After yet another struggling ride, I have to wonder what the hell is going on with me. I ride all year, every Sunday, but sometimes lucky enough to get a sneaky evening ride in too. When the summer months come along I seem to struggle, takes ages to get warmed up, and feel like I’ve done twice the distance!
For example, I managed a pathetic 14 miles last night over the south downs, but in all honesty, I never really recovered from the first climb!
Any ideas what’s going on? The bonty 24/12 is weeks away and I don’t want to be finished after one lap!

need to go out more than once a week? start commuting?

ps quite amusing me giving fitness advice to anyone! 😀

tis the weather/heat??

i know on sunday when it was according to the gps a max of 29.5 degrees celcius – was absolultly foooooooooooooooooooooooooked! i mean to the point where a climb i usually nail no stopping which goes on for about for a mile – i stopped 3 times (admittedly id been at a wedding drinking from 10am till 3am on saturday)! the heat was that intense as soon as i got going i felt like my head was gonna explode 😆

did the same ride on tuesday night and was back to normal…

cant really say as i suffer at night when its cooler but certainly in the peak of a summers day – my fitness just collapses 🙁

those guys that do xc races in south africa and even hotter places must be incredible…absolutly incredible level of fitness to maintain it in the summer months in the day..

anyways – i have no idea guessing food intake in the day? or lack of? overweight? tired from work? lots of possibilities etc just keep riding and it will surpass you!

I’d speak to the doctor if I were you, there could be an underlying problem. For me the underlying problem was asthma.
On warmer days, 29 degrees isn’t hot sweetheart, drink plenty. I half fill the camel back and bung it in the freezer overnight and top it up before leaving. Hey presto! Cold water for at least a couple of hours.
Last week the bidon went from solid ice to warm in about 2.5 hours…

those guys that do xc races in south africa and even hotter places must be incredible…absolutly incredible level of fitness to maintain it in the summer months in the day..

Your body acclimatises to heat, but it takes around ten days of daily exercise in hot conditions to do it. You adapt better to losing heat etc, which is why athletes do hot weather training camps before major events in hot countries.

So it might be that. Fingers crossed that 24/12 is dry and warm and breezy, but not roastingly hot.

[or it could be something else, I had a really bad spell a few years back and it turned out I was low on potassium, probably because in hot weather I was sweating out more electrolytes and not replacing them adequately, ended up using a potassium supplement, but I only knew that because I ended up having blood tests. Try using an electrolyte replacement drink as well maybe, Nuun or similar works for me rather than one with carbohydrate as well. But also, riding once a week isn’t a lot.]

Get out more tbh in the summer/warmer months.

Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to put more hours in the saddle, but with a young family and a very demanding job, I’m lucky to get out at all! Not all of us can ‘just get out and ride’ whenever we feel, but it doesn’t mean I’m any less passionate about riding than anyone else. My point is that my performance is getting worse in recent month or so, I’d expected it to stay at a constant level. I know riding more will make me fitter obviously, but why am I not getting around at the same pace as usual. I feel well, and other than hayfever I’m not in any way poorly. I do struggle bait with my breathing when hayfever is really bad, but I’m not asthmatic.
I am a sweaty monkey, absolutely pours off me even in the old days when I was really fit and racing juniors, so maybe the potassium comment is worth looking into.

Maybe it’s just plain and simple dehydration if you’re a heavy sweater.

i often have some prolonged bad spells in summer and put it down to generally warmer weather. i’d rather go swimming when its hot and just wait for cooler weather to return. i take magnesuim which i find helps.

Warmth and humidity
Dehydration/salts

Get out more deffo. Once a week and your always going to be susceptible to fluctuations. We all have them but I can still get up my regular climbs at 70%. Your tolerance will be less than that.

Turbo trainer?

You may find that hay fever can bring on asthma, that has happened to me the last couple of years. Before summer kicks in I feel really good and as it heats up I find my peformance drops, but so far this year I have been fine. Might be worth a trip to the Doc’s.

I’m the same, I suffer like a dog in the heat (and heat equals anything over 15 degrees C, thank you very much).

Make sure you start off well hydrated, before you even swing a leg over the bike and keep swigging little but often.

I usualy find that riding once a week barely keeps up fitness even over the winter when i’m not bothered about being fit, riding twice a week makes a huggggeeeeeeee difference, easily a lot more than twice as much of an increace in fitness over doing nowt (if such a thing was quantifiable?).

have you checked your just not a overweight mountain biker? have a stranger look over you

Maybe you don’t sleep as well due to short darkness periods?
It affects me a lot – I wake up far too early all summer.

Pump the fluids in.

I struggle to find time for more than 1 big ride a week too.
I also however manage a small evening ride most weeks (10 miles) and I work close to a gym so i swim a mile at least twice a week to keep my fitness up, it all helps.

That said i also suffer hayfever and had asthma as a child, my throat gets wheezy on really hot days but it’s not too bad so i have never done anything about it.