What two weeks off does to your biking

Bob M said:

....

Quoted message said:

Anyway, I'm still flummoxed as to how many carbs I need while riding and
whence my carbs are coming. For instance, my typical daily menu (lately)
is as follows:

....

Quoted message said:

I do take in some protein and
carbs (maltodextrin) immediately before biking -- about 10 grams of carbs
and about the same in protein although I haven't been measuring. I start
my ride at 5:15 in the morning, so I like to take in something prior to
exercise (and, as an aside, I'm now riding half my ride in the dark, with
bike-mounted lights, which might account for a bit of the slower speed, as
I can't see far enough ahead of me to go fast on the downhills). Today
for the first time in a really long time, I took in some extra carbs and
protein after my ride, as I was physically shaking on some of the hills.

I doesn't seem like you are eating a heck of a lot of carbs. What are
you eating other than the maltodextrin? I bike about 14 miles/day, to
and from work, with no carb supplementation. Granted, there are no
hills. But I've done my 30 mile circuit on the Chicago lakefront
totally carbless with little ill-effects. Towards the end of the ride
I did find that I lost my ability provide energy 'bursts'. I could get
up to speed, but it took a minute or so. I couldn't just kick it into
high gear and crank it out.

One thing I do notice with low carb endurance exercise. If you have
burned off all of your glycogen, you are in the aerobic zone, burning
almost entirely fat. Fat burning is oxygen limited. But I've notice
that my breathing doesn't automatically compensate for this. If I
force myself to breath more deeply I find I suddenly have more energy.
It's almost like blowing a bellows into the fire.

Although on the Chicago Lakefront, a car-choked 8 lane highway never
more than 100 yards away, increasing my breathing rate might be
ill-advised 🙂

joshv said:

Bob M wrote:

...

Quoted message said:

Anyway, I'm still flummoxed as to how many carbs I need while riding and
whence my carbs are coming. For instance, my typical daily menu (lately)
is as follows:

...

Quoted message said:

I do take in some protein and
carbs (maltodextrin) immediately before biking -- about 10 grams of carbs
and about the same in protein although I haven't been measuring. I start
my ride at 5:15 in the morning, so I like to take in something prior to
exercise (and, as an aside, I'm now riding half my ride in the dark, with
bike-mounted lights, which might account for a bit of the slower speed, as
I can't see far enough ahead of me to go fast on the downhills). Today
for the first time in a really long time, I took in some extra carbs and
protein after my ride, as I was physically shaking on some of the hills.

I doesn't seem like you are eating a heck of a lot of carbs. What are
you eating other than the maltodextrin? I bike about 14 miles/day, to
and from work, with no carb supplementation. Granted, there are no
hills. But I've done my 30 mile circuit on the Chicago lakefront
totally carbless with little ill-effects. Towards the end of the ride
I did find that I lost my ability provide energy 'bursts'. I could get
up to speed, but it took a minute or so. I couldn't just kick it into
high gear and crank it out.

One thing I do notice with low carb endurance exercise. If you have
burned off all of your glycogen, you are in the aerobic zone, burning
almost entirely fat. Fat burning is oxygen limited. But I've notice
that my breathing doesn't automatically compensate for this. If I
force myself to breath more deeply I find I suddenly have more energy.
It's almost like blowing a bellows into the fire.

Although on the Chicago Lakefront, a car-choked 8 lane highway never
more than 100 yards away, increasing my breathing rate might be
ill-advised 🙂

A long distance rider recently suggested to me "Halls Eucalyptus
Menthol" things as a way to open up your lungs and air passages for more
oxygen.... temporarily at least.

joshv <[email hidden]> wrote:
:> Bob M wrote:
:>>
:> ...
:>>
:>> Anyway, I'm still flummoxed as to how many carbs I need while
:>> riding and whence my carbs are coming. For instance, my typical
:>> daily menu (lately) is as follows:
:>>
:> ...
:>> I do take in some protein and
:>> carbs (maltodextrin) immediately before biking -- about 10 grams of
:>> carbs and about the same in protein although I haven't been
:>> measuring. I start my ride at 5:15 in the morning, so I like to
:>> take in something prior to exercise (and, as an aside, I'm now
:>> riding half my ride in the dark, with bike-mounted lights, which
:>> might account for a bit of the slower speed, as I can't see far
:>> enough ahead of me to go fast on the downhills). Today for the
:>> first time in a really long time, I took in some extra carbs and
:>> protein after my ride, as I was physically shaking on some of the
:>> hills.
:>
:> I doesn't seem like you are eating a heck of a lot of carbs. What
:> are
:> you eating other than the maltodextrin? I bike about 14 miles/day,
:> to
:> and from work, with no carb supplementation. Granted, there are no
:> hills. But I've done my 30 mile circuit on the Chicago lakefront
:> totally carbless with little ill-effects. Towards the end of the
:> ride
:> I did find that I lost my ability provide energy 'bursts'. I could
:> get
:> up to speed, but it took a minute or so. I couldn't just kick it
:> into high gear and crank it out.

That's because you're depleted.

:>
:> One thing I do notice with low carb endurance exercise. If you have
:> burned off all of your glycogen, you are in the aerobic zone, burning
:> almost entirely fat.

Having burned off all your glycogen isn't what puts you in the aerobic
zone....

Fat burning is oxygen limited. But I've notice
:> that my breathing doesn't automatically compensate for this. If I
:> force myself to breath more deeply I find I suddenly have more
:> energy. It's almost like blowing a bellows into the fire.
:>
:> Although on the Chicago Lakefront, a car-choked 8 lane highway never
:> more than 100 yards away, increasing my breathing rate might be
:> ill-advised 🙂

Bob M <[email hidden]> wrote:
:>I took time off to go on vacation, and I came back with a cold. I
:> ended up taking almost two weeks off. Below is my previous biking
:> data (July 28) from my "hard" training ride of 16.6 miles (I also
:> have an "easy" ride of
:> 19.7 miles, which takes me about the same time as my 16.6 mile ride
:> -- there are many more hills in my 16.6 mile ride). In parenthesis
:> is the data from today (August 18th):
:>
:> distance: 16.6 miles
:> total time: 1:28:41 (1:33:12)
:> time at 86% (HR of 160) of my max HR (185) or above: 0:39:30 (47:38)
:> percentage of time spent at 86% of max HR or above: 44.3% (50.5)
:> Average HR: 151, 81.6% of max HR (153, 82.7%)
:> calories burnt: 1447 (1559)

You probably only burned around 600 kcals on this ride. You can do this
ride fast (with high ave HR and/or high mph) or slow (with low ave HR and/or
low mph) and the calorie burn will be the same. what will differ is the
power used. Do it will high HR and mph and you'll have used more power (and
more carbs). Do it will low HR and mph and you're have used less power (and
less carbs). Doing it fast is more likely to drain carb stores than is
doing it slow. But the energy consumption is roughly the same.

:>
:> This data is from my old HR monitor. My new HR monitor, which can
:> download graphical data to my PC, just got here yesterday and I'm
:> going to attempt to use it for my 60 mile ride this weekend.
:> Anyway, a mere two weeks off of biking, and I'm five minutes slower
:> and have to work harder! I'm spending a full 8 minutes more at 86%
:> or above of my max HR! I was afraid of taking time off, as my 100
:> mile ride is only 5 weekends away, and my 125 mile ride is 6
:> weekends away. Oh well -- I'm just going to have to hunker down and
:> gut out my training.
:>
:> Anyway, I'm still flummoxed as to how many carbs I need while riding
:> and whence my carbs are coming. For instance, my typical daily menu
:> (lately) is as follows:
:>
:> Breakfast: 3 eggs, 1 slice cheese, 2 small pieces ham, salsa, hot
:> sauce, coffee with light cream
:>
:> Lunch: 2 "sandwiches" using low carb tortillas, ham (or some other
:> meat), two small slices cheese, mustard
:>
:> Snack: raw vegetables (typically carrots)
:>
:> Dinner: 2 low carb tortillas, steak from the weekend, cut into
:> slices (8 thin slices), 1 slice cheese, part of a tomato, part of a
:> red onion, salsa, habenero sauce; sometimes I'll have blueberries,
:> full fat yoghurt and nuts; last night, I had a piece of low carb
:> cheese cake and blueberry sauce (made with splenda, blueberries, and
:> vanilla) -- I made the cheesecake last winter, and it's been in the
:> freezer since then, so I wanted to get rid of it.
:>
:> Lately, I've been eating a lot more cheese than I normally do.
:> Anyway, there aren't that many carbs in my daily. I do take in some
:> protein and carbs (maltodextrin) immediately before biking -- about
:> 10 grams of carbs and about the same in protein although I haven't
:> been measuring. I start my ride at 5:15 in the morning, so I like
:> to take in something prior to exercise (and, as an aside, I'm now
:> riding half my ride in the dark, with bike-mounted lights, which
:> might account for a bit of the slower speed, as I can't see far
:> enough ahead of me to go fast on the downhills). Today for the
:> first time in a really long time, I took in some extra carbs and
:> protein after my ride, as I was physically shaking on some of the
:> hills.
:>
:> This week, I'm not lifting weights. However, next week, I am going
:> to start lifting three days a week, of high intensity workouts
:> (short but as heavy and hard as possible).
:>
:> --
:> Bob M
:> remove ".x" to reply

:
: You probably only burned around 600 kcals on this ride. You can do this
: ride fast (with high ave HR and/or high mph) or slow (with low ave HR
and/or
: low mph) and the calorie burn will be the same. what will differ is the
: power used. Do it will high HR and mph and you'll have used more power
(and
: more carbs). Do it will low HR and mph and you're have used less power
(and
: less carbs). Doing it fast is more likely to drain carb stores than is
: doing it slow. But the energy consumption is roughly the same.

This paragraph made me think of a conundrum I faced last week on that long
ride in the sun. I was down to my last half of my last water bottle, and I
really needed some water. So, what to do? Should I sip it slowly so as to
conserve it or should I just go ahead and drain the thing? I knew I could
get some more water, but I didn't know how far away the Quickie Mart was. I
do know that I suffered all the way to the Quickie Mart, but, once I had it
in sight, I drained the rest of the water in my bottle. It seems to me that
if I had finished the bottle off earlier, I might have not suffered the rest
of the way....or maybe I would have. I just don't know.

Pat in TX