guadzilla

In all the sports that I have played, I have tended to be in a lot better physical form in the evenings - more strength, more energy, more endurance, faster recovery, etc. In the mornings, I tend to be a lot more lethargic and have relatively lower energy levels.

This lesson was driven home after today's ride - had a day off, so did a 65km early morning ride after a fairly decent breakfast of toast and eggs. Even fortified myself with a couple of packets of Gu en route. However, after 45-odd km, I was *wrecked* physically and could feel my internal gas tank at "empty" as I struggled to maintain a somewhat respectable speed to finish.

This has never been a problem during evening rides - 50km or thereabouts doesnt really require anything other than a couple of bottles of water and I am fine at the end of the ride as well (unlike today, when I am knackered and occasionally cramping).

I dont think I was as under-prepared from a fuel point of view as the results indicate, so I am thinking that the time of the day had a lot to do with it.

Now, I do recall reading a paper on this subject which said that some people peak physically during the evenings (mostly men) while others peak during the morning (women).

I am curious - does anyone else also have such a difference in their morning/evening performance? And is this something can be remedied via practice?

V.

JohnDThompson 

I ride to work, so I get to do both morning and evening rides.

WR3K

maybe try waking up earlier to warm up more with your body, in the evening you have already had a whole day to move around and get the juices flowing

or getting more sleep, or pehaps getting LESS sleep.

if we get too much sleep we are left lethargic.


keep pre morning ride performance nights to around 6.5 to 8 hour sleep intervals.

but this ALL depends on the person so for you i may be different

Sixty Fiver

I am definitely more energetic later in the day... at least when it comes to sporting activities.

Have also been a night owl since I was a little kid but I have observed a lot of this relates to the season and sunlight as well... when the days get really short I could just as well go into hibernation.

carpediemracing 

I have the hardest time making efforts in the morning, except when it's a race (Prospects start at about 6:00-6:30 AM, but I have to get up at 4:00 to get there in time). Normally I don't wait 2 hours to ride, i.e. 4-6 AM.

With no 2 hour "breakfast, coffee, 'recover', and finally get on bike" time, I'm slow.

In the evening I am good - 1-2+ hours on the trainer, drink bottle of no-cal electrolyte stuff, water, and feel great.

I'd much rather ride at 11 PM and get up just before work than to ride at 5 AM.

cdr

Uni-Vibe

If your chick is cute, you can ride any time.

Basil Moss

Man up. Bike racing on the whole requites getting up at stupid o clock..

cyclezealot

I prefer to get up when the sun is in the Eastern sky.. Gives me more time before sunset and the risk of being without my light.. The exception - if it is super hot. You get better control over excess heat by going late in the day.

Sardian

Although I rarely get to ride in the morning, I tend to have my best rides then.

My job is rather laborious so I'm already tired when I get home from work so this may be the reason. But, most of my riding is after work since that's the only time I have to ride.

Kai Winters

I had a team mate who rode at 6AM every day during the week. He loved it. Me, I hate early mornings and just can't ride before 9 AM. I prefer to ride after work and have much more energy and motivation.

pdedes

my best performances have happened in the early afternoon, just after a 15-20 minute nap.

bobfromwaco

My afternoon/evening rides are much easier then morning. Takes about until 11:00 for my body to fully wake up. Guess it's age.

shelleyspins

I LOVE my 6am cycling workouts - some mornings it's 6am spin classes and on the mornings when there's not a good spin class I do a 30 miles around the lake - mostly because I can't wake up without a good morning ride (go ahead, insert lewd comments here ______________ ; )

I wake up at 4:30 and eat then take a cat nap, get up, eat a little more and then go out for my ride - if I don't eat and/or nap I have a noticeable drop in performance.

I do a night ride (about 30 miles) every Tuesday night and on the way home we head up a 5 mile stretch of paved trail on a slow but steady incline. It's the perfect place to break away and the no drop ride usually splits into a few groups along the trail. A few weeks ago I was riding in the morning along the same trail at an avg pace of 20mph; I noticed during that night's ride that I was struggling to maintain an avg pace of 16mph. Ouch.

logdrum

Isn't the OP from Andaman Islands or Sri Lanka. Here in the continent up north and vallye elevations from 5,000 to 7,000 ft where it's freezing in the evening and morning, it make sense to ride during lunch time. Anyhow as per the powermeter, it doesn't matter much for me really. Sometimes I am strong inthe AM sometimes in the evenings.

The other kind of riding, hmm... yeah it looks like the morning rides are more raw in nature, no talk, no drama and no prologue.

CCrew

I do also, but I'll side with the OP, I always seem to be stronger in the mornings. Doesn't seem to make a difference what I do. I will say that my performance today will be directly related to how well I ate and slept yesterday. Very noticeably so.

amerpie

It's hard to get motivated for morning solo rides. I'm stiff. It seems like it takes awhile for whatever I eat to start fueling my system. However, the adrenalin generated for the Saturday morning club rides nearly always banishes the previously mentioned excuses. In the evenings, I've usually spent the entire day looking forward to being on the bike. That anticipation does wonders in making work related fatigue seem non-existent.

Kai Winters

What is this word..."nap"???

BarryJo

I guess I'm lucky in the sense that most days I work from home and as long as I block out time in my calendar I can ride when I want.
So I usually schedule 2 hours anywhere between 11-3:00 and then end up making up the time by working until 9:00pm.
In the Fall and Winter these times work best for me.
In the Spring and Summer I'm better at getting up for early morning rides (6:00AM)

ScarcelyAware

I can't ride in the morning either. I was commuting on a road bike but the morning rides were killing me. I now take the bus to school, ride back, and sometimes push hard around town for a while before I come home.

Look on the bright side. If you end up riding at night, you burn more calories right before hitting the hay.

Randochap

Some of my rides begin as early as 3am, which means getting up after maybe 2 hours sleep; some start at 7am. The "big events" like Paris-Brest-Paris have evening starts around 9pm. I'm not a morning person, so I actually don't mind the late/very early starts. Once I get going however, I find I have ups and downs with a good stretch generally in the late afternoon. On 2-day events though, this is probably due to "smelling the barn" towards the end.

shelleyspins

.....

RT

I commute to work 8 miles each direction. Night shift lasts from 6:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. Best of both worlds, and both rides are satisfying.

Caad 8

I hate riding when its cold outside. It's like the last thing on my mind when it's chilly. I guess I need some warmers...

tFUnK

i like to have something in my stomach about 2-3 hours before intense exercise. riding at 6am means i need to be up and fed by 3-4am. doesn't work so well for me. if i get home in the evening around 5pm and get a quick bite, i am ready to go at 8pm.

or maybe i'm just an evening person. i hate missing out on morning/daytime rides because it's so much prettier but there are also way more cars during the day.

saratoga

Early morning- get it over with and move on with the day.

Evening rides curb my appetitie; as a result it's 8:30 or 9:00 before I'm hungry again and then I'm eating dinner right before bed which sucks.