Consecutive rides and soreness

Hey, I’ve been cycling for about 3 years now and have had some steady improvements over that period. I’ve recently begun riding with a bunch a little above my standard and they seem to be able to ride significant kms on consecutive days. For instance, we did a larger bunch ride of about 85km one day and they planned a ride the next day of about 160km. There is no way i could have managed the second day, even though I seemed to be able to stick with the group’s pacing on the 85km ride. My legs just seem to be really fatigued the next day - many of the other riders are my age (40) or older, but are much more experienced. Is there anything I could be doing to improve my ability to ride on consecutive days?

Make sure you eat enough both during and after your ride. Get a good night’s sleep in between as well.

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Good nutrition is half the game on multi days rides. Perhaps you are depleting your glycogen stores during the first ride. Then there’s nothing left for the second ride. It’s important to eat before each of the rides, to eat well during the rides, then to eat again soon after the rides complete. Before and during the rides focus on carbohydrates, then after the rides eat carbs but also protein to assist recovery from the muscle damage.

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I don’t know what your nutrition was like but I generally echo that of the comments above. When I am training 6 days a week the amount of food that you have to eat is pretty comical.

If you have a base calorie intake of 2000, and an 85km ride will likely be in the region of 1800 to 2600 calories depending on your power output then you need to eat 4000 calories or more that day just to cover your output. A lot of which will be carbs, then you need to eat even more to prepare yourself for the 5 hours the next day.

I feel a trap that people fall into when they up their training load, and one I have fallen into as well is not eating enough. Even if you actively think I need to eat more often it is still not enough. I find it useful to use food trackers to make sure I get enough calories on board, otherwise I get lazy, don’t get enough in and feel awful for the next few days.

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If they have been riding longer than you it could be that they are much better at burning fat than you are at similar intensities resulting in you depleting your glycogen much more than them. This depends on your type of training and your individual physiology.

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Second the comments above about matching calories burned on the ride with your pre, during, and (immediately) post ride nutrition, with a heavy carb emphasis.

A proper recovery drink with plenty of carbs, not just protein.

And maybe a little session on a foam roller might help with muscle soreness? One as soon as possible after, and another before you go to bed.

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This is some great advice - I tend to ride a little lean and not eat that much when I ride (certainly not before ) and sometimes not that much after! Funny that I never really perceived that to be an issue for fatigue and recovery when it’s pretty obvious really!! This morning I did Avalanche spire with a gel before, some electrolites just after as well as a protein bar and some carbs. Aiming up for some oats when I get to work! Thanks all - might update when I am a few weeks into being more accountable with my nutrition!

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I would recommend working on building up your ability to ride harder and/or longer on back to back days. Over the last year, if I have a race on a Saturday I’ll do a 2.5-3.5 hour Z2 ride on Sunday. If I don’t have a race on Saturday, I’ll do a 2.5 hour ride with intervals followed by finishing the ride out in Z2 and then doing a 2.5-3.5 hour ride on Sunday. I’ve really noticed my ability to handle harder rides and/or longer rides on back to back days has greatly improved. I now can handle more TSS and stress in general.

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I’ve been working towards this for just over a year now and my story is similar to yours.
My goal event is an XCM stage race.

The only thing that has worked for me is consistency in my training over time. No shortcuts while my body adapts.
I’ve found multiple days in the saddle each week have helped me more than an on/off approach.
That and loads of stretching combined with a foam roller.
Lately, I’ve been doing consecutive days and waking up ready to go again. I guess that’s also because I very rarely bury myself beyond the point of no return these days.

Keep at it and give it time. It sounds like you’ll be keeping up with those guys soon enough.

Are you eating regularly on the bike? A meal before the ride too? I’m with the comments shared above too :ok_hand::ok_hand: Those other experienced riders are likely more efficient with lesser food too. Or just great eaters off the bike!
Only asking because I’ve been terrible eating on the bike for years! Just thought I didn’t need it, got by but often felt rather hollow following days. This is first year I’m concentrating on eating regularly and oh boy, such a difference!

If you waited to be 100% fresh before riding again you’d only ride every 3 days or so. The accumulated fatigue is why there are rest weeks.

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I’m a total contrarian here. I find it less to be about food and more about vitamins, minerals and self care like a lacross ball, foam roller and stretching.
I fasted for 3 days before the start of the trip.

Every day every second bottle of water has a sis electrolyte tablet in it. Forgot that point when I made this summary.

312 km day 1.
1 apple 4 strawberries, 1 piece of cheese, multi vitamin, 2 1000 mg omega 3 fish oil tablets, 2 magnesium citrate 150 mg tablets and 2 calcium citrate 300 mg tablets.

Day 2 262 km.
multi vitamin, 2 1000 mg omega 3 fish oil tablets, 2 magnesium citrate 150 mg tablets and 2 calcium citrate 300 mg tablets. Had a salad with tuna on it at subway. No bun or dressing.

Day 3 123.1 km
multi vitamin, 2 1000 mg omega 3 fish oil tablets, 2 magnesium citrate 150 mg tablets and 2 calcium citrate 300 mg tablets. Had a salad with tuna on it at subway. No bun or dressing.

Day 4 206.4 km
multi vitamin, 2 1000 mg omega 3 fish oil tablets, 2 magnesium citrate 150 mg tablets and 2 calcium citrate 300 mg tablets. Had a salad with tuna on it at subway. No bun or dressing.

Day 5 99.62 km
multi vitamin, 2 1000 mg omega 3 fish oil tablets, 2 magnesium citrate 150 mg tablets and 2 calcium citrate 300 mg tablets.

Day 6 76.7 km
multi vitamin, 2 1000 mg omega 3 fish oil tablets, 2 magnesium citrate 150 mg tablets and 2 calcium citrate 300 mg tablets. Had a salad with tuna on it at subway. No bun or dressing.

Day 7 208.4 km
multi vitamin, 2 1000 mg omega 3 fish oil tablets, 2 magnesium citrate 150 mg tablets and 2 calcium citrate 300 mg tablets.

Day 8 off day visiting family.

Day 9 201.91 km
multi vitamin, 2 1000 mg omega 3 fish oil tablets, 2 magnesium citrate 150 mg tablets and 2 calcium citrate 300 mg tablets. Missed the boat out to my uncle’s island. As the cheesies, 2 cokes and mixed nuts.

Day 10 relaxing on island and trip over.

I brought a lacross ball with me and used it every night. I stretched often. I tried to do 5 minutes of stretching every hour but often forgot. I stretched every night and used the lacross ball every night on legs, glutes and hips. I also had a long hot bath at a hotel every night unless I was sleeping outside in a nylon bivy bag. The biggest learning point for me was that the vitamins saved me. I left them at home because of the weight. I ended up hitting a Costco as I was getting very sore on the night of day 2. Picked them up the morning of day 3 and was great the rest of the trip although I went for a physio/ deep tissue massage the night of day 6 as I rode by a place that was open and thought why not try!!

Also I am substantially over weight and fairly fat adapted. My body provides everything I need :crazy_face:. Still working on the overweight thing. I still do long rides during fasting periods. I can keep up with my riding buddies that are downing gels every 45 minutes and all that. I just have water with sis electrolyte tablets.

I also rode ghost of the gravel last year. 5 hours and 9 minutes long. 120 km through the mountains. I had 3 eggs and 4 pieces of bacon for breakfast, 1 cliff bar and 1 perogy and 1 piece of bacon at last feed point and that’s all.

Just trying to point out that there are many ways to feed oneself when riding long distances. It just depends on how you train your body.

Oh. I’m 50 years old now.

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Yeah - I decided to just start day-after riding to try and adjust, but I was just so fatigued, I wasn’t really improving week to week. I’ll incorporate better nutrition and try to gradually build up my back-to-back riding efforts.