T_Boss Posted November 4, 2020 Share I have always been better at longer distance rides. Even as a teenager, the idea of racing 25 or even 40km races was horrible, I enjoyed events of 60km and up, and as soon as I could, I started entering the Marathon and Ultra marathon (100km+ Events) during vasrity, and did okay as an amatuer rider. I dont race anymore, and dont want to, and I enjoy longer rides of 40km plus. But the reality is, in the mornings or afternoons in the week, a person often only has an hour or so for a ride. I also lead a wedenday mornin coffee ride, that is about 20-25km long. But its as if my legs only wake up after 15 or 20km. I finish those rides feeling better than I did at the start, and roaring to go for more. I guess realistically, I could get up an hour earlier, and put in 20km before joining the rest of the group, but I sometimes also enjoy my sleep. Is there anyone else that suffers the same? any tricks to make the first couple of km less ***..... Escapee.. and Sniffie 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amac Posted November 4, 2020 Share Hi TBoss Not sure how old you are, but as a 50 something rider, my experience is that it only gets worse. T_Boss, s14phoenix, ChrisF and 2 others 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Boab Posted November 4, 2020 Share How did you warm-up back in the day? And do you do a warm-up now? A 20-min trainer warm-up, or on the road may get your neurology firing? I have always been better at longer distance rides. Even as a teenager, the idea of racing 25 or even 40km races was horrible, I enjoyed events of 60km and up, and as soon as I could, I started entering the Marathon and Ultra marathon (100km+ Events) during vasrity, and did okay as an amatuer rider. I dont race anymore, and dont want to, and I enjoy longer rides of 40km plus. But the reality is, in the mornings or afternoons in the week, a person often only has an hour or so for a ride. I also lead a wedenday mornin coffee ride, that is about 20-25km long. But its as if my legs only wake up after 15 or 20km. I finish those rides feeling better than I did at the start, and roaring to go for more. I guess realistically, I could get up an hour earlier, and put in 20km before joining the rest of the group, but I sometimes also enjoy my sleep. Is there anyone else that suffers the same? any tricks to make the first couple of km less ***..... T_Boss 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T_Boss Posted November 4, 2020 Share Hi TBoss Not sure how old you are, but as a 50 something rider, my experience is that it only gets worse. Still a long way to go to 50..... but this doesnt instill much confidence amac 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T_Boss Posted November 4, 2020 Share Have always been a bit lazy with regards to warm ups, but I do put in about 10 mins on the road when I ride to the coffee shop meeting point for our group rides. Trail parks its worse - coz then I am driving to the start. On our guided bike tours its not normally such an issue, as the first 15 to 20 minutes is worked in as a warmup. But I guess I will just need to wake up a bit earlier, and fit in a proper warmup for those morning rides. Wondering if cadences might help in the early stages. I tend to run a higher gear, and power through most of my ride, not really a fan of spinning in a low gear. But maybe I should try spinning a bit more in the early parts of the ride. How did you warm-up back in the day? And do you do a warm-up now?A 20-min trainer warm-up, or on the road may get your neurology firing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jewbacca Posted November 4, 2020 Share Training the right way also help, so do the day before activation rides. I'm an 'endurance' person. I like long races, be it on the bike and on foot. I paid a bit more attention to leg speed, intervals etc and this helps with the initial 'getting going' on the shorter stuff like XCO and Cross Country 8km running. But it means doing actual training and not just riding/running, which sucks. T_Boss and deonkretch 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MTBeer Posted November 4, 2020 Share How to make the first 15km suck less - just ride the route in reverse... MORNE , Me rida my bicycle, MDJ and 2 others 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arendoog Posted November 4, 2020 Share I also HATE HOT STARTS like in most road races .It takes me an hour to warm up ,but then i run on auto pilot .If it is a flattish start i try to hold on .If it is a climbing start like at 94,7 i just let the group go an catch them later .If you are a racer then warm up properly before ? Edited November 4, 2020 by arendoog Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
'Dale Posted November 4, 2020 Share If you're not committing to a 30 minute warm-up phase, then you are choosing to not prepare the engine, Bru. What can help is:- light stretching - spin in the AM if you ride in the PM- spin in the PM if you ride in the AM- rope skipping in the parking lot- embrocation cream- lead out the group and take in the wind Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Ouzo Posted November 4, 2020 Share How to make the first 15km suck less - just ride the route in reverse...than it will blow not suck MDJ, RobertWhitehead, T_Boss and 2 others 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T_Boss Posted November 4, 2020 Share 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karman de Lange Posted November 4, 2020 Share What you eating before? Could be that you eating a fatty/high protein "meal" to close to the start which will make everything lazy (blood going to stomach to process food etc)... Try and have only light meals in the leading 12hrs before and just top up carbs with a drink (coke /game/energade etc) or a jell before ride. Since I stop eating pasta/protien the night before , having a small breakfast and stuffing myself with carb drink the hour leading to the ride, I'm alot better from the start and don't have the dreaded 45min into event energy drop arendoog 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T_Boss Posted November 4, 2020 Share What you eating before? Could be that you eating a fatty/high protein "meal" to close to the start which will make everything lazy (blood going to stomach to process food etc)... Try and have only light meals in the leading 12hrs before and just top up carbs with a drink (coke /game/energade etc) or a jell before ride. Since I stop eating pasta/protien the night before , having a small breakfast and stuffing myself with carb drink the hour leading to the ride, I'm alot better from the start and don't have the dreaded 45min into event energy dropThis is in stark contrast to how I eat, both on and before rides. I dont do any gels and so on, and limited amounts of sugary drinks, normally also only towards the end of a long ride I only eat whole foods both on and off the bike, and have a very high protien diet. So maybe changing that will help the short rides, but I think the knock on effect to my general lifestyle, and sustaining myself on longer rides, just doesnt make this feasible. I will rather suffer a little early on before I start ingesting glucose gels and sugars etc. I have basically zero sugar in my current diet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shebeen Posted November 4, 2020 Share smash a double vodka redbull 10mins before kickoff gemmerbal, deonkretch and Sid the Sloth 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted November 4, 2020 Share 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 legsYou can warmup in 10 minutes. Spin easily for 3 mins, then do some short sprints in an easy gear (>120rpm) for about 10 seconds with the same amount of time in between as easy as possible. 3 sets takes your to 4 mins elapsed time. Easy for 2 mins, then repeat the sprints again (in or out the saddle). That’s 7 mins in, allowing you one more effort. This short period will shock your system awake, allowing you to ease into the first 20 mins of your ride with a little more speed. It works for me, but doesn’t work for everyone. T_Boss 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karman de Lange Posted November 4, 2020 Share This is in stark contrast to how I eat, both on and before rides. I dont do any gels and so on, and limited amounts of sugary drinks, normally also only towards the end of a long ride I only eat whole foods both on and off the bike, and have a very high protien diet. So maybe changing that will help the short rides, but I think the knock on effect to my general lifestyle, and sustaining myself on longer rides, just doesnt make this feasible. I will rather suffer a little early on before I start ingesting glucose gels and sugars etc. I have basically zero sugar in my current diet Its easy to test try on your next 2 rides .. just do light super the night before (more salad then meat/pasta), have smaller breakfast than normal, Then have a coffee with 2 spoons of coffee and 2 spoons of sugar (thats ~10G of carbs already) about 30 minutes before (so you have time to visit loo) .. keep the rest of your nutrition on/off the bike the same. (not like you need any nutrition on 1 hr rides). That should give your body a big enough kick to see if makes difference. T_Boss 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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