Road Cycling

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Had a brilliant ride yesterday, in fact my favourite ride so far out of 300+

I did 100mile on the 3rd for the first time which was fantastic and a good boost for my fitness, I’ve felt the benefits since, planned on going out and doing the same yesterday on my day off but my Mrs has a trapped nerve in her neck so I decided against the idea and drove her to work for her safety :) instead I planned a route that I knew were between 40 and 50 miles and decided to give it power for 75% of the ride, really pushed myself and I must admit, the results shocked me!

I got 43 PRs, top 500/3500 people impressed me, I took around 8 mins off my time from Oxenhope to Hebden Bridge which was part of the tour route and also put me 17 mins in front of a friend at work, couldn’t believe that. The weather was brilliant and the wind was low, I went through both my bottles of water with around 4-7 miles to spare. Barely any trouble with traffic either with was another bonus, got slowed down on the decent to Hebden but I knew I were going to set a fast time so I wasn’t too bothered, give me a chance to rest my legs before my sprint back up to Halifax from Hebden.

When I first set out I went towards Bradford as I knew a few lads from work had ridden that way and I wanted to up my average speed and really take their times, which in most places I did!

Most importantly I upped my average speed, which was my goal, I were over 15mph over 22 miles, then I started climbing for around 10 miles and it dropped, I wanted 14mph and I got 13.9mph which I can live with.

Safe to say it’s the best ride I think I’ve had and I’m really happy with!

https://www.strava.com/activities/370976064
 
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Bear said:
How do you manage to say fueled for the ride? I go out first thing at the weekends (about 6.30 am) without eating and found that I can only manage about 25 miles without having anything to eat else I will bonk and have to crawl home at about 10 mph. I guess the fact I'm 100kgs doesn't help.
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I guess a couple of years of riding to get to that level. I can do about 40ish miles fasted before starting to feel like a bonk is coming on.
 
I don't tend to ride fasted too much but I can probably do 40 miles without food at a reasonable (not killer) pace fairly easily - and I'm nowhere near the level SoliD is at. As he says, regular riding tends to get you to that state fairly quickly.

I actually have mini bonks way more regularly than I should during the week as I don't tend to eat enough in the mornings and combining lots of shorter faster cycles with weight sessions in between seems to utterly drain my glycogen.
 
#Chri5# said:
I like the High5 Recovery in chocolate - makes for a half decent milkshake.
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FrenchTart said:
Just drink a pint of chocolate milk. It's an almost perfect balance of carbs/protein/fats for recovery. Only do this after your longer/tougher rides though.
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janp said:
I use Whey Concentrate Protein (Chocolate Smooth flavour), from myprotein. I mix it with milk
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dodg3rman said:
I use Asda chocolate milk powder after rides , delicious and cheap. I'm also ravenous after rides too , how can you not be :confused:
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Oh I can eat after rides but I'm quite aware about what to eat, no point in loading up on chocolate biscuits for the hell of it! On my longer rides I will usually be back home just before a mealtime, food prep taking at least half an hour (along with a shower) means I won't usually be eating anything in the ideal 'post-30 mins exercise' window. Having a 'protein shake' would solve this.

So general consensus is chocolate milk/chocolate flavoured protein milkshake. I don't tend to drink much milk anyway (a glass with breakfast and then just in my coffee) so will need to add more to the shopping list! :cool:

It'll only be for after longer rides, not commuting. So 3 a week or so, I may try protein bars and see if I can get some small samples of the different shakes to see which agree with me. Thanks everyone! :)

James07 said:
Had a brilliant ride yesterday, in fact my favourite ride so far out of 300+
<snip>
https://www.strava.com/activities/370976064
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Good going and enjoy a good writeup! You're turning into a machine on those hills! That CAT2 looks an incredible climb! :D

Easy commute in this morning as my thighs are still feeling quite abused. Thought I'd take it fairly easy and wasn't going to do the 'hill' route but it was a cold start and I needed warming up! Didn't push hard just kept spinning and PR'd the damn thing lol :D
 
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Just for reference, although some protein is good, carbs are more important. The protein will help with muscle repair/etc and the carbs will help your body to start replenishing your glyocgen stores. Both are important but getting some carbs in will help you more. The reason I suggest chocolate milk is that it already has a little bit of protein, a little bit of fat (which is good for your joints/etc) and lots of carbs in the form of sugars.

A proper foam rolling routine after your longer rides (and a regular rolling a couple of times a week) will also make a huge difference.

That said, unless you're doing something super strenuous the day after it doesn't really matter that much.

Protein shakes made with milk are also okay though it could be argued that the protein part of it isn't really needed unless you're deficient elsewhere in your diet.
 
I want to commute to work, it's 15 miles. And hilly. I may try it but now it's winter.
 
FrenchTart said:
Just for reference, although some protein is good, carbs are more important. The protein will help with muscle repair/etc and the carbs will help your body to start replenishing your glyocgen stores. Both are important but getting some carbs in will help you more. The reason I suggest chocolate milk is that it already has a little bit of protein, a little bit of fat (which is good for your joints/etc) and lots of carbs in the form of sugars.

A proper foam rolling routine after your longer rides (and a regular rolling a couple of times a week) will also make a huge difference.

That said, unless you're doing something super strenuous the day after it doesn't really matter that much.

Protein shakes made with milk are also okay though it could be argued that the protein part of it isn't really needed unless you're deficient elsewhere in your diet.
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Yeah I was thinking more the protein as my diet is fairly good, it's just the recoveries I'm trying to improve so I can ride harder, consecutive days. I can 'cope' with 5 days of commuting and a hard saturday ride taking sunday as my rest day. Yet as soon as I 'mix it up' in the week and throw in a couple of harder efforts after work I find my 1 recovery day is not enough. Usually a 'high' mileage week (for me: ~100 miles) means I struggle the next week (like now...) and have to take at least 2 days recovery (sometimes more). I can't take more this week and with a big ride coming next saturday... I'm probably too late to do anything this week, but in future I'd like to assist my recoveries more! I don't have a lack of energy for riding, just aches/painful muscles! :)

I do basic stretching before bigger rides, usually going easier for the first 5/10 miles but I don't really do anything before commuting, or afterwards. For the 50 I'll be going easy for the first ~20 as want to be almost 50% through the climbs before I start pushing! Foam rolling is something I've looked at but previously didn't consider it necessary... Maybe now it is! ;)

Jono said:
I may try it but now it's winter.
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Oh no he didn't! :o :eek:
 
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Everyone is different but I think if you tend to eat less when you ride you train your body to be more efficient at doing that.

My 18 mile morning commute is generally done on a cup of tea. I'll have porridge at work and that does me til lunch.

And our Saturday morning bunch will be 60 miles at 21mph+ average most weeks and I rarely eat on that. Just have a decent breakfast (cereal, 3 bits of toast, banana) and drink on the way round. I'll eat plenty when I get home but I don't bonk on a ride like that. If I was planning on some extra miles on top on the way home I'd eat an energy bar at half way.
 
Jono said:
I want to commute to work, it's 15 miles. And hilly. I may try it but now it's winter.
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It's totally not winter :eek:

Get riding ;)

Roady said:
Yeah I was thinking more the protein as my diet is fairly good, it's just the recoveries I'm trying to improve so I can ride harder, consecutive days. I can 'cope' with 5 days of commuting and a hard saturday ride taking sunday as my rest day. Yet as soon as I 'mix it up' in the week and throw in a couple of harder efforts after work I find my 1 recovery day is not enough. Usually a 'high' mileage week (for me: ~100 miles) means I struggle the next week (like now...) and have to take at least 2 days recovery (sometimes more). I can't take more this week and with a big ride coming next saturday... I'm probably too late to do anything this week, but in future I'd like to assist my recoveries more! I don't have a lack of energy for riding, just aches/painful muscles! :)

I do basic stretching before bigger rides, usually going easier for the first 5/10 miles but I don't really do anything before commuting, or afterwards. For the 50 I'll be going easy for the first ~20 as want to be almost 50% through the climbs before I start pushing! Foam rolling is something I've looked at but previously didn't consider it necessary... Maybe now it is! ;)
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Foam rolling is a bit different to stretching. It's pretty painful at first but it's awesome for your muscles/ligaments/etc.

tedmaul said:
Everyone is different but I think if you tend to eat less when you ride you train your body to be more efficient at doing that.

My 18 mile morning commute is generally done on a cup of tea. I'll have porridge at work and that does me til lunch.

And our Saturday morning bunch will be 60 miles at 21mph+ average most weeks and I rarely eat on that. Just have a decent breakfast (cereal, 3 bits of toast, banana) and drink on the way round. I'll eat plenty when I get home but I don't bonk on a ride like that. If I was planning on some extra miles on top on the way home I'd eat an energy bar at half way.
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In some ways I think the time you're out on the saddle matters more (kind of) than the intensity. If you're out for hours and hours you're almost certainly going to need to eat more. If you're just out for a couple you can get by on your current reserves.
 
FrenchTart said:
In some ways I think the time you're out on the saddle matters more (kind of) than the intensity. If you're out for hours and hours you're almost certainly going to need to eat more. If you're just out for a couple you can get by on your current reserves.
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Very true. Saturday morning I can be home in 2hrs 40mins on a fast day, so with a decent breakfast its not that long. I find it difficult to eat anyway as that ride is still so hard for me.
 
Vonhelmet said:
Winter is coming, though... I was out last night until gone ten and was in the dark from soon after nine. It sucks.
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Meh, I still do an hour in the dark before it gets light in the morning, having good lights helps.

Then by the time it gets light for the whole ride, the clocks change!
 
Which lights?
Also does anyone know of a waterproof rear one that could clip on saddle bag or seat post? My smart one is not waterproof. At all.
 
Jono said:
Which lights?
Also does anyone know of a waterproof rear one that could clip on saddle bag or seat post? My smart one is not waterproof. At all.
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I'm using these. The mini RC rear isn't available individually now, but I know I only paid £21 for mine when they were... (can probably get them other places than wiggle).

Awesome little light, waterproof, USB chargeable and I get 20 hours+ runtime out of a charge. Can really recommend Cateye lights. Rubber 'band' onto seatpost but easy to cable tie the mount onto a strap.
 
I have an exposure flare & joystick as well as a cheaper clip on led flasher.

Bunch ride was on time today which is a first, meant that I was 2 minutes late and could see them in the distance. Took 30 minutes chasing at an average of 290w to get on. Ouch!
 
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