Yet Another Cycling Forum
General Category => The Knowledge => Further and Faster => Topic started by: velosam on 11 January, 2016, 12:01:43 pm
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I have done some long rides well 2, a 200km and 100km, and 50 miles days in the summer.
However, currently I am really struggling with my 17 mile commute. Usually it is just in the evening but now its even in the morning. I am not even riding hard, well I can't, its just hard.
Could this be the after effects of the viral infection or is it all mental?
thanks
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If you have had a viral infection you are probably a bit run down. In addition cold wet and 'orrible weather doesn't help much really.
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"Struggling iwith commuting".
You're struggling with the keyboard as well.
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Riding 17 miles on a commute in the rain, gales, snow or even getting out of bed on a nice day can be difficult
If you have a physical challenge too like recovering from a virus then it can be an idea to have a day or two a week not doing the long bike commute. Try and take the bus or train or get a lift.
If you are wired like me after a day of doing this you will be gagging to get back on the bike in the rain ;D
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Commuting can make cycling become just another part of the daily grind, especially at this time if year. If you have an alternative, use it when your mind / body says so, the drive and pleasure will soon come back. In my case one or two days in the cattle car is always more than enough.
If there's no alternative, BTDTGTTS, it becomes trickier and you end up playing head games with yourself
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I have done some long rides well 2, a 200km and 100km, and 50 miles days in the summer.
However, currently I am really struggling with my 17 mile commute. Usually it is just in the evening but now its even in the morning. I am not even riding hard, well I can't, its just hard.
Could this be the after effects of the viral infection or is it all mental?
thanks
If that's 17 miles e/w, that's a heck of a daily commute even in summer. In winter it'd be a killer for anyone not called Steve.
If it's 17 miles total then unless you've got a generally noticeable lurgy[1], it's probably mental. Or, rather, it's sane: not wanting to saddle up and head out into yet another dark, dirty, wet gale in order to get to the start of the daily grind is normal. Some people recommend finding alternative transport until the desire to ride returns. Personally, I just keep grin and bear it. Commuting by bike is simply how I get to work - and I know from experience that if I let driving sneak in for a few bad days there's a danger of it becoming every day.
Ah - just re-read your post. If you've recently had a full-on lurgy then it could well be the after effects. In summer riding yourself to fitness might be an option. Probably not so wise in the current filth that passes for weather.
[1] I find that lurgies don't impact my riding much - I'm slow anyway. But I get chronic winter blues of the mind - peaking as I pack panniers and waterproof-up. Others may differ in their ability to ride through minor ailments.
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I've been wondering about this too. I've not been at work since Dec 22 and I return Jan 12th - tomorrow. For the first time ever I'm not really looking forward to the commute.
However, I did a bit of poddling around today when I got back to Brum - Doctor's, horrible market, pub, and I'm feeling better about it already.
My alternative is the (quite handy) train, but that is just horrible in the rush hour.
Hopefully it will be pissing down with rain tomorrow so I can just MTFU and get myself back into it.
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It's 17 e/w and seeing how others do it or even a longer journey I do wonder why I struggle. I also try and do it 3 times a week only and it's too hard sigh
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My commute is 25 miles each way. Did it twice last year.
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I have done a similar distance but it took a while to build up and seldom did this daily, going by train or staying in Drs' accommodation when this suited me better.
Can you be more specific about your struggle?
Is the whole trip a battle or do you get empty legs part way through?
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My longest commute was (only) 45mins each way - I eventually found that the familiarity of the same roads day after day ground me down. While in your case it may well be the lurgi I would suggest looking at how you can vary your route to see if it puts a spring in your step. ( One of my alternative routes included a coffee stop, which also helped break up the doldrums)
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Coffee stop? Back when I had an epic 15 mile e/w commute I had a fag break when I got bored!
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I used to stop at the top of the only real hill on a usefully positioned bench, for a smoke and a double decker.
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I have done a similar distance but it took a while to build up and seldom did this daily, going by train or staying in Drs' accommodation when this suited me better.
Can you be more specific about your struggle?
Is the whole trip a battle or do you get empty legs part way through?
Hmmm, had to think about this and breaks it down to the fact that it maybe not that much physical:
1. I can't deny is the stop/ start and the sheer number of cars I have to deal with on the way home. I not so bothered on the way in, as its seems to flow a lot more and I leave at as early as I can so do miss some traffic.
2. Physically about 12 miles in, I just feel tired as its a big push to get through the next 4 miles, the last mile or so is easy as I am pretty much there
3. Its tough in the wind, as I go west and its generally blowing a westerly
4. It never gets easier - I have to keep pushing and even then I am not really any quicker and its still taken me about 1.5 hours or more.
5. I think there is also some expectation management in that, even after 3 years or so, its still hard, its not like I can jump on the bike and simply go (well I can, but at no part of the ride do I feel this is easy)
I do have a couple of different routes I try that minimise my time in traffic but the slog out of Central London is just that a slog.
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It's 17 e/w and seeing how others do it or even a longer journey I do wonder why I struggle. I also try and do it 3 times a week only and it's too hard sigh
I don't ride my 25miles ew commute anymore. When I did, it was difficult, particularly in winter. In good periods, I rode utterly switched off to the riding, it went by while I thought of something else. Bad periods I struggled to get onto the bike and get moving.
A change of route now and then can help.
If I lost fitness, it seemed impossibly hard to manage the ride. I'm at that point now, simply can't see how to do it.
You may just be struggling with post-viral slump in performance, making the commute much harder than it has been. One thing that helped me get over slumps was to stop caring about how long it took. Save that for decent weather.
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Sort of along the lines of mrcharly - don't get het up in the times and speeds. Could you give yourself a bit longer and maybe even stop for a coffee or something on the way back?
34 mpd is quite a distance to keep up, so especially if you are feeling a little run down then I can see it becomming quite a slog.
Are there any other ways you can keep your mind off of things? Without wanting to open a can of worms, I find having a radio playing in my left ear useful for getting trough bad spells on rides and commuting in bad weather.
Another option. Could you ride in and take public transport home one day, and then catch PT in and ride home the next for a bit so you don't have to do the whole 34 miles each time?
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Another thought - try stopping after 10 miles and having a break, a drink and a munch. https://www.naturalbalancefoods.co.uk/nakd-fruit-and-nut-bars/ is what I tend to use. For a quite a while I was doing 27+ miles each way cross town, I really found that helped. Are you sure it isn't just a bonk after 12 miles?
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Another option. Could you ride in and take public transport home one day, and then catch PT in and ride home the next for a bit so you don't have to do the whole 34 miles each time?
I used to do this when my commute was 20k- drive in with the bike on the car, leave the car at work overnight and ride back next day, and I never rode on a Friday so I had energy for fun rides at the weekend.
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It's 17 e/w and seeing how others do it or even a longer journey I do wonder why I struggle. I also try and do it 3 times a week only and it's too hard sigh
I used to do that sort of distance over the Blackdown hills every day, including in snow and ice
I started doing it on a single speed but after a few months got a new bike with a hub gear
It did use up a lot of energy :) I was 46/47 yr old then
When i was doing that (for a couple of years) I didn't get any colds. If I felt a cold coming on it just slowed me up for a few days and then it was burned off
The main problem I remember was drying out clothes
Commute now is 15 minutes only to the railway station
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Some will call it cheating, but how about electric assist? It's less unpleasant than public transport, much cheaper than driving, and will allow you to tailor your exertion to how you feel at the time.
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I have thought about the e bike thing, but they are expensive and to be honest if I am going down that path I would rather get a motorcycle, heresy I know.
I think I just have to accept that commuting anymore than 2 days a week and being able to function at work is going to be my limit. I think that is just enough to make sure I retain some fitness. As I don't ride on the weekends, by Monday I really want to go on the bike, although I am not wild about the ride home (which I will consider breaking up a bit more).
I can do the train halfway or one way back, but it does mean using the folder and the trains are packed on the way home till about 1830, and when I say trains I do mean London Underground as opposed to heavier train network.
Also if I start thinking of cycling as a chore, I am going to lose any motivation to ride, I think.
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Another thought - try stopping after 10 miles and having a break, a drink and a munch. https://www.naturalbalancefoods.co.uk/nakd-fruit-and-nut-bars/ is what I tend to use. For a quite a while I was doing 27+ miles each way cross town, I really found that helped. Are you sure it isn't just a bonk after 12 miles?
I was also going to suggest a break at a similar point.
Sounds like you may be running on empty and London traffic is morale and energy-sapping.
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I eat all day so I am not sure if it's bonk or not. Really struggled tonight with the headwind
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I eat all day so I am not sure if it's bonk or not. Really struggled tonight with the headwind
Velo, tonight's commute was a struggle.
My return journey is ~ 15 miles heading from NE to SE - ish.
Helly's advice of snacking isn't bad.
Try it before you dismiss it.
Hope the commute improves.
ETA
Also- reading back through the thread....
You've had a viral infection - It is no wonder you are feeling spent.
Recover from that first, and take it from there.
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Re. the ebike thing. One would be cheaper than a motorcycle, for sure. I use one for my 8-mile commute and even with hills and stop/start traffic I average an (illegal) 17mph on a good day and not much less on a bad one. I have a physical job, so knowing I have the assist on the way home is reassuring.
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A break might recharge the mind.
'Eating all day' might be a feature of boredom/frustration.
A break at 10 miles (preferably somewhere nice) might do more to re-energise those legs than nibbling at your desk.
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My commute is 25 miles each way. Did it twice last year.
Mine's 37 miles each way into central London. I did it twice too last year too, plus half a time when I started to explore the way home on my folder one pleasant evening, and just kept going. Rode in yesterday but crashed on a submerged pot-hole where I chose a quiet back road. No real harm done, but too 20 minutes to get going again, then found that the traffic had got heavy and got delayed even more, then the chain came off twice so I had to fix that. Ended up an hour late.
I'm hoping to do it again when there's less surface water (and the snow and ice have passed), but it does take some determination some times!
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I commuted from Hillingdon to Acton, west London. Great! No hills.
My commute for several years was from Castle Bromwich, east Birmingham to RAF Higham ( M.I.R.A. ). That was up and over to Atherstone 17.5 miles e/w.
My strangest commute was to ride to Water Orton railway stn to get there at 05:57. Get on a train for 10 minutes to get off at Wilnecote on the A5. Ride to M42 J10 Tamworth services and stay there watching the morning news for 45 minutes. Then ride along the A5 to M.I.R.A. to get there at 07:50. Most mornings, the guard waived the fare for just one stop. He couldn’t be bothered walking along the train to me.
Before this, I commuted from Castle Bromwich to Hockley, west Birmingham; and back with the slow moving motorcars under Spaghetti junction.
The secret with commuting is to allow plenty of time, ride steadily and observe what’s happening. Sometimes its comical being overtaken by a youngster on an old MTB deliberately trying to ‘scalp’ me.
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My commute was Golders Green to Hillingdon Hospital.
On the fast route,(A406 A40 Long Lane) the high point was the top of the Staples Corner flyover. I went hell for leather on midsummer mornings). It was FUN!
There were about 60 traffic lights on the slow route (Cricklewood, Willesden Harlesden Acton Ealing Southall). I plodded. It was dull.
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A break might recharge the mind.
'Eating all day' might be a feature of boredom/frustration.
A break at 10 miles (preferably somewhere nice) might do more to re-energise those legs than nibbling at your desk.
thanks
'Eating all day' might be a feature of boredom/frustration. - yes I think there maybe a lot of that at the moment, buts it more the latter than former.
A break at 10 miles (preferably somewhere nice) might do more to re-energise those legs than nibbling at your desk. - I do sometimes stop at my parents which is around 5 miles in. After that its a haul more. TBH that bit isn't too bad as there are fewer lights and on some stretches can get a good lick going.
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What rpm are you doing? Are you churning along in a big gear? I find that a couple of easy days where I really concentrate on getting a high average cadence, say 90-95 rpm really freshens my legs up.
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My average rpm is mid 80s but I spin around 95 ish. Going much lower hurts my knees.