lotown.pedaler

The past few rides I've participated in, I have really struggled physically during the first 5-10 miles. What I mean by this is I will sweat profusely, feel a bit weak/lightheaded and feel just overall BLECCCH. After I get past this, and usually after my first rest stop for a Clif bar, I am O(plenty of energy and not sweating near as much) for the rest of the ride for the most part as long as I stay hydrated and eat. FYI, I have been eating oatmeal/toast/OJ for breakfast before I leave out. Time between that meal and when I first start the ride has been ~an hour both time.

Any suggestions what this could be?

LesterOfPuppets

Dunno what's happening, but here's a kludge:

Ride to the rides, or if too far, get there earlier and do a 5-mile out and back before the ride.

I personally would need a more substantial breakfast than that to feel good about myself but I know people that get by on that.

ahsposo 

I think it's kind of weird but on a hot day I takes me longer to warm up.

dstrong 

It takes me 10 miles to really get into a groove. If you ride with a group that starts fast it can be a real suffer-fest...right at the beginning! Lately I've been doing some faster rides and they begin 5 miles from my house, so I ride to them at a nice relaxed pace to get in some of the warm-up miles.

JustinHorne

Similar to the above post: I don't know why it happens specifically, but I feel your pain. Definitely takes me 10 miles or so to start feeling like I have any power in my legs.

Chickenstrip

Interval training and/or hill repeats!

I have had the same problems and these helped tremendously!

My normal weekday ride is a 32 mile loop 3-4 times during the week, with a 60+ mile ride usually on Saturday morning. I replaced one of my weekday rides with hill repeats. This is by far the most difficult day of my week and I have to force myself to do it, but it has made all the difference in my average speed, sprinting, and the problem of fatigue early in rides.

mkadam68

YMMV.

I found that if I eat before riding, it seems to kick my body into a "Feed me, Seymour" mode. I have to keep eating. If I don't, I bonk. However, if I don't eat before riding, my system relies on its energy stores and lasts for up to 2+ hours before I need to start eating.

As I said, YMMV. So play around with it. Also, get warmed up before the ride as others have said.

garciawork

I usually drink a muscle milk shake before I leave (which I am about to do actually), and that seems to be enough food for a while. However... the first 5-10 miles still sucks. My cruising speed takes a while to get to my normal, which I think contributes to feeling bad in the beginning, because I feel so slow. I have found that looking down less at my speed seems to help a bit, and I can feel when my body hits its groove. Then I don't notice how slow I am, and feel a little better.

triumph.1

I think it is normal what you are experiencing. I usually feel good after several warm up miles. There have been times I didn't click until around 20 miles, an off day for sure, but most rides start out slow for me.

John_V 

I'm not sure how to answer the OP but I'm sure glad that I'm not the only one whose ride sucks during the first 7-10 miles.

Triode

One thing that may help.

Try forcing your breathing.

As a jogger, I learned that it was really important at times - particularly right at the first of a run and/or before going up a big hill, etc.

Force breathing out - really push it out - As in making a shout on the exhale.

Then after ten or so breaths start sucking in also.

Then keep a measured tempo - heavy breathing, basically a military double time cadence - you've heard them shout them out. You will normally breath in somewhat - but you will not normally force the air all the way out. Doing so, increases oxygen supply to your system primarily to your muscles.

My theory is - early on, your blood stream and system are behind the curve on supplying oxygen to your muscles - this is what makes it tough during the early part - When you smooth out, your system is supplying enough oxygen to your muscles.

When a runner "hits a wall" it is usually that he/she has entered an oxygen deficit situation. No way to win on this one. Have to stop and recover. However, if you force your breathing - you won't hit that wall -

I'm talking recreational running here, not olympic marathon runners, they may well tell you different.

I'm 65, and this system is what has made jogging roughly fifteen miles a week work for me.

Biking - not exactly the same, but in some ways this has helped me a lot - I will start breathing deeper before a grade - and as I go up, pushing harder - I breath harder and force it - and have no problems with the grade. No real hills on my route.

Worth a try, not saying it will solve your issues - but in fact may well make your situation a lot better.

vw addict

try warming up before the ride. You see TDFers on the trainer prior to a time trial? Guess why.

gregf83 

Our group doesn't go hard until at least 30min. Warmup before you meet the group.