Ride 20 - Much harder than it should have been
Sorry for the break between posts but even though this was a four-day week, it felt like a five-day week at work. I was slammed. Friday morning I woke up and didn’t feel 100% and couldn’t ride. By the time I got home that evening around five, I was totally blown. I had zero energy and couldn’t stay awake. It took all I could do to just crawl in bed. I slept until about 8:45 PM, then went back to bed at midnight, and slept until 7:00 AM this morning. When I got up I didn’t feel great but I felt ok. I decided to go ahead and ride the same route I did last Saturday because I needed the ride.
Upon setting out my hamstrings felt pretty tight and it took several miles before they started to feel good. As I neared my normal weekday turnaround point I just wasn’t sure how this ride was going to turn out. I felt tired already and just was having a hard go at it. I reached the church that’s my turnaround point and had to stop for about 10 minutes to rest. I drank some water and had some Jelly Belly® Sport (ENERGY) Jelly Beans. After resting I felt a bit better and set out again.
About 5 minutes later I crossed an intersection and saw a group of three riders approaching the same intersection from my left. About a mile later they start to overtake me (I’m going approx 17 mph). The lead rider pulls up next to me and says, “We’re lost and hope you know where you’re going because we’re just going to follow you.” I said, “If you follow me, you’ll just wind up at my house.” They laughed and kept on going. I caught up to them again about 2 miles later at a stoplight. The light changes green and I’m ready and take off. They seemed to be taking their time getting across. They probably thought I was a tool as I passed them. Once across the intersection the road climbs for about 200 feet and then descends back down on the other side. I let my speed carry me and I’m riding along at about 20 mph. I see some guy operating a leaf blower up ahead next to the road. It looks like he was fixing to step out into the road, saw me, and thought better of it. I’m still pushing 20 mph, get within about 10 feet of the guy and he turns to step out in front of me. At the last second he sees me and jumps back. That would have hurt. About a 100 feet later I’m still pushing 20 mph (just to see if the three riders were going to catch me) and here they come just cruising by me with a girl in the lead. They must have been moving along at close to 25 mph. Wow. I hope to be able to ride at that pace some day.
After these three passed me again they left me behind pretty quick and then I turned to start heading back home. The effort over the past five miles was starting to get to me. It took a huge effort to keep pedaling over the last stretch home and by the time I got home I was hurting pretty bad. I’m not sure what caused me to crash so bad yesterday and then to not be able to ride at my best today. I’ve wondered if it was some kind of bug but I don’t feel sick. I’ve also wondered if it’s perhaps my diet and if I’m not getting enough of something. I’m not sure. I welcome anyones opinion.
Here are the numbers for today: 24.22 miles, 1:34:01, 21.7 mph max, 15.4 mph average
jody on Mon, 2nd Jun 2008 8:05 pm
I don’t know for sure, but I’ve been counting calories & riding a lot. I find sometimes if I don’t get the right amount of calories at the right time I am pretty useless on the bike. When I wasn’t counting calories I would eat a granola bar about 1/2 hour before I started my ride home. Since I’ve stopped doing that, I have noticed that my energy levels completely crash just before I get home. Obviously I’m no sports nutritionist but I’m having the same problems.
jaxgtr on Mon, 2nd Jun 2008 9:26 pm
Brother it was hot Saturday and I did not get out until 11:30. If you did 24 miles in that heat and humidity and were not feeling your best, you should feel good about it.
I was riding toward Southside on AC Skinner and some dude that weighed about a buck 40 started hanging on my wheel for about a mile and then I slowed a little and told him this is a two man team and it was his turn to pull. I was promptly a single again, :-). I think he just liked the fact he was being pulled by a Clyde and he had no wind resistance.
You might have just been having some effects of the humidity and heat. Just a note, the church will have a hose out there sometimes and I have used it to cool off if I am overheating. I used the Wendy’s drive through on Baymeadows a couple of weeks ago to get some water and dump a cup of ice water on my head as well.
Bryan on Tue, 3rd Jun 2008 7:18 am
@jody: I’ve also wondered if it’s calorie/food related by not eating properly before or after. I need to pay closer attention to that.
@jaxgtr: I hadn’t thought about the heat because I had ridden early (from 7:30 to 9:00). Maybe that was a factor. That’s pretty lame about that guy sucking your wheel and not wanting to pull. Thanks for the tip about the hose at the church. FYI, construction on Touchton will be starting up in the next couple of months and will likely dramatically increase traffic on AC Skinner. It may not affect us on weekends but on the weekdays beware.
jaxgtr on Tue, 3rd Jun 2008 10:32 pm
Good to know on the traffic on Touchton, I had not heard that. I don’t think AC Skinner will be a big issue, but Gate Parkway (the other new road) will most definitely see an increase.
daveydave on Fri, 6th Jun 2008 10:25 pm
Maybe you don’t have enough logs on the fire to fuel the fire! Counting calories is important, but only up until the point where you are having diminishing returns. Better to get a good workout in with more energy stored in your system than to bonk before you are done.
Protein is huge. I find I a bit before and then some right after help really get my metabolism to stay high all day.
It’s absolutely huge to have something to curb the starving after a ride. Fill up with water and have some kind of lean meat or yogurt /cereal.
Being a New England guy, I can only imagine what it’s like to ride in FL this time of year. It was in the 50’s for my afternoon ride yesterday, and will be 90 tomorrow. I live in the land of bizarre!
dave
Bryan on Sat, 7th Jun 2008 12:12 am
@daveydave: Land of the bizarre is right! LOL! I live in CT for about six years.
daveydave on Sat, 7th Jun 2008 11:14 pm
As predicted - we had a 35 degree change in weather over the course of 48 hrs. Talk about a way to mess a body up! Even still, I might have had my best workout of the year today. 12 half mile hill repeats without dying is good. Total = 33 miles of hard stuff.
@Bryan - you mentioned Sport Jelly Beans…do they work pretty well? Today, I used Clif Shots - which really did replace the electrolytes I was sweating out today. Good stuff.
CT - yeah - weird weather there at times. NE in general is bizarre. This rise in temperature is somewhat normal. May is barely like spring here (cold one week), then there is a week in late May or June that just transitions everything into mid-summer temps. Wacko!
dave
Bryan on Mon, 9th Jun 2008 7:26 am
@daveydave: Wow, 35 degree swing in the weather. I had forgotten about days like that up in the Northeast. I wonder if I need to start worrying about repeats and stuff like that or just continue to push the mileage up right now.
I liked the Sport Jelly Beans. The package is small and is unnoticeable in a jersey pocket. I had the fruit punch and they tasted good. They are kinda sweet though.
jaxgtr on Mon, 9th Jun 2008 1:44 pm
Hey, the clif shots are good, but they do melt somewhat in the heat and they makes them somewhat messy. The Jelly Bellies hold their consistency and don’t seem to melt. A