Tell us about your weekend ride

Nothing really long compared to others on here, but a couple of steep climbs relieved me of most my energy. Highlights include Roald Amundsen's house at Svartskog and the ferry back to Oslo from Nesoddtangen. Really nice way to finish a ride:

After the frankly scary disaster that was last Fridays long ride attempt. The blue skies, and still air, convinced me to try again. Over dressed a tad, and over ate at lunch. So I headed out feeling a bit sluggish.

Cruising along the coast was lovely. After a Winter of interval training it was nice just to turn the cranks and look around. Soon I could see the mountain Group I was going to ride over.

Headed up Ørskog-mountain at a relaxed rate. Nice shallow Climb. Then cruised Down the other side to Vestnes. I did'nt really know where I was heading from here. But it was just one of those rides were everything goes right, and I didnt get lost.

Followed the coast around to the island my kids were staying at, they were pretty chuffed that daddy cycled 160km just to kiss them goodnight. Then fitted my lights and started the familiar 55km ride home.

Brioche and beer for recovery.

http://connect.garmin.com/dashboard?cid=7739489

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Lovely!

Does anyone else get a bit of a hangover (besides achey legs etc) after big, hard rides? Like, anything over about 80miles.

I always find that the next day I feel pretty out of it and slightly comatose. I always eat and drink a good amount when i'm back, including all that 'protein in the first 20 mins of getting home' nonsense. I do however, tend to have a couple of beers, but normally no more that two, and i certainly don't feel pissed when I go to bed or anything.

Just wondering if anyone else gets similar after-effects, and have found ways of countering them. I tend to have an electrolyte in the morning which helps, but not a huge amount. I think part of the problem is i don't always sleep that well after a ride as I'm buzzing a bit, despite being exhausted.

Still sounds a lot like dehydration - do you drink on the bike?
I think your body struggles to replenish a rides worth of water all at once (i.e. when you get back), and then the beers don't help?

(Obv. if you do drink on the bike then you're SOL)

I always have a couple of beers. But I also drink loads of water. Maybe you arent hydrating enough.

Part of a hangover comes from pissing Your body sugar out all night. So a sugar low could also be part of it, if you havent eaten enough. Are you getting enough brioche?

Who am I kidding. You cant get 'enough' brioche......

;)

?

Does anyone else get a bit of a hangover (besides achey legs etc) after big, hard rides? Like, anything over about 80miles.

Ha! You should see me. I'm braindead and zombified for days afterwards. It doesn't matter what recovery bullshit I try, it's the same every week.

I always have a couple of beers. But I also drink loads of water. Maybe you arent hydrating enough.

Part of a hangover comes from pissing Your body sugar out all night. So a sugar low could also be part of it, if you havent eaten enough. Are you getting enough brioche?

I think that's a big part of the problem; I've suspected it's a hydration thing. I drink a load of water when I'm back, and for sure the beers don't help... but there's no way I'm not having a couple of rewarding brews after!

Part of the reason I don't sleep well after a ride is coz i need to go to the toilet about 4 times because I've drunk so much (water). Guess I need to just drink MORE! Probably a nuun or two when getting home would help too.

^ I've actually only noticed this phenomenon this weekend, pith Sunday and into day I woke up and if I didn't know better is swear I was hungover...

Will have a nuun shortly to see if that helps!

That paints a picture :-)
.

The baselayer was over the bib straps mind - didn't want that strong a look

If you've sweated a lot and you just drink water your body tries to maintain the low-salt balance by pissing out the water. Or is that just Gatorade marketing?

I know in Oz I use to race with just water and got crazy headaches which switching to an electrolyte drink remedied.

100 beautifully sunny Suffolk miles, with barely a car in sight. And fish and chips in Dunwich before riding back. Awesome.

http://www.strava.com/activities/124969563

If you've sweated a lot and you just drink water your body tries to maintain the low-salt balance by pissing out the water. Or is that just Gatorade marketing?

I know in Oz I use to race with just water and got crazy headaches which switching to an electrolyte drink remedied.

A lot of that is marketing I reckon.

The headache thing has happened to me though, and more recently cramps. Which the electrolyte marketing folk claim to reduce. I've moved to electrolyte tabs and seen a reduction. But I've probably also been more careful all round, and maybe even drank more.

The thing with sports drinks is they are tastier than water which makes you more likely to drink them which goes some way to solving the problem. So, err, yeah, nice one Mr G Ade.

"when exercise is of high-intensity, longer duration (≥ 1 h), or performed in a hot environment, fluid replacement with carbohydrate and electrolytes at a rate sufficient to prevent > 2% hypohydration can be advantageous (discussed in detail in competitive exercise section above)."

The recommended amount of sodium and potassium to be included in a fluid-replacement beverage during exercise (as communicated by The American College of Sports Medicine and the Institute of Medicine) is ∼20 to 30 and ∼2 to 5 mmol/L, respectively (238, 414). This is primarily because the presence of ∼20 to 30 mmol/L sodium in a fluid-replacement beverage has been shown to stimulate physiological thirst and improve beverage palatability and voluntary fluid intake (351, 414, 478, 512). In addition, ingestion of ∼20 to 30 mmol/L of sodium and ∼2 to 5 mmol/L of potassium from a fluid-replacement beverage helps replace sweat electrolyte losses incurred during exercise (414). Sodium intake may be especially important when sweat sodium losses are large. Some types of exercise-associated muscle cramping may be associated with large sweat sodium losses; and cramp-prone athletes can benefit from sodium intake to prevent or offset muscle cramping (45-47, 149, 470). Furthermore, a sodium-containing beverage helps slow the decline in blood sodium concentration during prolonged exercise, with higher concentrations being more effective at offsetting losses compared to plain water (14, 33, 324, 490, 500). Chloride is typically the primary anion included in sports drinks, since it is the anion lost in the greatest amount in sweat. In addition, a small amount of potassium (∼3 mmol/L) is usually included to replace sweat potassium losses. Despite the common perception that magnesium and/or potassium are implicated in the etiology of exercise-associated muscle cramping, there are little to no experimental data to support this notion

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/cphy.c130014/full#c130014-sec-0007

I think like Hippy says there is only so much you can do really. If you've really stepped it up (it's ok if you're used to it) you will feel a bit like that however much you drink. There's physically only so much water you can drink.

Beers don't help. Tempting, but you're always going to feel worse the next day for them. The worst thing you can possibly drink after a long ride.

Except wine or spirits, I guess :)

I went from 65km to 213km without much issue. I put a scoop of glucose powder in my bidons which generally just pissed me off TBH.

I ate 2 packets of powershots, (as they where already a month out of date so needed eating).
3 Clif bars
1 ham sandwich
1 pate sandwich
2 chocolate energy bars

I drank 5 liters of water too.

Came home planning to make a protein rich omelet, and a protein shake. But we didnt have any eggs. So I just scuffed an 8 portion brioche, and 2 bottles of stout. Same difference.

Beers don't help. Tempting, but you're always going to feel worse the next day for them. The worst thing you can possibly drink after a long ride.

Wasn't there a study (more likely drunken suggestion) that a single beer after exercise was better than just water? But as soon as you went for the second or third the advantage was lost and of course they're both poor compared to drinking/eating properly.

University of Sydney, iirc.
Granada University, hrumph.
Just about any sports science uni that wants publicity.

The thing with sports drinks is they are tastier than water which makes you more likely to drink them which goes some way to solving the problem. So, err, yeah, nice one Mr G Ade.

I had stomach issues last year. Threw up every time I tried to drink while exercising.

Rode Trollstigen Climb (700m accent) totally dehydrated. Then sat for a while and managed to get 400ml of water to stay Down. Re-did the Climb and it was like having new legs.

Its mainly after that that I've focused on drinking more. I used to just wait untill I was thirsty.

People forget you're losing water mostly through breath whilst cycling. I'm fairly sold on salt being important along with your carbs. Yesterday think I should have had more.

I now eat some protein usually (about 12g per 2hrs).

If I skip carbs I bonk.
If I skip salt I get lightheaded and mentally slow(er).
If I skip protein I feel hungry and generally unhappy.

I think like Hippy says there is only so much you can do really. If you've really stepped it up (it's ok if you're used to it) you will feel a bit like that however much you drink.

^ very true.

There's physically only so much water you can drink.

Not strictly true (#pedant) but there is only so much that's practical.

Beers don't help. Tempting, but you're always going to feel worse the next day for them. The worst thing you can possibly drink after a long ride.

Except wine or spirits, I guess :)

I disagree. Don't get pissed obviously but there are loads of sugars, salts and minerals in ale and wine and they are a staple recovery drink of heros.

I had stomach issues last year. Threw up every time I tried to drink while exercising.

Rode Trollstigen Climb (700m accent) totally dehydrated. Then sat for a while and managed to get 400ml of water to stay Down. Re-did the Climb and it was like having new legs.

Its mainly after that that I've focused on drinking more. I used to just wait untill I was thirsty.

I've always ridden and raced dehydrated. It's easier for me over here with the much lower temps. It's too personal to really offer advice on though - what I drink would have some people dying by the roadside and what you drink might turn me into a fish. I try and stick with weighing before and after while noting the temperature and then working around that. Over here it means 500ml per hour, normally. But that's hard to do when you don't have support and don't want to stop to refill bottles.