Hi, I've come out of lurkdom hoping the collective wisdom and experience of all you knowledgeable list members can help me.

I've been riding with a group (C level) since the end of March 05 that does progressively longer distances each Saturday. We're now up to 50 plus miles per ride and I am completely exhausted afterwards. It took me 5 days to begin to recover from last weeks ride and I had to drop out of the ride this weekend because I was just too depleted to go on after about 12 miles. These are not hard miles, mostly gently rolling hills. The average pace was only about 12 mph.

I'm eating the necessary carbs, plus protein and some fat during the week, I eat carbs during the ride as well as using Gu and drinking Gatorade, and eat carbs and protein after the ride, but nothing seems to help.

I'm thinking about dropping down (or dropping out totally) to a slower group that covers the same distances but I'm worried that this won't make a difference.

I don't ride during the week, although I can get on my trainer.

I've never felt this exhausted before.
Sorry this is so long. Any thoughts on this issue would be most appreciated.

Carol