Post-Ride Recovery Help

[LeetleGreyCells]

I’ve been riding greater distances (for me), and the further I go, I feel wearier and wearier after every ride. Now I’m only at 24 miles, but want to go further - a lot further. To begin with, metric century further. Eventually.

I’ve read blogs, watched GCN, GMBN, BikeRadar, etc. videos, but need something that works for me. I know part of it is the preparation before the ride, especially diet. I’ve seen lots of recipes for protein-filled foods. Most require oats or seeds or nuts. I can’t eat those due to a medical issue.

I’ve also looked at the Science in Sport recovery powders which looked great until I found they contain a high dose of biotin which I have to minimise intake due to, again, medical issues.

I eat lots of fruit before and during my ride. Post-ride, I eat a sandwich usually containing either chicken and salad or tinned salmon, then natural yoghurt and oranges. I try hard to minimise fat and sugar intake.

Can anyone recommend anything I can do either before, during or after my rides that will help me recover faster?

 

[vickster]

Stretch after Cycling

Forget sports drinks and what the marketeers are paid to tell you, just eat and drink normally. Some people find chocolate milk helpful or a pint. Everyone is different, no right or wrong way

Rest between rides, you need to also recover esp when starting out

Is your bike set up in a way that the position doesn’t cause issues or additional fatigue?

Don’t ride everywhere at full pelt if that’s what you are doing, warm up and down. Take short breaks while riding

Have some sort of low release carb, rather than lots of high sugar, high GI fruit. Eating lots of fruit isn’t minimising sugar in reality

I presume you’ve discussed increasing your exercise with your doctor if you have health issues

 

[LeetleGreyCells]

Stretch after Cycling

Forget sports drinks and what the marketeers are paid to tell you, just eat and drink normally. Some people find chocolate milk helpful or a pint. Everyone is different, no right or wrong way

Rest between rides, you need to also recover esp when starting out

Is your bike set up in a way that the position doesn’t cause issues or additional fatigue?

Don’t ride everywhere at full pelt if that’s what you are doing, warm up and down. Take short breaks while riding

Have some sort of low release carb, rather than lots of high sugar, high GI fruit. Eating lots of fruit isn’t minimising sugar in reality

I presume you’ve discussed increasing your exercise with your doctor if you have health issues

I have a least a day between rides usually two.

I believe my bike is set up right from what I’ve read/watched. I don’t have any issues when riding it and find it a very comfortable ride. I’ve been stopping for five minutes every half hour, may need to make it 10. I eat a lot of fresh fruit, vegetables and white meat. I have no added sugar as far as I know and avoid things like cake, biscuits, etc. like the plague. I used to be a lot bigger and have lost 5 stones in 11 months.

I’ll definitely look into slow release carbs. Not heard of those before. As for doctors, I’ve seen enough in my life to know they don’t have a clue. I really don’t trust them. My health has only improved as much as it has over the last 18 months by ditching 3/4 of the tablets the so-called experts had me on plus increasing exercise through my own will power and ignoring pain.

Any suggestions are welcome. Trial and error always works eventually. As you said, everyone is different and you have to figure and what works for you.

 

[vickster]

I have a least a day between rides usually two.

I believe my bike is set up right from what I’ve read/watched. I don’t have any issues when riding it and find it a very comfortable ride. I’ve been stopping for five minutes every half hour, may need to make it 10. I eat a lot of fresh fruit, vegetables and white meat. I have no added sugar as far as I know and avoid things like cake, biscuits, etc. like the plague. I used to be a lot bigger and have lost 5 stones in 11 months.

I’ll definitely look into slow release carbs. Not heard of those before. As for doctors, I’ve seen enough in my life to know they don’t have a clue. I really don’t trust them. My health has only improved as much as it has over the last 18 months by ditching 3/4 of the tablets the so-called experts had me on plus increasing exercise through my own will power and ignoring pain.

Any suggestions are welcome. Trial and error always works eventually. As you said, everyone is different and you have to figure and what works for you.

Well done on the weight loss. Losing so much will have had the impact as much as stopping medications

Read up on low GI foods

What fruit do you eat? Grapes, melon, soft fruit, oranges are the highest in sugar from memory. Things like apples and pears better

Maybe you’re weary because oddly you’re not eating enough to fuel you for the effort. Do you feel fatigued or have sore muscles? Do you get enough sleep? Do you do other forms of exercise like waking or swimming. Try mixing it up

 

[mjr]

I think you're going to have to seek a referral to a dietician who will believe what you say about needing to avoid certain foods rather than tell you you're wrong based on what your doctors say, which may well mean a trip to a hospital nutrition clinic.

The few things that I can think of: You mention yogurt - can you eat the fortified ones like Arla's Skyr? Can you eat the more fibrous fruits like dates, bananas and pears? How about dried into fruit leather? Can you eat eggs - scrambled, boiled, omletted?

 

[LeetleGreyCells]

I’m a pain in rear when it comes to food - not because I won’t eat things but because I can’t.

Fruit I eat every day:
Oranges - vitamin C
Banana - potassium
Apples - I forget which vitamin these provide
Red and green grapes - again I forget (the forgetfulness is because of the medication I was on although my memory is getting better)
Plums

I can’t eat dried fruit, only fresh. I’ve tried. Same goes for any nut or seed. The actimel type yoghurts neither. I don’t know about Arla’s Skyr - I’ll definitely research it.

I take lots of vitamins too including B12. It’s taken a long time to get where I am and I’m determined to continue as I’m not going back to being in a wheelchair. I love riding my bike. It really makes me happy. This is why I’m so eager to make it work.

Muscle recovery is my main focus as I’d like to be out on the bike a lot more. I want to be out at least four days out of seven. Currently manage twice and rarely three times per week.

 

[vickster]

Looks like you ride a mountain bike, are you doing those 24 miles on of off road? If the latter, that's a fair distance, so not surprising you're weary. If on road, ditto, get a road bike or at least slick tyres for the MTB (like a Schwalbe Landcruiser) if you haven't already

Why were you in a wheelchair? Has whatever led to your requiring one now resolved?

 

[LeetleGreyCells]

I ride an MTB with Schwalbe Landcruisers Most of my riding is on-road with the occasional flurry off-. My longest rides have been all road. My current MTB is full steel frame and steel rims. The owner of the local bike shop described it as the heaviest bike he has ever tried to lift. I’m having a Carrera Vengeance for Christmas though which is 14.5kg

I think the tramadol and pregabalin I was on for 10 years made me far worse. Basically I sat on my backside for the last five years. Once I got myself off those tablets (which took a while as both are addictive, especially tramadol which is an opiate) I improved dramatically. Then I started walking from 0 metres to miles. Then I started cycling. Willpower, determination and an ability to ignore pain are my strengths. What I need is for the muscles fibres to recover faster after every ride.

My wife is my guiding hand on not killing myself through stubbornness and an inability to know when to stop.

My health has improved markedly through diet which is why I thought there would be help there for post-ride recovery. Obviously I’m getting the exercise.

 

[vickster]

Stretch, have a bath and a proper meal. There's no magic formula to recover (except maybe for the pros who have to recover to ride 100s of miles, probably involves massage, ice baths and God knows what)

Just accept that it may take a while to get there given your health issues, any improvement is worth waiting for

Well done for getting off the meds. I take pregabalin too and know what you mean about the memory loss. I've only been taking it for 6 months if that but keen to stop, although it helps me avoid opiates at night, so going for the lesser of two evils

I'd get a 10kg roadbike if riding on roads rather than another suspension bike

 

[jefmcg]

can you eat the fortified ones like Arla's Skyr?

Skyr isn't fortified, just strained.

Sadly I don't think the ones you can buy in the UK have rennet in them. It was a revelation in Reykjavik, tasted halfway between yoghurt and a cheese cake.

 

[jefmcg]

I’ve been stopping for five minutes every half hour, may need to make it 10.

That's necessary with your health issues? If not, I'd try extending the continuous riding if you can.

(Not an expert on training or your health, just what worked for me to get towards longer rides)

 

[mjr]

Skyr isn't fortified, just strained.

Not sure about that but it seems different to whatever I saw advertised in Denmark. However, the plot thickens and there's a whole set of Skyr wars between the various producers and their claims over what Skyr actually is.

Sadly I don't think the ones you can buy in the UK have rennet in them. It was a revelation in Reykjavik, tasted halfway between yoghurt and a cheese cake.

I'm fairly sure that the MS Iceland Dairies one doesn't, but I can't find a definitive answer on the EU-made Arla one. It's not animal rennet, anyway.

The Iceland version would be subject to a trade tariff, at least for another year or so... https://www.trade-tariff.service.go...e[day]=2&date[month]=3&date[year]=2014&utf8=✓

Looking into it reminded me about Quark soft cheese which might be another food to consider.

 

[mjr]

I can’t eat dried fruit, only fresh. I’ve tried.

Just to be clear on this: have you tried drying it yourself like http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/how_to_make_fruit_leather/ ? I know some people who react to the sulphur and potassium compounds or the oils used in some commercial dried fruit but I think they can eat this.

 

[LeetleGreyCells]

Stretch, have a bath and a proper meal. There's no magic formula to recover (except maybe for the pros who have to recover to ride 100s of miles, probably involves massage, ice baths and God knows what)

Just accept that it may take a while to get there given your health issues, any improvement is worth waiting for

Well done for getting off the meds. I take pregabalin too and know what you mean about the memory loss. I've only been taking it for 6 months if that but keen to stop, although it helps me avoid opiates at night, so going for the lesser of two evils

I'd get a 10kg roadbike if riding on roads rather than another suspension bike

I’ve bought a second hand road bike which is significantly lighter than the MTB. It’s not up to much (not for £60) and I already hate the gear leavers before I’ve ridden it further than the end of the road (they’re mounted near the stem while brakes are where the should be on a road bike), but it’s a good starting point and I’ll look to getting one of those Carrera Zelos that look like the best of the budget bikes (from what I’ve read) come Spring.

That's necessary with your health issues? If not, I'd try extending the continuous riding if you can.

(Not an expert on training or your health, just what worked for me to get towards longer rides)

Well, to be honest I stop when I remember. I try to make it 30 minutes, but sometimes it’s 45 or even an hour. Once I forgot completely until I got home because I was enjoying myself so much! The time I forgot I did feel it quite acutely for a couple of hours after.

Not sure about that but it seems different to whatever I saw advertised in Denmark. However, the plot thickens and there's a whole set of Skyr wars between the various producers and their claims over what Skyr actually is.


I'm fairly sure that the MS Iceland Dairies one doesn't, but I can't find a definitive answer on the EU-made Arla one. It's not animal rennet, anyway.

The Iceland version would be subject to a trade tariff, at least for another year or so... https://www.trade-tariff.service.gov.uk/trade-tariff/commodities/0406105010?date[day]=2&date[month]=3&date[year]=2014&utf8=✓

Looking into it reminded me about Quark soft cheese which might be another food to consider.

I’ll look into this. My only qualm would be any fat content as I’m still trying to lose weight. Might be worth considering to eat as fuel only for a ride.

Just to be clear on this: have you tried drying it yourself like http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/how_to_make_fruit_leather/ ? I know some people who react to the sulphur and potassium compounds or the oils used in some commercial dried fruit but I think they can eat this.

No, not tried this. Bought it pre-packaged from a specialist shop for nuts and dried fruit (not like from a supermarket or a branded version). I’ll look into this too.

Thanks guys for all your suggestions. Keep them coming, I’m certain to find what works best from the many ideas you’re giving me.