Ammonia odor after hard ride

You went catabolic it's the opposite of anabolic it means you were burning protein that is counterproductive. Take it down a notch stay hydrated and keep sugar levels up while training and during the critical half hour after a ride.

Mister C said:

After a particularly hard ride I have noticed the distinct odor of ammonia. It doesn't seem to be coming from my (sweaty) clothing.

I had my wife take a good long sniff (bless her heart) and she does not smell the ammonia odor, just a sweatier version of the guy who left the house several hours earlier.

After 15 minutes or so, the odor is not longer noticeable to me.

Any idea what this could be?

wiredued said:

You went catabolic it's the opposite of anabolic it means you were burning protein that is counterproductive. Take it down a notch stay hydrated and keep sugar levels up while training.

Thanks Wiredued. I would rather not take it down a notch. So I suppose the alternative is to eat more (paticularly complex carbs and protein) before and during the ride. And make sure to eat a good recovery meal immediately after the ride.

The critical half hour edit is more for making you feel better within 24hrs for consecutive day training or racing. Here's a link DaveR sent me carbboom.comrecovery.phpOpen ↗ it was very helpful to me.

Mister C said:

Thanks Wiredued. I would rather not take it down a notch. So I suppose the alternative is to eat more (paticularly complex carbs and protein) before and during the ride. And make sure to eat a good recovery meal immediately after the ride.

wiredued said:

The critical half hour edit is more for making you feel better within 24hrs for consecutive day training or racing. Here's a link DaveR sent me carbboom.comrecovery.phpOpen ↗ it was very helpful to me.

Thanks again. That article was helpful. I am definitely not eating enough and the article provides some helpful numbers towards doing so.

Funny - I've experienced a similar thing and have been wondering about it. I've noticed it in the shower after rides, after soaping up the back of my neck. At first I thought that maybe the soap contained ammonia, but it doesn't. I'm what contains the ammonia.

I always ride in late afternoon, early evening, and then totally pig out for dinner afterward, so I guess I'm doing what I should in terms of replenishment.