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I identify with your problem. I have never been able to get fit and it feels worse because the blokes I ride with are all fell runners/vet triboys etc. I was the kid having a fag round the back while they were busily doing school sports, in fact , cycling is the only exercise I have any interest in and I didn't get that serious until I had a major motorbike accident aged 55. When I whinge my fit buddies point out that I am still fitter than 90% of the population at my advanced age and I should stop moaning and get on with it.
So just take it steady and work back into it. Don't do it if you are not enjoying it and after a bit of a gap you will surely find yourself saying, 'I fancy a ride out on my bike today'
Ton, not every ride is a race. It doesnt matter how fast or slow you go its all about the size of the smile on your face.
Just treat every ride at the minute as a health boost and eventually before you know it you will have some fitness.
12mph suits me down to the ground Tony! I made a pathetic excuse today not to go out with my mate & his new carbon Bronson. (it was true excuse but still pathetic)
At least you WANT to ride.
How about a pootle next Sunday?
Audax is your friend - 12mph should see you round a route well within the cut off.
Does sound like you are trying to do too much too soon and burning out though. Maybe contact a coach/club and see if they can get you back on track at a sustainable pace for your age and health issues?
read all the replies..cheers all. just gonna keep plodding slowly and hopefully things will change.
go a 2 week trip to france in june, hope that will put a bit of love for the bike back in me.
[quote=ton ]rear all the replies..cheers all. just gonna keep plodding slowly and hopefully things will change.
go a 2 week trip to france in june, hope that will put a bit of love for the bike back in me.
Make sure you take rest days regularly between now and then. You'll not get stronger or fitter by riding every day.
ton, I suspect that a fundamental problem for you, like many cyclists, is that you expect that you will get fitter simply by doing more rides/longer rides. That is only true if by fitness you mean stamina.
However, as your first post makes clear, what you are seeking is better/quicker recovery and higher average speed, and lots of miles will provide only limited benefit in increasing average speed, e.g. the extra miles will make an initial difference as you burn more calories and lose a bit of weight etc. Similarly lots of long slow miles will not do much for improving your body's ability to recover.
If you want to go faster, you have to train to go faster. That means adopting the scientific training methodologies used by racing cyclists and athletes. The problem with those is that I think they can turn cycling into a joyless tedious experience, if taken to the extreme of following a rigid training program with a heart rate monitor or power meter and turbo trainer ('on day X you must do a ride of Y distance at Z heart rate').
For normal people, who are not racers and who are not targeting some major sporting event, I think the trick is in continuing to ride for pleasure, and at the same time incorporating some of the scientific training techniques into those rides.
It's not been long since I started cycling again, and at the moment I am just satisfied if I get out and do a ride, no matter how slow (I have noticed that I am often overtaken by other cyclists, but I never overtake anyone - I don't let it bother me). However, like you, I do want to improve my average speed. My plan is to start doing some intervals on some of my rides on a couple of long flat sections of road on my usual route, not sprints but something like a minute hard, a minute easy to recover and then repeat. I'll do this just by feel (no heart rate monitor and not even a bike computer to measure speed): it may not be as precise and as effective as when I have used a HRM in the past, but I would rather do that than be a slave to a stopwatch and an HRM. Since I don't bother to time my rides, I will not even be able to tell if I am getting faster, but I don't care just so long as I still enjoy my ride (and I do actually like putting the hammer down, even if I can only manage it briefly).
Maybe something similar would work for you. If you decide to give it a try, you should probably check first with your doctor that it would be OK, although I'm sure they would encourage it, since I'm only talking about levels of effort and intensity similar to what you would experience riding uphill.
There's plenty on the net to indicate that remaining fit as you get older requires a greater emphasis on quality rest and nutrition.
You can't just smash at it like a younger man and expect it to just happen.
Just ride for the hell of it Ton. Ive got end stage kidney failure. My rides are very few & far between, just fast enough to stay upright! I love it though and Ill keep riding until they're stuffing me into a box 
Depends what you want to get out of your riding.
In my 20s, I was a fit, light student and happy to do the odd race, lots of club rides, and mtb hols to Spain and the Alps.
Now I'm mid-30s, I'm not fit, 2 stone overweight, with ongoing knee problems, I've decided to ditch everything but my 15 mile local loop.
If my knee problems clear up with physio and/or operation, I might start doing some UK trail centres, but I can't see myself going back to mtb hols or club rides.
Some people would just push through the pain as they can't imagine their lives without mountain biking.
I can tell you from experience Ton ...SLOW is where its at !
at the mo rarely go further than a few miles due to various health issues but i love those few miles and enjoy going at a very mellow pace. can't understand why everybody is so obsessed with speed etc . I enjoy a ride at any pace (..except at a speed when i suffer ). 8.9.10mph is fine enjoying countryside/fresh air and getting away from it all . popping tiny wheelies , riding up the bank and down again , getting curb heights of air...it's all fun. Forget being competitive ...I did ages ago ( cos i couldn't win!)
If you try too much / too far /too fast/too steep/too technical you'll hate it . I've built myself up numerous times after illness then lost it all again so now i ride for the sheer enjoyment of the experience and the added benefits of maintaining moderate fitness ..however little that may be .Also like riding alone so no pressure and the option to stop whenever i fancy which is often ! Take it easy GO SLOW but keep going.
best wishes
Bill in exeter
Are you using a heart rate monitor? Be interesting to look at how intensely you are working.
If you've dropped a lot of fitness you might be working up in zone4 without realising trying to ride at previous intensities etc. That's going to create a lot of recovery needed.
I don't often post on the forum, but after reading what you are going through strikes a chord. I too had difficulty regaining fitness after surgery over 18 months ago, after much frustration over the last year I realised I was never going to be at my previous level ever and have now accepted to enjoy the ride whatever the speed and of late just started to improve a little. Three months ago I decided to retire (62 today) and after reading yours and others posts, set my self a goal to train (Todmorden / Hebden Bridge areas) and do the South Lakes 100, the one I assume you refer to in May, I just want to complete it and enjoy the days and I hope you will be able to do so also, just be realistic, we will never be racing snakes again.
brennak, it is the south lakes. hopefully i am going to keep a bit of motivation going, and make completing it my aim.
also aiming to have more days off the bike, as i think this is my main problem. for some strange reason i feel guilty if i dont ride my bike every day, god know's where that has come from.
so if you see a big slow bloke on the south lakes event, say hello.
[quote=ton] also aiming to have more days off the bike,
* Likes *
so if you see a big slow bloke on the south lakes event, say hello.
You'll probably be overtaking me.
Given you started a "500 miles a month" thread and were talking about trying to go for 600 you are definitely overdoing it. Riding every day is just grinding you down with no recovery.
Me n Munqechick are both younger (me less so...) and haven't had recent surgery or health issues, but a combination of Festive 500 and a packed CX season has broken us both. I pushed on regardless until I couldn't ride any more, finally accepted it and had a week off the bike.
I'll second (or third) that complete rest from any physical activity you're into is generally underestimated.
Interesting responses, just ride at a pace you enjoy. I am slow but we stop for coffee more and i just tell the others i m going at my pace and wait at the next cafe. I m long past wanting to be the first, also try mixing it up a bit more, i swim and do spinning classes. Tbh as long as you enjoy it keep doing it.
Btw...bimblers track world
Keep going ,2 days in the lakes is hard for anyone !
I'm having a hernia op end of April ....also hoping to do south lakes thing in May ...I may have to tag along with the red lanterns 🙂
Couple of things stand out... the overdoing it, Colin is spot on... bin commuting for a bit, let your body recover.
Also, you are getting older. I notice it too now mate... I'm riding quite a bit but I'm nowhere near as fit / quick as i used to be.
My attitude to it is, so what. I ride slower and take longer, but I just dont give a shit. More time to look at the views.
Give us a shout if you fancy an easy pootle or beer sometime.
Come and do that trans-Cambrian ride with me, you'll spend so long waiting you'll think you sped up.
E-Bike ftw