Loss of energy during a ride, and extremely tired and hungry after

[360]

Hi guys,

 

I'm new here but I've been a lurker for a while. I have a bit of an issue and I'm not sure if it's my noobness as I've been Road cycling for about 2 months (coming from mtb). I'm currently up to doing 75km every weekend and trying to form my base on this distance.

 

I have two issues I'm hoping you can help with:

 

1. About 2 hours into my ride I experience a large loss of energy. I've tried eating (bananas and using the occasional gel) and even started using Biogen cytogen in my bottles but it doesn't seem to help. Only after a bit of distance do I feel like I'm no longer struggling. Anything I can do to change it?

 

2. After my ride I'm extremely tired (e.g. can go sleep for 2 hours) and hungry for the whole day. I can eat a horse but will be hungry an hour or so later again.

 

Your wisdom will be oh so much appreciated.

[Guest DieBees]

How much do you weigh? How long have you been cycling and what does your weekly rides consist of? How regular do you ride?

[YoYo-Smileyguy]

Hi 360,

 

Are you doing any other training in the week?

[360]

I'm 1.8m tall and weigh 86kg (slowly losing more). I've been cycling for about 10 months on and off but 2 months on the road (1 day a week with the group). I'm trying to do some quick riding in the week but time wise I'm struggling to get to it.

[360]

Hi 360,

 

Are you doing any other training in the week?

Not for the past few weeks.

[Guest DieBees]

I'm 1.8m tall and weigh 86kg (slowly losing more). I've been cycling for about 10 months on and off but 2 months on the road (1 day a week with the group). I'm trying to do some quick riding in the week but time wise I'm struggling to get to it.

I am very heavy and find that when i start riding again after a long time i have the same. But you are completely diffrent. Weight is okay, maybe just fitness that lacks. Consistency is king when it comes to training and even more, once a week doing 75km is rather tough if you dont dont do too much training in the week. Are you eating healthy? I hope you get advice... Tough one.

[360]

I am very heavy and find that when i start riding again after a long time i have the same. But you are completely diffrent. Weight is okay, maybe just fitness that lacks. Consistency is king when it comes to training and even more, once a week doing 75km is rather tough if you dont dont do too much training in the week. Are you eating healthy? I hope you get advice... Tough one.

Thanks, mate. I would like to think I eat healthily but I also have a bit of a sweat tooth which flares up from time-to-time (read regularly). Do you think putting in 6-10km in my area twice a week or so would help? I can't really do much more than that as the area is quite small and there is peak hour traffic all around it.

 

I did the bestmed race the weekend (80km) and finished in just under 3.5 hours if that is any indication of my fitness.

[Wyatt Earp]

Do some week rides and ride slower over all.

[YoYo-Smileyguy]

Hi 360,

 

Not an expert here in nutrition but basically your training needs to be consistent this would mean that say Mondays is rest or active recovery Tuesday to Fridays would be say 1h to 1h30 min.

 

Point of building a base like this would be to train your body to start burning fat and convert this to energy or rather take food and convert this more efficiently into energy.

 

Without that base fitness doing a ride of over an hour will most certainly drain your reserves and leave you bonking, this also makes recovery harder for your body as now it has to repair muscle and build up glycogen stores.

 

I'm sure there are guys who know more about this and can def correct me if I am wrong but it all starts with consistent training.

[360]

Thanks, that makes sense. Would doing 6-10km once or twice a week with a bit of a hill in between make any noticeable difference considering it's a short ride?

[Boerklong]

I went on to 2 or 3 x 20km rides during the week and that helped a lot with the weekend rides that goes up to about 75km.

[Guest DieBees]

Thanks, mate. I would like to think I eat healthily but I also have a bit of a sweat tooth which flares up from time-to-time (read regularly). Do you think putting in 6-10km in my area twice a week or so would help? I can't really do much more than that as the area is quite small and there is peak hour traffic all around it.

 

I did the bestmed race the weekend (80km) and finished in just under 3.5 hours if that is any indication of my fitness.

i would say anything less than an hour is a waste. If you do shorter rides stretch before hand and make sure you are well warmed up. Then hit intervals very hard or maybe some pyramids. . In this way you will atleast do some good. There is a lot of expertise on the hub here. You will find good advice here. Pm me. Will send you a few "limited time" programs.

[arendoog]

Hi 360,

 

Not an expert here in nutrition but basically your training needs to be consistent this would mean that say Mondays is rest or active recovery Tuesday to Fridays would be say 1h to 1h30 min.

 

Point of building a base like this would be to train your body to start burning fat and convert this to energy or rather take food and convert this more efficiently into energy.

 

Without that base fitness doing a ride of over an hour will most certainly drain your reserves and leave you bonking, this also makes recovery harder for your body as now it has to repair muscle and build up glycogen stores.

 

I'm sure there are guys who know more about this and can def correct me if I am wrong but it all starts with consistent training.

What he said !

[Guest DieBees]

Hi 360,

 

Not an expert here in nutrition but basically your training needs to be consistent this would mean that say Mondays is rest or active recovery Tuesday to Fridays would be say 1h to 1h30 min.

 

Point of building a base like this would be to train your body to start burning fat and convert this to energy or rather take food and convert this more efficiently into energy.

 

Without that base fitness doing a ride of over an hour will most certainly drain your reserves and leave you bonking, this also makes recovery harder for your body as now it has to repair muscle and build up glycogen stores.

 

I'm sure there are guys who know more about this and can def correct me if I am wrong but it all starts with consistent training.

. I agree! Base is king.

[YoYo-Smileyguy]

Thanks, that makes sense. Would doing 6-10km once or twice a week with a bit of a hill in between make any noticeable difference considering it's a short ride?

Thanks, that makes sense. Would doing 6-10km once or twice a week with a bit of a hill in between make any noticeable difference considering it's a short ride?

IMHO I don't think so.

 

Your body first needs to adapt to regular resistance training (light workload)

 

Have you got access to an indoor trainer / rollers / spinning bike at gym?

[arendoog]

Your body has not adapted to burning fat yet .That only happens after 2 hours if your body is not trained to do so .You need to ride longer and more often than on weekends .If you train daily you will burn fat after a much shorted time ,like 20 minutes .I find that going into fat burning stage of training provides better energy than stored glycogen..Interval training on water alone is a great way to get where you want to be .With my limited time that is how I prepare for all events and do some longer rides over weekends