kbarch

Lately I've found that after a morning full of cycling, a 15 mile race followed by an 18 mile cruise on Saturday, or a 40-60 mile training ride on Sunday, after lunch I struggle to keep myself awake, and have found myself going to bed for the night well before sunset, and sunset these days isn't very late anymore. Last season, and even a few months ago this didn't seem to be such a problem. I'm wondering if it's because I can't get in rides quite as long as I used to during the week (90 minutes is the most I get now, where I often used to be out for two hours in the mornings), and don't train with anyone now where I used to train with 20 mph-ers.

But as much as anything, I don't think I'm eating right. Sunday, by the time I get home and cleaned up after a 62 mile ride, it's 2:30. I heat up about two pounds of jambalaya, scarf it all down with a beer, and by 4:30 I'm asleep in bed. The night before I'd had a good dinner, and in the morning I'd had a banana-berry-protein smoothie. 20 miles into the ride I get a savory scone and iced coffee and another 20 miles later I get another with a soda. At a couple of points along the way I try one of the gels that they were giving away at the start. At the end, after packing the car I inhale the PowerBar wafers that they also gave away. In addition to the coffee and soda, I went through two bottles of water and one of energy drink.

Honestly, I think I was less tired and sleepy after the century I rode in May than I was after finishing only 60 miles on Sunday, and I can't help but think it's because I was better nourished during the ride back then - that if I'd added a banana to each of those snacks on Sunday, and drank a little more to wash it all down, I would not have gotten so famished and exhausted. I also think it would have been better to have gotten a modest recovery meal immediately after the ride rather than a big one after a 45 minute drive home and all.

Lots of folks here say there's no need to eat on a ride of 4 hours or less. Maybe bigger folks can handle it better, but I just don't see the sense or advantage of waiting until afterwards to refuel.

Lazyass

Two pounds of jambalaya with beers, sodas, iced coffees, savory scone thingies, smoothies for breakfast......

I could eat nor drink any of that. I would vomit if that was my diet. Eat normal and don't pump so much caffeine into your body. If I drank cokes and coffee on rides (I don't drink them ever), I would probably throw up on the bike and pass out when I got home after coming down off it. And stopping every 20 miles in the middle of rides to eat and drink drink all that can't help your training. Odd. Chow down an energy bar while you're riding or something.

dvdslw

I would have to agree, your choice of ride fuel is odd. Bananas are always good combined with some complex carbohydrates help keep you going. On the mornings I ride, I usually eat a whole grain bagel with peanut butter, a banana, and a cup of coffee followed by a bottled water before I head out. During the ride I drink water mostly but mix in a Powerade or gel every so often and eat a bar if I'm doing 40+ miles, usually about 2/3rd of the way in. Also, after exerting yourself so much from the ride your body has enough recovering to do so eating two pounds of jambalaya afterwards is probably what's making you sleepy. After riding I like to keep the healthy attitude and have a salad, turkey sandwich, or anything that's not greasy then a high protein meal for dinner like grilled chicken with whole grain rice and some broccoli. All of this also depends on the heat too, it's been hot recently and that affects how we feel afterwards as well. I say make some better food choices before, during, and after your ride.

kbarch

You guys are funny. You make it sound as if it isn't your precious whole grain bagel , power bar or whatever, it's unnatural, unhealthy and vomit inducing.
You say to "eat normally" but what I thought I was communicating was that long rides in the morning make that difficult to do. Yes, I would love to have had a nice salad and some pasta after finishing the ride, but unfortunately it was another hour and a half before I got a good opportunity to sit down and eat. It was also nearly two hours after I left the house that we even started the ride.
I'm thinking back to the days in May where all we did was eat and ride bikes. Get up in the morning and get a nice big breakfast. Head out about half an hour later. We'd ride all day, and in lieu of energy drink or gels, we'd stop for an espresso, a grappa or a beer. There would be sandwiches, granola bars and fruit in the van that followed us, and we might occasionally get a "toast" with our beer, but we really didn't eat much along the way. Only once that I recall did we ever stop for anything like lunch, but snacks now and then did the trick. Eventually we'd get home, get cleaned up, then go to dinner. Bread, salad, "pizza mix" (a fantastic assortment of the worlds most delicious) an entree and dessert. When that was all done it was 9:30/10:00. It was perfect.

loimpact

Heat!

I've found similar in these summer months. It's heat, a little dehydration and (at least for me) getting up at 5am on the weekends to get in those 4 hours rides which usually include some ridiculous hill climbing thru mountain passes, etc. I usually get up at 6 & on weekends I also tend to stay up a little later.....that doesn't help.

Machka 

First of all, you're not going that far. Let's say it is a 62 mile ride (100 km) ... and suppose you're doing it in 4 hours.

Burning calories at an approximate rate of 100 for every 5 km, you're burning approx. 2000 cal. or 500 cal/hour.

Eat roughly 500 cal for breakfast so that you've got your first hour's worth of calories ready to go. That could be your smoothie if that's what goes down well. And wash it down with a tall glass of water ... especially if it is hot. Also, take an electrolyte tablet ... especially if it is hot.

Toward the end of the first hour, get out a granola bar and start nibbling. They run about 200 cal ... if you can find one up around 250 even better. Wash it down with water. Toward the end of the second hour, get out your next granola bar and start nibbling. And repeat toward the end of the third hour. Wash it all down with water. Take another electrolyte tablet if it is hot. You might also consider nibbling on salted almonds along the way for calories and electrolytes.

In 4 hours you could go through 3-4 750 ml bottles of water ... maybe slightly more if it is hot. But don't forget the electrolytes.
If you get sick of water mid-ride, and want to stop and top up the liquids, go for things like iced tea or orange juice for a few more electrolytes.

When you finish the ride, drink another bottle or tall glass of water. Keep drinking throughout the evening.

At the end of the ride you'll be somewhat depleted in calories, but that's OK. Make yourself a good sized dinner that roughly amounts to 4:1 carbsrotein. Wash it down with water.


As you might be able to tell ... personally, I suspect the sleepy-ness has more to do with hydration than nutrition.

DrIsotope

The heat does me in as well, regardless of diet. If I'm not off the road by 10am, I know it's going to be approaching 100º most days, and I'm in for a listless day of just chugging water to prevent myself from felling like crap. But jambalaya won't make me vomit or fall asleep at 4:30, so I guess I'm in a happy medium. I also classify as "bigger," and the "four hour rides and less no eating" thing is just ridiculous. It's not time or distance, it's intensity... and heat. If it takes me 5-6 water bottles to get through a 62 mile ride because it's +95º, yeah, I'm eating something.

Machka 

Then you needed to have your smoothie and tall glass of water before you left ... and on the way, drink a bottle of water and maybe nibble on a small packet of salted almonds, then have a banana when you arrive.

And then start in with the granola bars (or oatmeal-raisin cookies or apple pastries or whatever you like) once an hour as described above. Plus lots of water.

And when you finish the ride, drink when you finish and are standing around chatting, then drink more on the way home. You might also consider having a bag of potato chips in the car for the ride home. They are full of electrolytes (and calories).

valygrl

Put a cooler in your car with some ice water, a recovery drink (I use Recoverite) over ice, banana, sandwich, etc. Eat a small or medium size recovery meal within 30 minutes of finishing the ride, then a real moderate size meal at home or back on your regular meal schedule.

Falling asleep after a large meal with a beer in the afternoon after a long-ish bike ride sounds pretty normal to me. medium meal and skip the beer until later, maybe? Or nothing wrong with a nap.

indyfabz

Only two bottles of water and an energy drink for a 62 mile ride on a warm, humid day? And the caffeine from the coffee and possibly the soda and the energy drink as well? (Was it something like Rock Star or Monster?) As you know, I was in Hunterdon County on Saturday. 70 miles with 3,700' of climbing. It was warm that day but the humidity was low. I drank two bottles of liquid on the way to our stop at mile 33 where I had more liquid. Downed more than two bottles on the way back. (I stopped at the boat launch in Round Valley around mile 43 to down some water and then refill the bottles.) Sunday was warmer and noticeably more humid. And where did you hear that 4 hr. rule? While it varies with effort, muscles can hold about 2 hr. worth of glycogen. Four hours is a long time to go without fuel for the average person.

One of my bottles on the way out was Perpetuem by Hammer. Some people call it liquid foodl. You might give it a try.

bakes1

No offense but it sounds like the issue is mainly in your head.
You appear to be an experienced rider so why all the angst over eating?
You are not able to tell when you are hungry or your body needs a bit of food? Seriously?
Before, during or after a ride makes no difference. Eat when you need to and maybe lay off the booze in the middle of a ride? Grappa is great stuff but damn near rocket fuel as far as alcoholic drinks are concerned.

mcours2006

The solution is simple: get a few young children at home and that sleep problem during the day is going to go away. As much as I'd like to take a nap during the day that ain't never gonna happen with three kids around.

Dan333SP

What on earth where you doing in May that let you live that sort of life? I want in.

Also, I normally do a 62 mile group ride on Sundays with other racer types, so it ends up being very fast. I tend to have a lighter breakfast (a small bowl of cereal or a bagel with peanut butter or the like), a couple nutrigrain or cliff bars during the ride along with a gatorade bought at the mid-ride store stop, and a ton of water. When I get home I'm generally famished and I'll eat like absolute crap because I'm not trying to lose weight. I'm talking several large platefulls of leftover Chinese covered in sriracha, or 5-6 slices of leftover pizza, or a huge sandwich and a pile of chips, that sort of crap. Invariably it makes me sleepy as well because my body's struggling to cope with the hammering I put on my stomach, but I just push through it and force myself to take the dog for a walk or mow the lawn and by the time I've finished that, I feel normal again. YMMV.

Lazyass

Yeah, that's a bizarre ride intake. Beers, grappas, espressos, iced coffees every 20 miles, sodas. Not very healthy. I think most people would pass out at home after pouring booze and caffeine down the pipe on rides. And if these are actual training rides (for 15 mile races?) then it's just plain weird.

RShantz

What's the problem with caffeine on a long ride? If I'm out doing 70-100 it's common for me to down a Coke midway through the ride. Never really bothered me.

To the OP, I've had similar experience this year. Felt much better in May. I attribute mine to heat, humidity and being busier at work.

Lazyass

Stopping for iced coffee every 20 miles? I quit caffeine long ago but even then I wasn't stopping every 20 miles for anything, much less an overpriced espresso or iced coffee. I don't even stop on metric centuries unless I have to piss. Quitting caffeine improved my life even more than quitting alcohol 15 some odd years ago, by the way. Best thing I ever did, I've slept like a baby at night ever since.

bt

how much were you consuming during the day?

Lazyass

In my younger days I would drink coffee all day. An army thing. Then in the 90's I got into the espresso fad. Then I went to no doze pills, I would take one when I woke up then a couple more during the day. I cut down when I quit alcohol, which is normal. Then I just quit it. If you notice most heavy drinkers always chug caffeine as well. Never was a big coke drinker and I never drank caffeine on rides. That would just make me thirsty.

bt

I drink a couple cups of strong coffee in the morning and that's about it.

thanks for the reply.

RShantz

Wasn't questioning the every 20 mile bit which does seem excessive, just caffeine in general.

I have a couple cups of coffee a day and the occasional coke on/after a long ride (I consider over 3 hrs long). I cut out all caffeine for about 6 months a couple of years ago and couldn't tell any real difference & certainly not to the extent of saying it was the best thing I ever did so I went back to my relatively light consumption. I guess caffeine just impacts folks differently.

kbarch

Wow, you guys are so helpful!
Bingo!

YES! That's it!

Good idea. I guess I should get a cooler if I can't make plans to have a sit-down meal at the end of a ride before a long drive home....

It WAS all in my head. Lately I've been preoccupied with the notion that I may be losing too much weight. I KNOW when I'm hungry, and unless I start to get cotton-mouthed (like at the start of a race, which I think has more to do with nerves than hydration), I don't get such a strong urge for something to drink. And when I was washing my face Sunday, I couldn't get over how salty it was, but it didn't even occur to me why or what it meant. I was simply annoyed. Now it all makes sense, and I feel so silly!

But by the way, it was the perfect days in May where I had booze in the middle of a ride and did NOT get sleepy. Lately, I haven't had a beer until I got home, and I've been sleepy before I even started it.

That was my first vacation in about seven years, and most extravagant ever - eight days in the Veneto with a group of casual cyclists while the Giro was passing through. It rained a lot and never got very warm - in fact, most of the photos from that trip show me in a windbreaker! Guess that's why I never got dehydrated.

So there you have it! Thanks for all the insights and suggestions, guys!

Drew Eckhardt 

You have to go pretty far for that to be a problem.

I'm 5'9.5" which I round to 5'10", eat just enough to avoid being hungry a half hour after my last bite every time I get hungry with fewer carbs than I used to eat, and was worried when I reached 145 pounds and was still shrinking to less than typical adult size.

Ribs and sternum poking out scared my wife.

So I asked my endocrinologist about my condition. He said it was "great."

I started adding extra food to stick around 137 - oblique vascularity is good; ab vascularity a bit extreme for me although I didn't notice any health problems.

I was a little lighter and less lean after a training break following a crash when I went in for my annual checkup. I asked my doctor about my weight. She said it was "great" although she wouldn't tell me to loose more, asked whether I'd read the longevity studies, and showed me the BMI calculator which has me comfortably in the green zone.

jon c. 

Heat plays a role for sure. Golf does it to me more than biking, but I get weary and sometimes find my eyes closing in mid afternoon after hard exercise on a hot day. (Those who don't play golf often don't think if it as exercise, but walking the course on a hot day leaves me in about the same state as a 50 mile ride). For me though, it doesn't last and by the evening I'm no longer really tired and I still end up going to sleep after midnight.

bt

I can not figure out anyone can eat a big breakfast and then ride.

I can't eat a lot of anything and ride.

blah

Machka 

I get sleepy in the middle of the afternoon at work from lack of hydration. A nice big glass of cold water, I feel much better.