NYMXer

Hi all, I got caught up in the warm weather and actually ended up riding 5 days in a row, with each ride about 30 miles. All involved a lot of climbing (over 3,000 ft) but only 2 were at a fast workout pace (16+ mph ave). The other 3 rides were more casual with a slower group but easier at 14 or so mph.
During yesterdays ride, my legs felt like they just didn't have it and even today, they are still complaining a little. Not pain, just a little sore but not giving out, shaky or anything like that.
Now, 30 mile rides are short for me and yesterdays was 31 miles but my legs were done. I never experienced that before where it carried over to the next day. Obviously I am taking today off from the bike but wondered what happened, unless it is normal fatigue. I'm a fairly new rider, riding for 7 months (I got to ride through most of the NYS Catskills Winter). I've been tired before but always good to go the next day, but not this time... my legs are saying we are taking a break.
Thanks

chasm54

Listen to your legs.

If riding five days in succession is unusual for you, it's not that surprising that you're fatigued. Getting fitter is a question not of exercise, but of exercise + recovery. You break the muscles down while you're riding and you get stronger as they repair/overcompensate between rides.

In general one needs to strike a balance between volume, intensity and rest. The usual formula for training, if that's what you want to do, is to spend about 80% of your time on the bike going easily and a maximum of 20% - probably less, when one takes account of warm-up and cool down - going very hard, and making sure you give time for recovery, especially after the hard session.

tl;dr - it's normal to be fatigued when you increase duration/frequency/intensity of rides. Rest when you feel you need to - and even, sometimes, when you don't.

NYMXer

Thanks chasm54, what you wrote makes sense and what I sort of figured too but wasn't sure. Before yesterdays ride, I felt no fatigue at all, the ride was casual but did have a few good climbs. Not hard climbs, but long and required the small ring up front (which I rarely use).
So, today is just some easy walking around and rest while drinking ACV with the "mother" for the recovery helping nutrients.

berner

Even pros find recovery a big issue and for them it is crucial, not merely inconvenient. There is quite a bit of info on the subject on line such as here. 7 Recovery Strategies Used by Pro Cyclists | ACTIVE It is crucial for me also because as an old man if I don't follow good protocol I'm wiped out physically for a few days or longer if the ride is at the upper end of long for me.

I grew up near Wallkill but have yet to ride my bike in the area. I want to climb the Shawngunk ridge this summer.

NYMXer

Thanks for the info and let me know if your coming to town. I ride the area a lot but never rode the Shawangunk Ridge other some some carriage roads at Mohonk.
If I am available, I would enjoy a ride together as I am usually always up for a good ride.

zonatandem

83 years old; usually riding 5 to 6 days a week since the early 1970s.
Have ridden back-to-back-to-back centuries with 22,000 feet of climbing in Arizona's mountainous (read up to 8,000 ft) terrain in younger days, with no soreness anywhere . . . on a tandem.
Different result for diffewrent folks.
Currently ride +/- 100 miles a week, year round.
Pedal on!
Rudy/zonatandem

OldsCOOL

Those werent just short miles. Those were climbing miles. Your body is talking to you. Listen to what it says. Nice riding!

ypsetihw

get a foam roller, they help! they hurt, too lol but they help! and yes rest, and make sure you are eating enough carbs.

DrIsotope

For me, recovery ≠ not riding.

I rode 27 of 29 days in February including a stretch of 24 consecutive days, ending around 930 miles with 41k of climbing for the month. The day my legs were genuinely sore? The 26th, the day I decided not to ride. In my limited experience, I get little to no "recovery" off the bike-- after any ride of decent length, say over a metric-- I absolutely make sure to do a recovery ride the next day (keeping the HR in Z1/low-Z2, minimizing climbs.) Without exception, I always feel better after the recovery ride than before it.

I did an unsupported 200k last week, and getting up the next day for a recovery ride was not easy... but my legs felt significantly better after ~20 miles of easy spinning.

MoAlpha

After 50-odd years of geeky endurance sports and a certain amount of reading, I think you can train yourself to perform at a certain level day after day, or you can train with and for more intensity on an intermittent basis. Working out on beat legs may help build endurance and character, but to go fast, you need to train fast and that takes some recovery. I loooves me some recovery.

Carbonfiberboy 

Judging by our performance after bike tours, riding consecutive days gives a huge training boost. Distance = strength. The trick lies in keeping the effort down the whole time, which means riding smaller gears than usual. Your legs should never talk to you. It's possible to ride moderately hard 3 days, take a day off, three more days, etc., but even then keep the effort down below your usual sport riding pace. Climbing, just smaller gears. If you don't have 'em and want to do that, get 'em.

qcpmsame 

As so many said above, listen to your body/legs. The body is trying to tell you its time to take a stand down. You gave yourself a good workout with those miles and the elevation gains, not let your muscles rebuild with some rest and proper nutrition. And, then you can hit the roads again.

Bill

JerrySTL

There are a couple of nutrition things to look out for.

First off is to make sure that you aren't getting dehydrated.This can happen even in cool weather. It's possible to get a little more dehydrated each day and be really low after a few days. Try weighing yourself before and after ride. A rule of thumb is that you lost a pint for every pound. Of course if you are trying to lose weight, that missing pound can be a good thing! However if you get back from a ride and find yourself down 4 or 5 pounds, that's about a gallon low and you aren't drinking enough.

Next is to get some carbs and protein in you within as hour after finishing a long/hard ride especially if you plan on riding the next day. Plain old chocolate milk is good for this. I also like Slim Fast drinks or even a milk shake.

As you are an relatively new rider, you will get in better shape. Of course there are times when you just don't have it that day and need a break. However I've had days where my legs didn't want to do anything, but a few miles in they started to cooperate and had a great ride anyway.

ypsetihw

beer has an almost perfect 4:1 carb to protein ratio . . . just sayin

but seriously eat. coincidentally, brown rice and chicken and sweet potatoes and beans travel well. and mixed up they have a very good balance of essential nutrients and minerals. I also got a small shampoo bottle and fill it with a mix of molasses, honey, and salt, and it makes for great homemade power goo. just sayin, keep the calories coming, especially if you are trying to lose weight. I know it's counter intuitive, but it will actually help your recovery and metabolism.

NYMXer

Thank you and all others that responded. As of now, I am ready for a Century ride but I'll take it easy and give it hell tomorrow.
I really REALLY appreciate the input, it was all that I thought but didn't know for sure.
Lesson learned, give the body a rest before it goes on strike!

canklecat

Occasionally I'll do short rides of a mile or so for errands on consecutive days -- which feel like a workout because the ride home with groceries is a long gradual uphill. But I seldom ride 10 miles or longer on consecutive days. Even when I was in my early 20s riding 20 miles a day on commutes, I felt stale by Thursday. If I planned on a long ride on the weekend I'd skip Thursday, Friday or both and drive the car rather than ride to work.

This past weekend was my first opportunity for consecutive rides of 10 miles or longer, and I skipped Sunday after waking up with dead legs that didn't feel any better after a few hours.

But I'm really more concerned about straining my knees or other joints and stuff that can be seriously injured. I'm not that concerned about achy muscles, being out of breath or just riding slowly. My only concern beyond the risk of joint injury is being so tired or dulled that I might not pay careful attention in traffic and get into an accident. So I don't ride if I'm not feeling mentally sharp and in a good mood.

Biker395 

At this point, I'm riding at least 35 miles pretty much every day. But there are days when I want to ride hard and other days when I want to take it easy. IMHO, it's best to do what your body tells you.

Taking a day off before a big ride works for me too. I've noticed I ride much better on weekends if I take the preceding Friday off.

StanSeven

It's difficult on forums like this to not give advice based on personal situations and assume your current situation should apply to everyone. Just because someone has been riding for years everyday doesn't mean another person with lesser miles/time won't feel bad. It's all personal.

Several people gave excellent responses and that's listen to your body. Most experts say do alternate hard/easy days at first. That could mean one day one followed by one day off. Or if you are in better shape a long or fast day followed by a short or easy day. After a while you might build up to back-to-back days followed by an easy one.

But listen to your body. Chronic fatigue can lead to injury, mental depression, more susceptible to catching colds, sleepless nights, irratbility, and many other symptoms.

rydabent

Being retired I can pretty much ride when ever I want to. However at 77 I feel better if I put a rest day in between rides. Therefore I ride approx 30 miles every other day.