Quads and brevet training

[Catrin]

In my humble opinion, stretching is highly over-rated.

Sometimes short muscles are exactly what give us power or quickness. If you need power at a particular angle of the joints, the body will change the muscle to give you exactly that power at that position.
.........Quad and knee problems while on the bike are not due to tightness. The quad and hip flexors are actually on a slack in biking position. (which is why the body shortens the muscles for optimal performance in biking position)

If you were having problems off the bike, I wouldn't scoff at stretching.

(and of course 75 miles were troublesome, she had just yanked the ever-lovin'-f*ck out of your finely tuned muscles! Please find a trainer/massage therapist who knows what the heck she's doing!)

I actually hadn't thought about that last bit! My own trainer will stretch his clients that need it at the end of their training session - but he doesn't do more than that - and it isn't what I pay him for (he has never needed to do this for me). I've learned my lesson and will be more careful next time I decide that I need help stretching. The last 15-18 miles of today's 65 miles were much more difficult than they have been in a long time. Thanks for the education - it is helpful!

I would take a wait and see attitude, as I know how much you want to do the brevet. Did the mt give you any reasons why you shouldn't do the 75 mile ride?

She said my quads were too tight - though in retrospect, it may be related to her not being a cyclist/understanding cycling. My body did feel good after our session...until I broke 40 miles on the bike and the suffering began. In the past that hasn't happened until, say, 58-60 miles - and to a much less degree than today.... The original plan was to have done my long ride yesterday and not today - but work and weather interfered with that plan...

...
The second thing is that I know for me, what you are trying to accomplish would have never happened when I first started riding. I could do it now, but I still don't "train" the way you have been, just riding a lot of hills has prepared me for any events I have done. When I decide to do something, I do it, but there have been plenty of times, when in my mind, I know it's not going to happen, and i alter my goal. I did some really hard riding on my trip to Spain in May, which has lead me to give up less easily. But, I am not doing any super long or terribly difficult rides like I did there; it's like I have a pattern, which I change up a few times a year, but in the end I really don't like riding over 50 miles, not because I can't do it, but my body sort of falls apart with lots of rides over this amount. I don't want to spend my whole life in "rehab," dealing with sports injuries, etc.

Thanks for your thoughts on this. I am a very stubborn woman, but I am doing this for the sheer fun of it. I don't give up easily - and I have not - but it is always a balance. I find that I do enjoy riding long distances - and if I decide in the end that I need to wait until next year for my first brevet it certainly won't mean that I've failed