Beautiful ride but too tired. - Page 2

01-12-2007, 12:22 PM

gds wrote:

> As an over 60 rider I can tell you there are lots of riders around my
> age, and older, who are far from geezers.
> That said I think that some older riders too often ignore rest &
> recovery. My experience is that I can still do a serious effort but it
> takes me a couple of days to recover. Ignore recovery and you are
> doomed to constantly feel tired and ride more slowly than you should.

I'm fairly confident that it's not a recovery thing. I'm riding
no differently "post Nebraska" than I did "pre Nebraska".

I know there are no hard rules as to when you start losing power
due to age. It inevitably happens but the age at which it happens
is highly variable.

A friend of mine who worked in the Miami, FL area said there was
some guy there in his 70's who could keep up average speeds of
over 25 mph. Bicyclists from all over would come to ride with
him (20-30 milers IIRC).

I know Miami area is flat but that's a good average speed no matter
what one's age, and doing that into one's 70's is quite an
accomplishment IMHO.

It's winter (sort of) now and my bike speeds are a couple mph lower
than in the summer normally, so I suppose I'll have to wait and
see if my average speed picks up to normal again come spring.

But I'm thinking I may simply have lost some oomph this summer! No
tragedy; just nature pursuing its course.

SMH

01-12-2007, 04:39 PM

Might be a case of changed diet. Not enough iron is as bad as too much.

01-13-2007, 03:55 PM

fastturtle wrote:
> Yesterday was warm for the season, a mild +6°C, with a moderate but
> definite west wind. So I took my brand new randonneur bike and headed
> west, against the wind, for a day out on the road. It was a nice, slightly
> melancholic kind of day, with high clouds and an occasional dim ray of
> sun, with water flowing noisily in the creeks and confused birds
> mistakenly celebrating spring.
>
> After some 90 km of slow but steady spinning against varying winds and
> climbs, I turned back east and naturally accelerated a bit. After a while,
> suddenly there comes another cyclist from behind, and passes me fast, a
> bit too fast for my ego. I try to catch up, painfully, discover that
> yes I still do have some good strength in my legs, that I can spin the
> same cadence with a higher gear, and after a few km I am in his wheel, and
> we talk a bit. The guy seems very fit, but when I describe my ride he
> tells me "whaouw, I never ride that long except on races". His ride today
> is some 35 km total. We split after some more km. I am still 30 km from
> home.
>
> Halfway through this final stretch, I catch sight of two more guys ahead
> of me. But there is no way I can follow them. At the end of the day, I
> have 172 km in the legs, 6:45 hours on this (too) new Brooks saddle. And I
> feel too tired. The kind of tiredness with which I don't eat well and
> don't sleep well. And this was _not_ my first ride since months. I have
> done another century last week-end (slower but which left me less tired,
> by the way), and another in late november. And I have my short ride to
> work every day. And I don't think I am overdoing it. And I have done
> faster _and_ longer rides. Why then am I so slow and so tired ? Is it
> because of winter ? This is depressing.

105 miles in 6:45 on a 42 degree day in January...you are the MAN!!!!!
Have a beer on me, get a massage...and do it again!!!