My Fanny Hurts...

Well, I figure since I can walk today without a noticeable hitch after our mini-tour this past weekend, that I've pretty well recovered. Some of the lessons learned included trying to figure out when my legs are going to get tired.(Not easy to do...) There seems to be a 3 part process for me when I ride and the messages that get sent to my brain:
1. Hop on the bike and start going (read "What are you DOING? And whyyyyy?") which then transitions to 2. going along for awhile with no real issues or concerns that can't be managed with the occasional stand-up in the seat or reshifting (read "All right, this is not so bad...this time...") which follows with some magical switch of the timeclock to 3. becoming *one-with-the-seat* (read "What are You DOING? And I'm not going to cooperate any more...hmph") at which point I sort of just sink down into the seat and am not able to even stand to shift things around to try and get more comfortable. I'm thinking my legs reach the point of no return and just don't want to go any more, much less allow me to stand - so I need to figure out how to pre-empt this maneuver on the part of my body/brain connection - so any thoughts would be great. I'm trying to get stronger, and indeed, for someone who has not been on a bike in 25 years prior to April, I'm doing all right. But, and here's the kicker, I'd like to be stronger without really working at it. I agreed to the tandem biking as long as we were toodling along and I was not going to have to be one of those people who did this for a workout or some such. I'm not an athlete, have no athletic mentality, no real desire for that whole "desire for self improvement" stuff - it's a foreign language to me. But I'm happy as a clam on the back of the tandem. So go figure.:)

well, i don't know what to tell you if you don't want to work for it. My legs used to just give out too. It took a couple seasons to gain enough stamina to not have this happen.
I think for all except the most seasoned riders, there is a point where you just don't have the energy to stand up in your pedals anymore; that happens to me after a lot of hill climbing. But my legs DO NOT give out anymore, and if you have the right saddle, neither will your seat.
I suggest you keep riding; you ought to see improvements!

I really relate to where you're coming from!

1. It sounds like your bike fit is off.

2. You don't need to try that hard to get stronger. Just ride at a pace and distance that is comfortable to you, consistently. Every ride you get a little stronger. You'll see. It just happens.

3. You can keep riding on the back of the tandem. Nothing wrong with that! Do what you like the best.

I'll get my DH to take a look at the bike fit some more to see if there are some additional tweaks. I think it's just primarily a stamina issue, but I sure wish I had more warning rather than just a flip of the switch! ("Hello? This is your 5-minute warning speaking.") But we've logged over 650 miles over the last 3 months, so if I can get stronger by letting it sneak up on me, all the better. Some days are good and some days less good, I never know which I'm going to get:) Our commute is a pretty short one - we generally do about 12 miles total for the day, with an extra loop thrown in on the ride home. Longer rides are for the weekends.

How's your nutrition when you're riding. The flipping of the switch sounds suspiciously like you might be bonking. Have you tried eating/drinking some calories at that point (or before??). Otherwise, it does take time. I've lost a lot of fitness over the last year, and am working HARD to get it back...

CA

It sounds to me like you are overtraining. Are you taking at least one day completely off the bike? If you are working the point of exhaustion (temporary muscle failure) you'll need this to gain strength. Ideally the day after your longest, hardest ride would be the day to take off.