Riding when you lack sleep



Corzhens

Well-Known Member
May 26, 2015
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One advice from our neighbor who was a professional cyclist is don’t ride when you lack sleep. He said that lack of sleep is one problem during the tour because it is normal not to have a good night’s sleep since you are away from home. Besides, the rigors of the day’s lap will take a toll not only on your physical condition but also on your mental and emotional condition. During a tour, getting a good night’s sleep can assure you of a good placing on the next day’s race.
 
When you're lacking sleep you're basically disoriented and this could be dangerous when cycling. It's always best to do your cycling when you're properly rested because you'll be more focus and aware of your sorroundings.
 
I think it's not really good to do that without not enough sleep. It will affect your strategy also and the decision making while riding your bike. You feel like floating in the air and sometimes not aware about the things around you.
 
Maybe this article will shed some light on your question: https://www.sbnation.com/cycling/2018/7/10/17442138/tour-de-france-cyclist-physiology-pain-suffering

Me personally, I don't do well on a bike if I lack sleep, but for some people that doesn't affect them as much, I can however get by with 5 1/2 to 6 hours of sleep and be fine anything less and I'm in trouble and anything more gives me a headache for some reason.
I don't have any psychological problems from lack of sleep but it greatly effects my recovery rate. So if I do a hard ride like I did yesterday and tomorrow is another hard ride I have to be very careful to get enough sleep or I'm an hour behind everyone else tomorrow and suffering every inch of the way.
 
I just took 2 weeks off from cycling this last 2 weeks because 2 weeks ago I went on a ride and the very first mile I was dying! I still went 30 miles pushing myself, but then for some reason I was sore for a week, I think I came down with something, not sure what, but decided to lay low for couple of weeks.
 
Yeah, I find it hard to concentrate on anything I do when I lack sleep, how much more for something like cycling which can be really dangerous when you lack focus.
 
Yeah, I find it hard to concentrate on anything I do when I lack sleep, how much more for something like cycling which can be really dangerous when you lack focus.
Funny story - I did a long solo ride including doing three steep climbs and I had another two moderate climbs ahead. I was exhausted from the heat and not drinking enough. As I rode through a residential area leading to another climb I was looking down and ran directly into the back of an older pickup truck - the kind with the large plate steel bumper. At the very last second I saw the truck and slammed on the brakes and luckily I wasn't going very fast at the time so I ended up laying out in the middle of the street and scare the neighbors and a passing car almost as much as it did me. One interesting thing I've found is that people will run over to help you up when you do dumb things like that.
 
Yeah, I find it hard to concentrate on anything I do when I lack sleep, how much more for something like cycling which can be really dangerous when you lack focus.
Funny story - I did a long solo ride including doing three steep climbs and I had another two moderate climbs ahead. I was exhausted from the heat and not drinking enough. As I rode through a residential area leading to another climb I was looking down and ran directly into the back of an older pickup truck - the kind with the large plate steel bumper. At the very last second I saw the truck and slammed on the brakes and luckily I wasn't going very fast at the time so I ended up laying out in the middle of the street and scare the neighbors and a passing car almost as much as it did me. One interesting thing I've found is that people will run over to help you up when you do dumb things like that.
 
Yeah, I find it hard to concentrate on anything I do when I lack sleep, how much more for something like cycling which can be really dangerous when you lack focus.
Yeah, even you're familiar to the road it's still hard to ride your bike. Lack of sleep makes you feel dizzy and completely irritating and might cause of road rage.
 
Riding while lacking sleep is a topic that hits all too close to home for me, and consequentially I have an anecdote for why you shouldn’t do it.

Back when I was a teenager, I used to ride my bike to and from my High School. Being a normal teenager, I rarely got as much sleep as I should have. I was one of those tired teens that would get ready for school with his eyes still shut. Well, it caught up to me one day during my commute to school.

I was particularly tired on this day, and just as I was crossing the street, I literally dozed off mid-peddle. You know what woke me right up, though? Slamming into the rear end of a car that I didn’t notice was turning my way.

Thankfully it wasn’t a major incident and I got away without a scratch, but it could’ve been a lot worse.
 

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