Advice required please

[kentvilla]

Hi im new to this cycling game and for the past 3 weeks i have been cycling to and from work on a Hybrid bike. i do monday to thursday and its a 10 mile round trip so its 40 miles a week. I like to have the friday and weekend off.
I find that after the break i start to ride again on the monday and feel stronger and can move into a high gear from the week before. however by the wednesday my legs are dead and i find it a struggle to cycle and also of an evening i feel tired. do i need some sort of protein shake? my diet dailey is Granola or branflakes for breakfast. i have this at work after i have cycled in. lunch is salad with fish or chicken or a jacket with beans. evening meal is normaly chicken with salad or spag bol or chilli con carne. any advice is welcome

 

[Dave 123]

Plenty of water, plenty of stretches, plenty of rest and give it time.

I cycle 7 miles each way 5 days a week, go for a long ride at the weekends and go to circuits 3 times a week.
In the afternoons riding home from work my legs are knackered as I'm on my feet all day. I try and stretch as much as I can, and I do drink loads of water.

It doesn't matter how used to exercise you are, you'll still get tired.

 

[Markymark]

I'd also think about putting the break midweek so cycle mon, tue, thu, fri to give your legs more recovery.

 

[Steady]

I think if you're just starting then eventually that Wednesday onwards heaviness tends to fade as fitness inceases. I've just started doing ten miles a day myself for the past month, and I think this week is the first week that my legs don't feel 'dead' at this end of the week.

 

[ColinJ]

I reckon that you are over-thinking things - you have only been riding for 3 weeks!

I started cycling again in 1989, after a 20 year break. I then cycled regularly until 2012, when I developed health problems which kept me off the bike for 8 months. I got the bike out again in Spring 2013 and it felt like I was a beginner once more. It took me 2-3 months to start getting some cycling fitness back.

Give yourself another month or two to get used to riding your bike, and after that you won't even notice the effort of doing your commute.