nasabiker

The last couple of weeks, I have been building up my endurance for a 34 mile round trip commute.
1 day a week at first then 2 this week and 3 max.


I took a year off from the bike commute but have been biking to work 3 days a week for 8 years previously, but the distance was half.


problem is this the day after my commute - I have been super fatigued.
I generally have to get up about 4:30 am to b on the road in time and its about an hour and a half each way.
ill feel ok the afternoon of the ride but the next day is a train wreck! no energy- super lethargic.


any advice from some long distance riders?

dabac

Eat.
Or drink something nutritious.
A 90 minute ride at decent effort will drain your stored energy pretty well.
You need to replenish asap, If you want to remain functional.
Perhaps a mid-ride snack too.

nasabiker

dabac,
thanks for the advice. I try to eat afterward maybe I should bring r mid ride fuel as well

79pmooney

So you just finished your third week of "training"? My observation was that the first big step up, the first ride that was "fun" happened usually in the middle of that third week - when I was 25 yo. As I grew older, that got pushed back. I don't know how old you are and we all vary in training effect, but y0u might be just on schedule for that breakthrough. Your body might just be looking for a window of two-three days rest to put in place all the benefits you've been putting in place. Until that time, it is staying in a place of over-trained and fatigued.

Don't lose hope. Keep plugging away and give your body rest (and a lot of sleep) when you can. And remember this. Staying in shape is a lot more fun than getting it back!

Ben

nasabiker

Thanks Ben
I'm 41 been riding for a while but trying to up the miles from 2000 miles a year to 4000 or better if possible. I see some who do 7000 and WOW

WonderMonkey

I say drive closer to work and commute from there. Then the next week park a bit further away and do that. Keep going until you are able to go the full distance. On days you aren't feeling it just pick a previous distance and go from there.

Recovery starts before the activity. Make sure you are properly hydrated and fueled. Generally, with 17 miles you won't need a bunch of fueling before the ride, or in the middle, but you certainly need to make sure the prior evening you have taken care of things. Immediately off the bike in the morning, you start preparing for the ride home. Right away.

nasabiker

great advice, I never thought of recovery as before the ride

mgw4jc

What's your route like? Road, gravel, dirt, hilly, flat... Obviously a smooth, flat road would be the least taxing. And how much of a load are you hauling for your commute?

I ride about 26-28 miles round trip every day on roads with rolling hills. One way trip of 13-14 miles usually takes about 50-55 minutes (15 - 17mph). I managed 6,000 commuting miles last year.

I go light with a carbon road bike and just a small seat post mounted trunk. I keep a rotating selection of pants, shirts and shoes at the office so I don't have to carry much on a regular basis.

I also run every day (marathon training and such) before biking to work. I can get tired while at work, usually due to getting up at 4 - 4:30am. I often try to get a lunch time nap. I ran a little over 2,000 miles last year.

I think you just need to allow your body time to build up to the daily workout. But also consider lightening your load or picking the easiest route. Good luck!

WonderMonkey

In general, for any activity of any stress at all the recovery begins before the activity.

tyrion

When I used to train for sports, coming off summer vacation or something, getting back in cardio shape, there was a "wall" at about 3 or 4 weeks where everything got harder. But in a few days (5?) you break through the wall and suddenly it's easier and you really notice the results of the work.

Not sure you're at this "wall", but maybe.

Bikewolf

Sometimes I take a ‘minute stop’ about halfway my commute. Maybe an idea?

You can change a layer, sip some water, eat an energy bar, take a picture...

ridingfool

how is ur diet 17 miles one way is not alot but if not used to it can be a little rough.the first few times eat a balanced diet for a few weeks try cutting out all sweets and on your non commute days try maybe a eight mile each way ride to build

ridingfool

Up your indurance some more

ptempel

Listen to your body and take a rest day if needed. If you're taking the weekend off, then the three day cyclecommute should be doable. If you feel tired on Monday, then take an easy week. Remove a day or two that week or shorten up the commute by driving to a midpoint and then ride the bike. The park and ride all week long helped me to do my easy week. When I commuted longer distances in spring/summer/fall, then I need that easy week about once a month or two.

CreakingCrank

I'm with ptempel on this one ... listen to your body. I commute daily and ride on weekends and can sometimes ride 20+ days straight. I've found fatigue doesn't occur from a single ride but builds up over time. Its also a warning signal to rest. I usually take a day or two off (depending on level of fatigue) followed by an easy week (1/2 normal weekly mileage). Usually does the trick.

chas58

Congratulations, That is a lot of riding. I did the same thing. Here is my advice:
1. Slow down
2. Eat well right after the ride (and before the ride too).

I went from a 9 mile to a 19 mile commute (one way). Big change. Here is what I did:
Slowed my pace down from 20mph to 17mph. I can hammer for 30 minutes, but at an hour, I needed an endurance pace. I can do 17 for 100 miles, so that’s my (max) endurance pace.

(technical explanation – as you get near your lactate threshold, you are burning 100% sugar. If I keep my heart rate about 20bpm below my threshold I am burning mostly fat. That greatly impacts my recovery and endurance).

I eat immediately after the ride. Your muscles are sore, torn, and depleted. If you can eat within 30 minutes of finishing that activity, your body will greedily absorb all of the nutrients it needs (vitamin, minerals, protein).

I agree with recovery before the ride. I’ll do 30 minute commute in the AM on an empty stomach. But doing an hour+ commute on an empty stomach is going to cause problems. Stay fueled, stay hydrated.

RoadKill

I find that going for 2 rides a day, like commuting, wears me out more than a single ride of the same distance. A 34 mile round trip ride isn't bad, but two separate 17 mile rides in one day is significantly harder. That second ride of the day takes place before you fully recovered from the previous ride, especially if you pushed fairly hard.
Your body will adapt, but with that length of commute I agree with the guy that suggested driving part way and commuting shorter distance to start. Or you could drive to work, ride home, then ride back the next day and drive home. Build up to the round trip commute.

VRC

Sleep! You are getting up super early to do this, so you're going to need to go to bed earlier.

CliffordK

I am one of the long distance commuters... but fortunately it is mostly shopping and errands now. So, I'm generally not riding 35 miles a day and working 8 hours a day. And, frequently am only hitting 30 to 40 miles, say 3 days a week or so.

What I will say is that it gets much better with time and practice. So, if you keep at it, then in a year, you'll hardly remember how hard it was at the beginning, and when once a week was though, you could easily work yourself up to 5+ days a week.

The other thing that I believe helps is to push the limits. So, don't always do just the daily slog.

Add in a few 100 mile days, or 150 mile days.

Perhaps try pulling 200 or 300 pounds of cargo for that 17 mile ride, once in a while.

See if you can do that ride in an hour... sometimes.

Anyway, mix it up a bit.

Oh, and yes, I am often pretty tired at the end of a ride coming home, especially if I was pulling heavy cargo. So, a few rest moments are good.

canklecat

Watch for seasonal illness too. This winter's flu has been brutal. I began feeling a bit dragged down around the end of December. Kept riding and exercising, and had some very stressful home stuff going on (transitioning my elderly mom to long term nursing home care).

Early January the flu hit hard. I don't recall ever getting the flu before so I don't get flu shots. Pneumonia, yes, so I get the pneumonia shots every few years. But not flu. Until this year.

Took a month to feel a little better. Then I seemed fine the first couple of weeks of February. Resumed some hard bike rides and training, including in temps from 20-40F. I'd been losing weight so I added some protein powders and pre-mixed nutrition drinks to my diet.

Then it floored me again this week. Can hardly get out of bed. Not even thinking about riding a bike yet.

nasabiker

I'm sure part of it is me fighting a cold or sinus infection the last week ...
the commute its self is pretty hilly with about 1,550 feet of climbing and I usually have a change of clothes and lunch in my panniers
so about 12lbs of gear at most

surak

Interested in reading all the advice on this topic. I'm planning to work my way up to regularly doing a similar commute -- same distance but only half the elevation gain (all at the end in the morning direction). I've done it once and was fine afterward, but 1) I was really slow and 2) I made a few unplanned stops due to getting lost, so I don't think I expended all my physical energy.

I tried again the following week on my heavier commuter bike (I needed to wait for parts for the road bike I'd taken first time and also was expecting worse weather) and could only make it half-way, maybe because I didn't sleep well the night before but also because I was behind schedule and would've gotten in to work really late had I kept going. The weather's been bad ever since so I've yet to attempt it again. Luckily there's an express bus stop right in the middle of my route, so I won't be deterred in the future by being worried about my energy level.

I plan to take my change of clothes to work on different days than I ride, can you do that? It's not a lot of weight in the grand scheme of things, but psychologically it could be nice knowing you're riding lean and mean.

a1penguin

It takes time to build up endurance, especially if you don't have many long rides under your belt. Keep doing long rides more frequently and you'll build endurance. It takes time. I used to consider 25 miles "long". Now I bike to work daily 22 miles. Only 6 mile ride home as I take the train most of the way.

It takes months, not weeks. Keep up the good work!

nasabiker

thanks all for the info and support, I didn't ride again this week, the rainhas been non-stop all week and lots of flooding and was fight a cold or sinus infection. felling better now. next week I will try 2 split commutes and 1 full to get my self worked up. I am also finishing up my ebike to share the miles with.

ryan786i

This would be much more of an issue during the commute, but any chance you've started on an ACE inhibitor? When my doctor started me on one I went from knocking out my then five mile commute with no problems to be done after the first large hill on that ride about a mile in. Primarily I was out of breath but also just generally out of it after a pretty short period of exertion.

Anyway, if all other preparations and sticking it out don't quite seem to cut it, give a look to any medications you might have started.