I got a road bike in Jan and started doing 2 rides on this per week and 2 mtb rides. After a few weeks i felt a lot better on the mtb but on the road bike i was pretty slow – pushing a big gear.

i was also using a carb drink which meant tahts ome rides i was putting more in than using energy wise so i decided to knock these on the head for 50 mileish rides. My fitness and strength improved lots quickly on both MTB and road bike.

On the road bike i started to try spinning a smaller gear faster in an attempt to ride faster etc – this worked and is working still.

I continued not eating and just drinking water on all rides to get rid of a surplus 7kg, this happened! and i am getting more defined muscles.On the MTB though i am not feeling at all strong – i can climb steep things ok but have little or no umph on tech trails. Seem to have plateaued and now going backwards despite lots of riding and getting rid of the extra weight.

Any ideas? What should i do food wise on a ride – today i felt listless, no focus, weak, and like i had not seen a bike before!! remedied slightly with a triple shot coffee at the bottom of stanage!

Sounds like you need a rest week…put an easy one in every 3 weeks. Also after a long ride have a recovery drink straightaway. Starting eating more carbs now to fuel your rides…You need to recover to improve so ease off, eat some more, relax then just lower your intensity until you start feeling better !!

thats what i figure – i am riding 4 times per week, full time job, and a young kid so thing i am a bit knackered!!
Will ride on weds and leave it until the week after – i.e. no ride next weekend

Anyone else any thoughts? Should i eat more on rides to prevent muscle being used as an energy source or am i talking shite?

Do you get some protein in after rides? I did something similar with the fasted-rides early am to shift weight and trying to rely less on eating every 5mins on the bike, it worked for whatever reason but found I did need a milkshake or similar fast-digested protein fix immediately after riding, followed by a reasonable meal soon after.

as Scarcat says you need recovery time and nutrition. Your muscles need time to repair. If you feel like you’ve hit a plateau, mix your training up a bit, do some weights, try high intensity interval training. Your body over time will get used to the repetition of the same routine. If you throw a few different exercise types and styles your muscle will adapt and grow…. but only if you give them time to recover and repair.

Sounds crazy to me not taking in any calories on your rides (apart from the 50 plus mile ones). Be patient. Drink some kind of sports drink on your rides (and maybe mixed with some other fuel source like gels or food) so you’re at least getting about 150 cals an hour. The excess weight will eventually come off and you’ll have more energy on your rides too. A bit like trying to drive a car with no petrol, it aint gonna happen.

^ Depends on the pace, we’ve all usually got enough glycogen, blood sugar and fat in us for 2-3 hrs steady riding, or a lot more if we really had to and went slower.

blood sugar and fat in us for 2-3 hrs steady riding

Maybe but can’t be very good for you if you’re going into you reserves day after day.

Like others say, you poss need arrest fella. I do a bit of running and if I’m doing something big I always rest a few days prior. Makes a big difference.
Food wise. For me on the bike a mouthful of malt loaf combined with a bite of banana. Can’t stand banana but it works really well with malty. Low fat, great energy boost and light and easy to carry. Tear of. What you want and stuff the rest away. Def woth trying.
Keep up the miles.

Also now uve lost the weight you now need to concentrate in maintaining it. Carbs whilst training fuel the muscles. Without fuel thy wont work like they are meant to.

I was told try to intake your body weight in kg plus 25g

For example. My weight = 76kg. 76 + 25 = 101g of carbs per hour.

This is harder than it sounds an was to much for me to intake during a ride so I just go for around 75g per hour. This seems to work for me. ( this 75g can come from carb drinks malt loaf etc )

Cliff bar shot bloks are good but expensive.

Hope this makes sense

cheers all – i will have a week off and then try using carb gels on the road bike rides (hoping this means i can push myself harder rather than spinning)

http://www.scribd.com/doc/65680796/Nutritional-Concerns-in-Recreation-Exercise-And-Sport

So reading the first bit of that – am i right in thinking that to train efficiently in the morning (after sleep) that i need to replenish my glycogen levels?
I usually have abowl of fruit and fibre and a coffee – thats it before 3-4hr ride. Drink water or isotonic drink (not carb drink) and maybe a cereal bar in the last ten miles or so if i am feeling sluggish. these rides are buring approx 2-3000 calories which i presume i replenish when i get home and eat normally for the day, so probably leaving me 1500 calories down on a ride day?