First Group Ride

[Bethany1]

I had my first group ride last Thursday. I've never gone because I'm slow, can't go very far (about 5 miles) and don't want to look like a fool. I told him if he needed to drop me, no problem. I didn't want to ruin their evening.

Another guy shows up and they agree to go 15 miles since it's hot. The three of us take off and I'm following along best I can. I've never ridden with anyone else before so I just did what they did. They were always about 1/2 mile ahead as I could only do 10 mph.

I made it to the top of the hill and the guy tells me we've only done 2.5 miles. They decide to take an alternate route so I could get back to the store and then they were going down to the river to see the flooding.

Sure enough, come mile 5 my body totally gives out like it always does. I'm not sore or really out of breath, but shaky, and my body turns into rubber bands. They showed me how to make a left turn and I headed back to the store.

I've never ridden in real traffic but if they could do it, I could. I made it to the local McD's and rested. Now I know why they say to bring a few dollars.

I finally felt good enough to leave and make it the next mile up to the LBS and started off. I was surprised to see the guy in his car pull up next to me and offer me a ride back to the store. He saw my car was still at the lot and had come looking for me.

So..why does my body give out every time at 5 miles and can't make it past 10 mph on straight roads? I've been riding since May and I don't seem to be improving.

On the positive side, I made it up the steep and long hills and was able to keep 10 mph on them (usually I end up doing about 7) learned to navigate through real traffic and make a left turn on a major highway w/o getting run over by semi trucks. I did have a good time.

Part of me would like to go again for more experience, but not if I can only do 5 miles.

[BC2COCyclist]

Sounds kind of like "bonking" I think. Do you eat enough before the ride etc?

[Catrin]

I think BC2COCyclist has it, it sounds like you bonked - which means your body ran out of fuel. At least it sounds like what happens to me when I bonk

There are some good threads here about what happens when we bonk and different ways to deal with it. Here is a link to a search of the nutrition forum on bonking though there is certainly other threads on other TE forums. Check them out and feel free to ask as many questions here that you need to, learning how to fuel properly for the bike can be challenging.

[redrhodie]

Bethany, I'm trying to do some detective work to see if we can figure out why you're having trouble at 5 miles, so I went back through your posts to where you bought your bike, and noticed you're on a 56 cm bike. How tall are you? That's a pretty big bike.

[Bethany1]

I'm 5'10".

I went out with my son today on my WSD 29er through some back gravel roads and sure enough, come 5 miles I'm done. Son asked what I had for breakfast and I told him two bowls of cereal.

He's as confused as I am. He's wondering if my bikes are too big as well. I had a professional fit done for my Madone and the guy said it was fine.

Does my weight (215) make a difference?

I do love riding. I just thought I'd be a lot further by now.

[Catrin]

I'm 5'10".

I went out with my son today on my WSD 29er through some back gravel roads and sure enough, come 5 miles I'm done. Son asked what I had for breakfast and I told him two bowls of cereal.

He's as confused as I am. He's wondering if my bikes are too big as well. I had a professional fit done for my Madone and the guy said it was fine.

Does my weight (215) make a difference?

I do love riding. I just thought I'd be a lot further by now.

What are you eating with the cereal, any protein? I wonder if your blood sugar is spiking with the cereal and then crashing. How long do you eat before riding?

[grey]

I'm thinking it could be nutritional as well.
I eat 2 hours before a ride - usually 2 eggs, a fruit smoothie (banana, handful of blueberries and one other fruit blended with almond milk) and then either make amaranth pancakes or oatmeal.
I always carry 2 water bottles. The first contains electrolytes, like Nunn - the other is water. If I'm riding more than an hour, I drink the electrolyte bottle first, then move on to water. I keep this rotation - one bottle electrolyte, one bottle water, for the duration of the ride.
I eat every 90 minutes or so - a banana, a granola bar, a homemade fruit roll-up, or on long rides, a powerbar type thing.
Post-ride, I probably eat eggs again, or fish if I have it handy. Gotta feed the muscles. I also eat fruits and legumes, and roasted veggies.

I hope you figure out the cause of this - bonking is NO FUN.