big john

I have found if I deny myself a nap and get up and do things my energy returns to normal, too. Some days, though, that nap still happens later.

TakingMyTime

I don't ride 12 months a year, so each season it usually takes me a while to build up to 40 mile rides. I pick a comfortable mileage for my first ride and will do that 2 or 3 times. I then start increasing that by about 5 miles every couple of rides and before you know it I'm back up to 40 miles and not feeling too bad when I get through.

Not matter what my level of fitness is, if I try to blast some bigger miles too quickly in my training I will be craving a nap too.

PeteHski

I doubt this is the root cause of your fatigue. I do no stretching and no rolling and don’t have any issues with mountainous 100 mile rides. Not saying those things wouldn’t help, but I think they are more of a sidetrack if you are really feeling that tired after riding.

aliasfox

You say you're riding in NYC - are you riding surface streets, laps of Central Park, or Greenways? Surface streets and greenways have a lot of stop and go, especially if you're trying to keep pace with traffic - sprinting can definitely take it out of you. I laid down 1000 miles last year, almost exclusively on Manhattan city streets - figured it was the best way to get exercise while avoiding riding into other peoples' breath like you would on the Greenway or Central Park. If needed, I could sprint at the same speed as traffic, but it'll definitely take it out of you!

My typical distances are 20-50 miles, with the 50 mile ride being the 9W (Manhattan West Side Greenway, across the GWB, onto 9W, turn around at The Filling Station). For any ride longer than 25 miles, I consider bringing a gel and Clif bar - would rather have and not need than the other way around. The gel (I use SIS/Science in Sport) is good for getting some electrolytes, as I don't like putting Gatorade in my bottles (nasty to clean out). I eat when I get home, and for those longer efforts I'll take a ~45min nap afterwards, followed by a liberal dosing of iced coffee. I actually find it much better to move around for the rest of the day (walking, a light hike) than to lie on the couch, as my muscles seize and make it more difficult to move afterwards.

I would say taking a bit of time to recover after 2-3 hrs of exercise is normal. Take it slow and work your way up to being comfortable with your 40 mile rides. However, if you're still de-energized for hours after a bit of conditioning, it may be time for a checkup.

scottfsmith

I agree not likely there is a correlation with the post-ride stretch/lift. You might have improved your conditioning already, or something about the ride was less stressful. Hopefully you stopped chugging quite so much water and put in some electrolytes... if you did that could have helped.

The subtext of your remarks (long hard rides right out of the box, lifting weights, etc) is you are a super gung-ho guy. A perfect fit for overtraining.

Andy Somnifac 

You're talking to cyclists. We may not call 163lbs @ 5'9" terribly lean by cycling standards... I'm the same height and you have at least 20 lbs on me.

PeteHski

I keep seeing loads of references to "naps" here on BF. Now where I live naps are what toddlers need after lunch at nursery. I'm sure they are a great idea, but who has time for a nap? I honestly can't remember the last time I had a sleep during the day. I'm lucky if I get time to even sit down for more than 10 mins in our house. Maybe it's something I'll get to do in retirement?

shelbyfv

Yes! One of a few benefits of old age. Ride bike, shower, eat, surf or read until the eyelids get heavy, then nap the afternoon away!

genejockey 

For me, naps are exclusively a weekend thing.

Andy Somnifac 

Naps are a wonderful thing, and they only get better w/ age.

lyle.coop

I normally ride in Prospect park. It's a 20 minute ride from my house to the park. I leave at 530am, so no traffic, no stress. I normally wake up at 5am. The last 2 longish rides were up the west side greenway, morningside drive to the gwb and the other was laps in Central park. So a mix of surface streets, greenway and parks.

Ordered some electrolyte powder and I've got Clif bars. I have done the 9W ride in the past. I might try that on Sunday weather permitting and fully accept that I'll be fatigued.

In the last 30 days I've got a little over 400 miles. So yeah maybe I am overtraining. It's kind of addictive to see the pounds melt off me and almost be able to fit my 155lb summer clothes.

aliasfox

There's definitely a bit of street riding to get to the West Side Greenway, even if you dive east under the bridges and go past South Street Seaport. Stopping and starting at intersections is definitely a bit harder than steady state.

I would say try the electrolyte powder, especially on hotter, sunnier days. Water by itself doesn't necessarily cut it if you're sweating out large amounts of salts. I laid down 75 miles on two laps of 9W/Palisades Park + a few laps of Central Park one ride a few years back, on a day that ended up in the low 90F/33C range mid-day. By the time I got back to Central Park, I was so tapped out of electrolytes that I spent some ridiculous amount of money at a tourist stand for two bottles of Gatorade. Chugged one right there, filled my bottle with the other - got my body to a place where it could do the last 10 miles of my ride.

Anyway, if you're explicitly riding to lose weight, you will definitely get tired as your body uses up all the glycogen in your bloodstream. However, if you're riding for enjoyment and trying to beat your best times - make sure you're well fueled and properly hydrated and get back to us.

And at 5'10"... I haven't seen 167lbs since high school. And considering how skinny I felt at 171 lbs (a decade ago), I'd say you're perfectly fine. Not everyone can be a 138lbs professional climbing waif.

SoSmellyAir

Some times a biggish meal immediately after riding makes me more tired. This has happened to me a couple of times during the current heat wave. I ride late in the afternoon to avoid the worst of the heat and make it home just in time to have dinner with my family, and feel extra tired afterwards compared to riding the same route earlier this year.

big john

Retirement is the greatest thing ever!

Kabuki12

I ride typically 35 or so mile rides on the weekend and 7 mile lunch rides once or twice a week. I don't get fatigue often and on my weekend rides I add a supplement to my water bottle. I take a granola bar with me but hardly ever eat the whole thing. I will stop about an hour in and stretch , take a couple of bites of the bar and drink some water. I get blood work done every six weeks or so due to a Thyroid condition so I keep an eye on things but usually check out fine. I am 66 , soon to be 67 with low blood pressure and resting heart rate. It is normal for some to get tired , but a full crash may indicate something else , your Dr. can help. It took a year to figure out I had a Thyroid issue as I didn't gain weight as most do , but I felt like hell . I had a heck of a time doing any activity like surfing or cycling without feeling like I was spent. It turns out my Thyroid was not working , my T cels were way off. It is an easy and cheap test but you or your Dr. have to ask for it.

canklecat

Ditto, the thyroid thing. I was diagnosed about 20 years ago, but received very little info from my docs. I just took the little pill. It was another 15 years or so before a specialist explained the extensive side effects of an endocrine system disorder on the entire metabolic system.

And after I developed thyroid cancer in 2018 my energy level dropped to practically zero. For awhile I could hardly stumble to the bathroom, let alone ride a bike. Took a long time to get the thyroid supplements up to a level where I could function, and I still need to be re-evaluated often. My endocrinologist just authorized a small 12.5 mcg increase, from 112.5 mcg to 125 mcg, and within a week I felt much better.

I'm 63 now and much fitter than most folks my age. So most doctors tend to disregard our complaints and attribute it to "Well... you're older." If they see a 60something patient who isn't morbidly obese, drinks too much, smokes, etc., they seem to think "Oh, he's healthy, no need to do any lab tests to check for specific problems."

Don't settle for that kind of indifference from medical professionals. Fortunately there are a few who are attentive and do listen to legitimate complaints. But not enough. Unfortunately my GP retired last year during the pandemic -- she was excellent, also a survivor of thyroid cancer and understood what I was asking about. But my new GP seems to be another one of those doctors who see patients as types, categories, rather than individuals. If you're walking eating and pooping, he seems to think there's no need to check on anything else. So I had to find another specialist who recognized the problem.

Iride01 

Bah Humbug

I mean, when I started swimming, a light 60 minute workout would clobber me for four hours, and it was only that short with a pint of Ben & Jerry's after.

smashndash

Not sure how much conditioning will help. I've been riding for a few years now and if I go hard on a longer ride (40-70 miles) I'll be dead tired after. Distance is not a good metric for exertion. You should use something like TSS. Today, the TSS for my 40 mile ride was 222 according to Wahoo. My normal 70 mile ride is around 320. Just to give some rough figures.

Eating a ton the day/evening before (carbo loading), eating during the ride and getting all the sleep you need the night before help a lot IME. Your symptoms generally sound like insulin instability (which I know very little about). From what little I understand, you're not necessarily fatigued, but your insulin spikes from 0 when you start eating after a hard ride, and continues to stay elevated for a while, causing a food coma or sugar crash. There are probably ways to stabilize your insulin levels.

BCAC

I ride 50-70 miles, 4 times a week, at a fast pace. With family obligations, I sometimes don’t get enough sleep at night. If I ride a bit tired, I can maintain my pace and distance, but I’m beat afterwards.The effects are more pronounced in the summer heat here in Florida.

Sleep more.

PeteHski

Sleep is definitely a key factor with fatigue and recovery. I can get away with poor sleep for one night (usually the night before a big event as I often have to be leaving at 4 am to get to the start line) but if I get poor sleep for several nights and also ride hard then I'm soon in a hole.

Erixon84

I used to feel like that. I bought Recoverite from Hammer Nutrition and it helps my legs recover fast overnight. At the beginning long rides will make you feel tired, after a while you get used to it. But try Recoverite.

Erixon84

I used to feel like that. I bought Recoverite from Hammer Nutrition and it helps my legs recover fast overnight. At the beginning long rides will make you feel tired, after a while you get used to it. But try Recoverite.

Broctoon

I saw this thread title and original post, and I immediately thought of my experience last week.

There's a group ride I try to join every Wednesday night. I don't always make it, but I've been pretty consistent lately. We ride 21 miles on pretty flat terrain. About 15-20 riders start together, but by five or six miles in, we usually separate into multiple groups, with me ending up in the middle or even the slowest group. I never felt too bad about this, because even the slow group averages 17-18 MPH. Last week I was feeling strong and decided to try keeping up with the lead group, about 25 MPH. That didn't last long. I bonked, got dropped, and had to fall in with the middle group, about 21 MPH. Quickly got dropped again. I came in with the stragglers and kept thinking, "Note to self: come next week with more fuel in the tank!" I didn't hydrate enough before this ride (temp was mid-90s), should have carb'ed up a few hours prior, and maybe should have taken some goo or chews to eat around the halfway point.

After this ride I was completely spent, for the rest of the night. I was hungry, thirsty, and fatigued. Again, should have gotten my body prepared better. It's also possible (perhaps... unlikely as it might seem ) that I'm simply not conditioned to keep up with guys this strong. I'll probably keep going with them, but just hang with the 18 MPH group. If I do this for a few months and find it's getting too easy, I can try for a group ride "cat upgrade."

For reference, riding solo I can hold 18 MPH for about 40 minutes, even with a few hills mixed in. So I thought I'd be able to hang with the paceline for an hour going at least that speed. The drafting certainly helps, but it seems my threshold is about 45 minutes, when I'm putting out any kind of strenuous power. (At light to moderate strain, I can go all day.)

Troul 

very very few +20 miles routes for maintaining averages to that MPH. So many breaks, crossings, junk, & unkept areas. Even 10 miles are a chore depending on the time of a ride.