ride isn't providing enough (any) energy... you're burning a lot of calories and you can't replace them fast enough by burning fat (if you have any). I'd suggest you replace the water with some sort of energy drink containing electrolytes, calories, etc., maybe somewhat diluted depending on taste, temperature, etc., and also snack on energy bars, bananas or whatever you like during the ride.

When I used to do long rides/races I would consume one tall water bottle full of energy drink per hour plus some food. Also, continue to hydrate and eat immediately after the ride...

[MichiganMat]

I didn't realize how much energy I would need to consume while on the trail, bottles of energy drink sounds like a good idea. Any suggested brands I should check out?

The trails at Soquel Demonstration Forest are pretty gnarly, you need a big tough bike to ride out there or you're gonna need to be scraped off the trail. Some of the rock gardens are downright dangerous and I can't imagine riding parts of the downhill without disk brakes. A lot of the guys shuttle out there but I enjoy the challenge of the hike... atleast until I get home and suffer for the next 12 hours.

[nostatic]

We used to ride very rough single track. On full rigid bikes. The suspension allows you to go faster and for a longer period of time, but at a price. The reality is that FS can be a hindrance as it masks deficiencies in technique. I've ridden with guys that ride sick stuff...without boingers.

Shuttle is for losers. I think it should be banned. If you can't climb, you shouldn't get to be a gravity slob.

[Eric H]

Well, it's been a while but I used to like Cytomax to drink and Gu for concentrated, quickly absorbed energy. I'd say go down to your local bike shop and see what they have (or join a local club and maybe get some discounts).

Sounds to me like you are simply "bonking", which you will not realize until it's too late...

[jyl]

I used to mountain bike in the SoCal foothills quite a lot. More fireroads than single track, but plenty of climbing (what is this shuttle crap?) in really hot weather. Learned to drink up before we started riding, to start off nicely hydrated. Otherwise, didn't have to do anything special, either before or after. Get home, eat lunch/dinner, have a normal day. I was in my early 30s. So I think you're simply coming up to speed, after a few weeks you'll find you're lots stronger. Also, I think biking uses some specific muscles that you won't build up by running, swimming, etc.

[juanbenae]

Originally posted by MichiganMat
I eat well, Im in pretty good shape too, but

the first part i believe, the second part i know not to be true......

[cantdrv55]

Dude's lost like 15 lbs since the last autox at Alameda, I heard.

Good job getting back on the bike Mat. I've never tried gels for a quick boost of energy but some roadies I know swear by them.

After a long ride on my road bike, I drink some fluids but not too much, take a shower and eat light until about 2 hours after. Then I eat a regular meal, stay awake for another 2 hours and pass out before 8PM. But I'm 42 y/o and waaay out of shape.

[HardDrive]

No worries Mat. When I was 26 I was smoking a pack of Camels a day.

[dd74]

Originally posted by MichiganMat
... atleast until I get home and suffer for the next 12 hours.

What's the weather like where you are? Is it hot? Hot weather, IMO, requires a different riding style than cooler or cold. With cold weather, I generally use harder gearing. Warmer weather, I spin a bit more. You might try lighter gears. That's what I've been doing. But then again, I thrive pretty well in warm to very hot weather, so YMMV.

As far as shape goes, no, it sounds like you're not quite in shape for the terrain you want to cover with the sort of speed you're sustaining. How are your joints and your extremities after you ride? Knees, hips, feet and hands? If either feels uncomfortable, you're either riding improperly, or your bike is not fitted correctly.

At this point, you need some base miles - lots of spinning, moderate hills, etc. As you break in your bike, your bike also has to break you in.

The mainstays apply: hydrate, eat light, don't ride (hard) any less than two hours after eating, and don't, by any means, pay attention to the gear the other guy is riding in - that's the oldest psych-out move in cycling.

[greglepore]

If you're actually riding for 2-3 hrs, your intake is way low; figure you're burning around 500cal/hr, plus the need to hydrate.

Try to get carbs into your system after the ride, immediately. Caffine helps too-can anyone say 24 oz Mountain Dew?

[Jims5543]

Originally posted by MichiganMat
I didn't realize how much energy I would need to consume while on the trail, bottles of energy drink sounds like a good idea. Any suggested brands I should check out?
.

Go to your local Muscle Supplement shop and find some Carb fuel type of drinks, they might even sell powder form that you can mix with water. I have never had a Carb fuel type of drink that tastes good though.

Also it sounds like your just starting out. Give it a month or two and you'll find your energy level will adapt. Anytime you do something new it will affect you.

I bike an hour a morning 3 times a week but nothing like what your doing. (although it sounds like a LOT of fun) The first few weeks were bad, now its nothing. I probably have to increase the time or find a more difficult route.

[einreb]

Originally posted by MichiganMat
I didn't realize how much energy I would need to consume while on the trail, bottles of energy drink sounds like a good idea. Any suggested brands I should check out?

drink a coke. i also weigh myself before and after rides to see that i've properly rehydrated. the following article has some good tips, but I'm a fan of a little more protein than they suggest (for muscle recovery)

http://www.cptips.com/recvry.htm

also... there's no such thing as 'overtraining'. it just means you didnt train enough up to the point that you went out and overtrained.

[Mulhollanddose]

Originally posted by einreb
also... there's no such thing as 'overtraining'. it just means you didnt train enough up to the point that you went out and overtrained.

I used to overtrain bodybuilding. I would regularly get sick and my muscle growth plateaued. I slowed down my training and I haven't been sick for like 3-4 years and my growth and muscle maturity have increased...Perhaps aerobic exercising, overtraining, is different.

[Drago]

Originally posted by nostatic
We used to ride very rough single track. On full rigid bikes. The suspension allows you to go faster and for a longer period of time, but at a price. The reality is that FS can be a hindrance as it masks deficiencies in technique. I've ridden with guys that ride sick stuff...without boingers.

Shuttle is for losers. I think it should be banned. If you can't climb, you shouldn't get to be a gravity slob.

As I'm now a lazy old SOB I'm going to have to give this a +1. I was all about the latest and greatest innovation back when I was riding a lot...I was just waiting for the day when disk brakes would be cheap and reliable.

Now, not so much. It takes A LOT of energy to push some of these trick new "all mountain" bikes around.

Like nostatic I'm considering pulling the Lawill Leader 3 off my Mt. bike and re-installing the original Cannondale Peperroni fork on it.

Seems to be easier to take weight off the bike these days...then again, at 26 years old I would have kicked my 38 year old ass.

[VaSteve]

Originally posted by nostatic


Shuttle is for losers. I think it should be banned. If you can't climb, you shouldn't get to be a gravity slob.

If you can't ride up it, you don't deserve to rided down it.


On another note. I used to ride (mountain bike) alot. Self "trained" did it for fun. I'm sure terrible technique. Didn't get clip in shoes until several years into it. I used to get terrible pains in one of my knees.

With everything else I do now (married, life, etc) I find it hard to load up the bike, drive somewhere, ride and come home. So I bought a road bike last summer. I was dismayed to find I was still getting the knee pain, until I was riding out on the multipurpose trail and another road biker said my cadense sucked - I was pedaling too hard.

I basically worked on a cadence with my road bike, but havn't been back on the mountain bike (off roading) since l bought the road bike. Can you spin and develop any sort of cadence with a mountain bike? The kind of stuff I rode was single track, there aren't a lot of long fire roads or anything around here so I'm not sure it can be done effectively.