Post ride Fatigue
 

I have read about this but wondering if people in the more advanced age group have experience with this.
i am 67 and have been riding every other day for the last 8 weeks. I usually do 15-20 miles on weekdays and 30-35 on weekends. After the long rides I feel well and may clean bike, take shower, eat lunch.....but 1-1.5 hrs after the ride I get very significant fatigue. I must lay down and sleep for 2-3 hours. Don’t want to move.....all I want to do is lay down.. Once I am up I feel fine. It does not happen on shorter rides.

Is use one Gu at beginning of ride and one at mid ride. Will drink 2 full bottles of G-Zero ( maybe I should use regular Gatorade).
Should I try snack bar mid ride? What would be good to eat after the ride? Anyone experience the same thing?

I'm sure we all do to some extent at different times. Probably is worse as we age.

I'm not a fan of Gatorade or Gu. Gatorade is not a sport drink anymore IMO, much less a decent drink for cycling. I'd rather just drink crangrape, grape juice or or orange juice all diluted to a 40/60 or 60/40 ratio with water depending on other ride conditions and things. A pinch or lite salt or just salt for electrolytes. Last few years I've been favoring Hammer Nutrition's maltodextrin hydration mix, Heed.

You probably should ditch the G-Zero. With the exception of giving you electrolytes, it's doing nothing for you. A bottle of water with table salt or lite salt will do the same thing.

Check how many Calories you are consuming during your rides. I'll get 150 to 200 Calories per hour of ride. Most of them in my bottles. After a ride I'll get another 200 or so Calories within the first 20 or 30 minutes of finishing.

Protein can be mixed in your ride diet too. Some swear by it, but I only use a little post ride. Though even if it doesn't do anything else, a little protein powder added to some carb mixes that are a little dry tasting might make them go down smoother.

I'm 62 and if I don't eat something small every 10 miles or so I suffer the post ride collapse you describe. I personally just have water in my bottles and usually eat real food (bananas, dates).

The fatigue is likely not cycling related. You don't need to "feed" a 15-20 mile ride, no matter how hard you ride it. Period. Thirty to thirty five shouldn't be a problem either. That's maybe 1000kcal at a moderate pace, and you've already got that inside you ready to go unless you're very small or woefully unconditioned. In my case, I usually get pretty sleepy around 3pm, no matter how far I rode that morning. Usually because I sleep barely 5 hours a night, and my diet is borderline terrible. Nothing to do with the bike at all.

This is a situation where taking to a medical professional who has experience with older athletes would be beneficial. There are possible underlying medical causes, that make assumptions and advice from the forums invalid.

Here’s a thought from a newbie himself (52) total uninformed, non medical professional perspective and if you have any concerns, you should absolutely see your doc.

But....

Maybe you’re just tired and need some sleep to recover. You do 30 miles after only riding for 8 weeks and you’re 67 years old. To me, it sounds like a huge workload for someone your age who has really just got started. Are you pushing yourself on these rides?

You ride in the morning, have a meal, and need a rest.

The fact that you are even riding such mileage without struggling during the ride would seem to indicate you are fine. And you are doing 20 miles with no issue after those rides.

If you took an average 67 year old (non cyclist)they couldn’t even do 5 miles and if they did more than 10, they would sleep for 3 days.

Ok, that’s my rant.

But seriously, if you have concerns, be safe and talk to your doc ; )

I do 35+ mi every other day. I can feel conked some time after the ride. that is usually a good thing. But i really feel exhausted if I don't have some recovery drink and stretches.
Immediately after the ride, take a recovery drink or a large glass of chocolate milk. Even though you have stopped riding, your muscles need protein and carbs to recover, lest they become sore and fatigued. Also do stretches of your quads, calves, hamstrings and optionally to your triceps, back, and shoulders immediately after the ride. Works for me..

No medical Issues ( yet).. Only take a statin . No diabetes or hypertension. No cardiac issues
I will modify and eat a Few snacks during the Longer rides and also have plenty of fluids and protein after the longer rides.
The Gatorade is more because I like the taste and saw it as an easy way to replace electrolytes. ( I rarely drink just Plain water at home. Usually mix it with , Crystal Light, Kool Aid etc). Not sure why it would work but I have read that a long cold shower helps. Have not tried
The truth is that at the end of the rides I feel I can go maybe another 5-10 miles.........but 1-2 hrs after I stop.........I conk out

definitely sounds like a muscle recovery issue then IMO. Right combo of carbs and protein and stretches needed. It is also helps to do a 1 or two mile cool down at the end where you basically spin without much effort.
G2 is fine during the ride for electrolytes but you need something like gu or a snack then to provide carbs as already mentioned. But gu also provides electrolytes,
Lots of things you can try. I always do a shot cool-down in the neighborhood, then drink a large chocolate milk (or Endurox R4), then do stretches.

OP, I know exactly what you are experiencing. For any ride less than 50 miles, I'm fine afterward. For a metric century or longer, I'm usually "wasted" for the rest of the day. I'll take small snacks with me when I ride and only drink water. I'm diabetic, so don't drink anything with sugar nor eat anything with a lot of sugar. That limits me somewhat.

I've experienced the same thing you describe and so have others I know including a Master's racer friend. It's more pronounced if I haven't been getting enough sleep.
If I fight the urge to nap I am fine and can stay awake the rest of the day but many times I just take a nap of 30-40 minutes. If I do a hard ride with lots of climbing I am more inclined to want that nap. I'll probably have one later today after my ride.:)

I always love how people come on bike forums to seek medical advice about their health. It never ceases to amaze me.

:foo:

If he lives in the USA, that is probably more of a reflection of our medical care system and the issue of men not wanting to talk to physicians about any problems they are having.

To the OP, it might not be the riding but rather the meal and your body saying, lets rest and digest this food.

A lot of people only have a GP (doctor) and those GPs often discourage bicycling. Years ago I had problems with fatigue whilst riding up a hill here in town that I normally didn't even gear down on. My GP told me to stop riding the bicycle for a long time. A sports medicine doctor diagnosed the problem and I was able to correct it whilst still being able to ride the bicycle.

Not all doctors are created equal.

As George Carlin once said: "Somewhere there's a doctor, who graduated at the very bottom of his class, practicing medicine.

(laughter from the audience)

"The really scary thing is that there's a roomful of people waiting to see him".

Cheers

For a while I had a GP who was a competitive cyclist. His advice, in all situations, was keep riding. My current GP looks at my numbers and says keep doing whatever I'm doing, which is decent. But others over the years others have said quit because I might get hurt, or don't go too hard, or avoid the heat, out don't overdo it. I rider too far, too long, too frequently, and crash too much. All still better than sitting on the sofa.

As always though, there could be an actual medical problem for the OP, and a medical professional is best stored to determine that.

A lot of posters here will ask a medical related question so they'll have a better understanding and be able to get better advice from their doctor.

Cheers

Even the doctor that graduated at the very bottom of his class is more qualified than any cycling enthusiast on this forum responding to the OP. Unless the cycling enthusiast responding is a doctor...Which probably isn't the case 99.9% of the time.

If a person doesn't want to talk to a physician about any problems they are having...That has absolutely zero to do with the medical care system in the USA. It has to do with the person having the problems not seek professional help.

If someone doesn't want to go to the doctor because of a suspicious spot on their skin which then turns into cancer and then they die... Is that the fault of the person for not getting the spot checked out or is it the fault of the medical care system in the USA?

Think about about how obtuse your statement sounds.

I have had occasions to be completely shocked and dismayed at the disparate and varying opinions of doctors looking at the very same patient and data.
It often boils down to specialty and experience.
i have great admiration and respect for the profession, but there can be widely varying levels of quality of care in the practice of medicine.

That said, it seems clear that the opinions shared here are understood to be anecdotal and not provided as medical advice.

A person goes to a bicycling forum to get information about similar cases that the person is experiencing. Then they are better informed/prepare to discuss things with their doctor. They are NOT replacing their doctor with forum advice; they're augmenting it.

That's what I did when I asked about blood pressure medications an lowered heat tolerance.

Cheers

Think about it. Just think about it.

Well.........I am (was) a physician. Retired 2 years ago. I have passed all my annual physical exams ( except for an enlarged prostate). My blood tests are all normal except for cholesterol elevation for which I take a statin. I am physically active and the episodes I describe only occur after cycling for certain distances. So....that is why I was asking other cyclists and ..........
I probably should have included the above info on my post
( rodé 20 this morning , drinking G2 and had some protein afterwards and it did not happen. But......it is at 30+ miles it happens so we will see this weekend)

Alright, I'll try. I'm also 67, but I've been riding pretty seriously for the last six years and. By that, I mean 36 miles is our short ride, 52 is our longest regular ride, and we occasionally go 60+ miles. 100 miles a week is a bad week. A good week is 200+ miles.
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​We've been working on increasing our average speed on the shorter rides, especially. To complicate things, I live in a pretty hot and humid area. Not Texas or Florida hot, but the heat takes something out of you when humidity and temperature both approach 90. We mostly get home almost too exhausted. And we kind of like it. Our bodies tell us when we need to stop. I carry six bottles of water, my gf carries four. On long rides we drink it all, including some diluted Gatorade. We eat trail mix 18-30 miles into each ride. An after ride nap is your friend. Either that or a cup of strong coffee.

My advice is to ride more, rest more, and consult a professional Barber. Good luck.

When I read the OP, I thought, well, this certainly seems odd. Then just now, I looked up G-Zero, which refers to the new world order, in which western governments decline to take any international responsibilities, and developing nations are all looking inward. Other than that, it turns out to be the name of a Perpsico beverage with no nutrition at all, so inexpensive to make. Electrolytes are not nutrition, "the process by which a living organism assimilates food and uses it for growth and for replacement of tissues." Totally appropriate. Way to go, Pepsico!

Yeah, so it's just blood sugar drop out. To avoid it, try eating 200 calories/hour while on the bike. Fix you right up, you betcha.

I suppose I should mention that sugar is super good for you while you're riding. Maltodextrin is even better. You don't need protein for such short rides, but it's good to have some later in the day. Eating during the ride will also reduce post-ride hunger.

I went for 50 miles today with a few thousand feet of climbing. I had a banana and 1 granola bar on the ride (wanted more) and a gallon of water. I ate when I got home and had a lovely nap. I do not feel the need to see a doctor about this and wish every day could be this good.