No energy after longer bike rides

Hi,

I'm new to biking and have been building up my distance over the past two months. I've been biking about 3 times a week and increase my distance by a few miles each week.

It seems anytime I bike 15 miles or more (max so far has been 20), about a hour after the ride I have no energy. A wave of exhaustion comes over me and I end up having to take a nap and it takes me several hours to recover.

If I ride in the morning, I eat a bowl of cereal, toast, juice and some fruit. During the ride I drink water mixed with Gatorade. I also bring along a energy bar to have during the ride if I feel hungry. After the ride I will have some water and eat a meal. What am I doing wrong? I really like biking and feel ok when riding to go farther, but I'm worried that I'm not getting the right amount of something to feel so exhausted when I'm done.

Any suggestions or ideas would be great! Thanks in advance :)

How long does it take you to ride 20 miles? How many ozs of fluid are you taking in?

I would guess you need to eat and drink more. I'm a big advocate of protein before riding. Otherwise, you need more for breakfast. I would also plan a snack stop, instead of just eating if you feel hungry. Sometimes, I get distracted and forget to eat--then I'm ravenous. I also love a post-ride smoothie.

Dehydration is a common cause of fatigue.

Another idea would be to read Nancy Clark's Sports nutrition guide-there may be more tips there for you.

Can you just be, well, tired? From exercising? You say you are new to cycling - what about other exercise? If your body isn't used to it yet, and you're still building/toning new muscles, working your cardio system, etc, why wouldn't you be tired? If I'm not tired after exercising, then I figure I didn't work hard enough! Especially early in the season (early in ski season I'm always beat after a workout, and the harder I worked, the more tired I am).

I'm just saying, this could be perfectly normal. If you've always been really active, just at other things, then that would be different. But if you've been fairly inactive, and you just started riding pretty recently, then you SHOULD be tired. Your body needs to get used to this. I wouldn't worry just yet.

Michelle, welcome to TE.

Assuming you are eating enough and hydrating yourself sufficiently, if you have not been an athlete all your life, you might just be building muscle and not strong enough yet.
When I first started riding, even short rides over flat terrain totally wiped me out. With time (and i do mean years) I have gotten so that I can ride 40 easy miles in the morning and feel quite normal in the afternoon.. So, keep talking to us and keep riding.

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Originally Posted by michelle76

Hi,

I'm new to biking and have been building up my distance over the past two months. I've been biking about 3 times a week and increase my distance by a few miles each week.

It seems anytime I bike 15 miles or more (max so far has been 20), about a hour after the ride I have no energy. A wave of exhaustion comes over me and I end up having to take a nap and it takes me several hours to recover.

If I ride in the morning, I eat a bowl of cereal, toast, juice and some fruit. During the ride I drink water mixed with Gatorade. I also bring along a energy bar to have during the ride if I feel hungry. After the ride I will have some water and eat a meal. What am I doing wrong? I really like biking and feel ok when riding to go farther, but I'm worried that I'm not getting the right amount of something to feel so exhausted when I'm done.

Any suggestions or ideas would be great! Thanks in advance :)

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If you are in reasonable shape to begin with (and you didn't specify your age, general activity level prior to biking, or general fitness level) you will feel fatigued...but it should be a different kind of tiredness then that fatigued, stressed, long-day at the office exhaustion. If you are in really poor shape to begin with, you are probably going to feel like that for a while...you might back off a little. But if you are in moderate shape and just new to cycling and 15 miles makes you continually bone-numbing tired, you might:

Get a general check up and check that you are not anemic....this can often be a problem!
Have them check your thyroid level.
Check to make sure any prescription/over the counter drugs are not messing with your body when it is stressed.

Then look at your nutrition/exercise plan. You really might need to back off a bit!

All those carbs for breakfast and no protein? If I did that for a 15 mile + ride I would be so exhausted by the end I couldn't lift my bike back onto the bike rack. I know because I have tried it. Add some protein that your body likes and digests easily to your breakfast.

+1 on adding some proteins. DH also swears by a glass of chocolate milk post-ride...something about it having the right ratio of carbs to protein to be a good recovery drink. Alternatively, you could try Recoverite or some other similar post-ride specific supplement.

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Originally Posted by Biciclista

When I first started riding, even short rides over flat terrain totally wiped me out. With time (and i do mean years) I have gotten so that I can ride 40 easy miles in the morning and feel quite normal in the afternoon.. So, keep talking to us and keep riding.

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This has been my experience too. My first season, pretty much any ride would do me in. I'd need a nap or I'd just lay around for the rest of the day. This is my third season of riding and as long as I eat enough, I usually still have energy left even if I do a longer ride.

Try eating some eggs or something for breakfast. I agree about the protein. I love my carbs, but you need some protein with your breakfast. My favorite pre-ride breakfast is eggs, pop-tarts (I know, horrible...but they keep me full for a long time and I like them!), coffee, and milk or soy milk.

I hate to be a little disagreeable, but maybe you're eating too much. A 15-20 mile ride shouldn't take over 2 hours even at a 12/mph pace. Everything I've read says you don't need to worry about eating during a ride if it's less than 2 hours long. Is it just possible that you're having a sugar crash? Meaning you've eaten too many carbs and your body crashes coming down off all that sugar. Yes I said sugar because that's basically how your body treats carbs.
Just a thought. I may be right or I may be wrong.

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Originally Posted by jusdooit

I hate to be a little disagreeable, but maybe you're eating too much. A 15-20 mile ride shouldn't take over 2 hours even at a 12/mph pace. Everything I've read says you don't need to worry about eating during a ride if it's less than 2 hours long. Is it just possible that you're having a sugar crash? Meaning you've eaten too many carbs and your body crashes coming down off all that sugar. Yes I said sugar because that's basically how your body treats carbs.
Just a thought. I may be right or I may be wrong.

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You may be right, but you've got roadie reflexes. ;)

A 15-20 mile single track ride in hilly terrain could very easily take two hours and demand quite a bit of energy from a fit person. The OP didn't specify anything about her ride other than the distance.

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Originally Posted by jusdooit

I hate to be a little disagreeable, but maybe you're eating too much. A 15-20 mile ride shouldn't take over 2 hours even at a 12/mph pace. Everything I've read says you don't need to worry about eating during a ride if it's less than 2 hours long. Is it just possible that you're having a sugar crash? Meaning you've eaten too many carbs and your body crashes coming down off all that sugar. Yes I said sugar because that's basically how your body treats carbs.
Just a thought. I may be right or I may be wrong.

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My 21 mile commute takes 2 1/2 hours.

I usually eat half my dinner before I leave work, then eat again (Clif Shot Blox, mmmm! nature's most perfect food ;) ) while walking up one of the hills on my route. (Fremont from the water to View Ridge, for all you Seattle chickies) I eat the rest of my dinner once I get home.

It took a while for me to figure out the best way to manage fuel and effort, it's good to experiment. Like several other folks have suggested, try adding a good serving of protein to the meal you eat before your ride. Try eating your snack halfway through the ride before you get hungry. Try eating as soon as you get off the bike at the end. Don't water down the Gatorade. Give a different drink a try. You never know what might turn out to be the key! Play with all the details, don't be afraid to experiment.

Varying your level of effort can make a big difference, too. Once I decided I was going to walk the hill and just made that a regular feature of my commute, everything got even better! Something about that rest period while I walk really perks me up for the 2nd half of my commute. The ride is faster over all and I'm not so tired at the end.

It's ok to be tired. You should be tired! Some 15-20 mile rides can be exhausting! Now you have the opportunity to learn how to manage your body so it won't be so tired that you have to sleep afterward and are out of it for several hours. (in my case, I required more protein, more food over all, and a rest break during my homeward commute. Your mileage may vary.)

Somewhere along the line I heard or read that after a long ride, and when I was new to cycling 20 miles was a long ride, that I should have a recovery food/drink after the ride.

There should be a mix of carbs and protein and if you go to any bike shop or bike internet shop there will be a selection to choose from, specified for recovery. However, many people drink something like chocolate milk for the approximate right mix of protein/carbs after you deplete your energy stores. Now I eat homemade yogurt with a bit of maple syrup to up my energy.

One other thing, is taking care of your body by doing stretches. My favorite is to lie with my rear end up against a wall with my legs fully extended up the wall to give my hamstrings a really good stretch. This also helps my lower back and gives my body a well-deserved rest. I do this for 5 - 20 minutes.

My nutritionist gave me a rule of thumb. If I am eating more than 2 hours before my ride go for the protein + carbs. If I am eating less than 2 hours before my ride, carbs only. Otherwise, your energy will be reduced by the body working on digesting the protein.

Even on a 1 hour ride, I've been told to eat/drink 200 calories. If I am on the bike less than 2 hours, I eat carbs only. If I am on the bike more than 2 hours, I add some protein.

After a ride, within 30-60 minutes eat a combination that is 75% carb and 25% protein.

As I was reading this thread, thinking how tired I am after this morning's ride, I realized I'm never tired after my morning commutes (which are about the same distance that I rode this morning). I ate the same. They only difference was I worked harder this morning. So, maybe you just need to ride like a slacker, like I do on my commutes to work. See here:

http://www.bicyclefixation.com/slackers.htm

The hill advice is great.

michelle,

i dont think there's a problem at all, i think what you're going through is normal. i used to be wasted after my 30-40 mile saturday rides every other week. i mean wasted for the rest of the day.

now after a 60-miler i don't even need a nap.

i'm thinkin' it just takes time and miles to build up your endurance.

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Originally Posted by BeeLady

One other thing, is taking care of your body by doing stretches. My favorite is to lie with my rear end up against a wall with my legs fully extended up the wall to give my hamstrings a really good stretch. This also helps my lower back and gives my body a well-deserved rest. I do this for 5 - 20 minutes.

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Sorry about this wee hijack -- this paragraph brought back a memory:

Once, while doing this particular stretch at the end of an aerobics class, one of the other participants said she didn't like doing it much because it made her feet light headed!

Karen in Boise

Slightly drifty - but it's better not to shorten your hip while stretching your hamstrings. Cyclists are especially prone to shortened hip flexors because of our riding position.

linky

Here's the stretch Bookspan recommends, although honestly I don't like that one for the simple reason of traction. I don't want to mark up my walls with shoes or bare feet, and if I'm wearing socks, my foot just slides down. I do prefer to stretch with one foot propped up on the back of a couch, or a stair rail or fence, still making sure both toes are pointed straight ahead and my spine is in neutral.

That used to happen to me a lot. now I can ride 30, 40, 50 miles and still not need a nap. I can ride a 40 mile ride in the morning and clean house when I get back.

I think our bodies just need time to adapt. I didn't change anything really, other than getting more fit.

Ive been riding for a year and such, and I find that for me( on a road bike, riding a flattish commute, 17 km) I dont eat in morning, except banana and grape juice. Ill eat after ride, having a protein shake. I was protein starved so adding two a day( shakes ) helped me, but I dont eat any grains or rice or corn.
I work on my feet all day, and Im pretty tired for commute home. The last 5 km are SOO hard( and uphill and a headwind to boot!)!
It takes time to build muscles and endurance.
I find if I eat for rides under two hours, I get sluggish.
Im pretty tired after my two hour ride on weekends( when I go!), and I eat before that. Its getting easier but at least I dont need a nana nap anymore after it( I use to pass right out!).
Also, how fast are you going and what gearing?I once had a ride when I got home, I thought, man, Im wasted! Turns out I rode in the hardest gear, all the way home , uphills and headwinds and all.:eek: