How to make the first 15km suck less

[eddy]

I find it is just the perceived exertion that sucks until I am properly warmed up. I can keep up, it just feels very hard.

 

The solution is to do with you diet and pre-ride approach.

 

You should apply rule #5 and have a small portion of HTFU,  just enough to see you through the first few minutes and you'll be fine.

[ChrisF]

The two gents in yellow tops BLASTED the route !!

 

 

BUT, they only joined the start line minutes before the actual start .... coming back from a warm up ride ....

 

 

All events we see on tv shows the riders warming up before the actual ride.

 

 

 

Clearly food intake IS part of the package.  But so is warming up the muscles before the start ....

 

 

 

I ONCE started gunning it from the start line .... what a horrible day .... never got my rythm, and started cramping after 10km ..... the fact that I was working very hard into a very strong headwind at the time did not help at all.  

[MORNE]

I make the first 15km suck less by doing it in 5 haha.

[Veebee]

Just get the mind around it, keep telling yourself that it's going to be hard.

[Vetseun]

I drink two Black Labels and smoke a joint.

Start like a rocket.

[Me rida my bicycle]

I drink two Black Labels and smoke a joint.

Start like a rocket.

I like a similar tactic. I drink a beer do a loop drink a beer do a loop. Gain quite a bit of speed after round 3 just have to figure out how to crash less after round 9 ????

[SwissVan]

So basically, i just need to start 30 mins earlier, and do a proper warmup.......

 

I was hoping for an easier solution that would let me sleep in a little more....... Why is nothing ever easy. haha.

 

It just seems that some of the guys I ride with, even if they drive to the start of the ride, are so strong right from the start. From around 20ish km in, then they keep asking me to slow down....... I need to figure out how they are so strong on cold legs

 

Consider yourself lucky 

Strong finisher beats a strong a starter

Sit in the slip and nail them later on... road racing 101

 

Try and train your starts, in other words on some training rides start hard like in a race, eventually your legs will get used to it.

[RobertWhitehead]

I used have the exact same problem. I used to dread just even starting. All of that changed when I started to focus more on the different muscles and the exercises that go along with it. 

 

IDT will resolve this issue

[jannie.debeer80@gmail.com]

I tend to have the same problem. Warm-up ride or indoor trainer will not solve the issue unless you have that extra time available. What works for me is to use a foam roller 5-7 minutes before I start riding to roll out the core muscles. This helps warming up the muscles and makes for a better ride from the start.

[Sniffie]

I know exactly what you are talking about. Always been a slow starter (still am.) In my younger days, when I aspired to finishing 100 km plus road rides and races in less than 3 hours the first 30 to 45 minutes were always hell. Even after a 30 minute warm up. 

 

After reading up on energy production in the human body I developed a theory. In a process called thermoregulation the body tightly regulates its temperature to quite a narrow band (36.5 to 37.5 Celcius). Where it really becomes interesting though is that a lot of the enzymes that controls the metabolic pathways of energy production (glycolytic and oxidative) only kicks into overdrive at the upper end (near 37.5) of that narrow band. 

 

Why are some of us faster starters in endurance events than others? Here is my theory: Perhaps some of us are equipped with bigger better "radiator systems", and it therefore takes longer to raise the core body temperature close to the 37.5 mark? Perhaps some individual's enzyme systems are more adapted to kicking into overdrive at lower core temperatures? Who knows?

 

The fact of the matter is, for me to perform near my best, I need to be really hot and sweating freely for at least 30 minutes. I always struggle more than the average person to keep up when its cold. What seems to help me a bit, to get a faster start, is to soak in a warm bath for 15 minutes and to eat something about 45 minutes to an hour before the gun. The process of digestion help raise core temperature especially early morning when the core temperature is at a natural low. Anyway that's just my 2 cents.