[Closed] Lost my bike legs

Stop eating pies.

Just happens sometimes, probably peaked well for Merida that's why it's a peak 🙂

I just keep riding until I feel better again, as long as you're enjoying it keep riding. A knee injury will slow you down, always more than I expect anyway.

I am still fitter than I have been in years an maintaining a very healthy weight. May have to take it easy over the winter and concentrate on running and field hockey.

overtrained? Viral illness?

Could it be your nutrition, sleep, are you drinking enough (liquids), are you drinking too much (alcohol), working patterns etc.? Interesting article in stw a few months back about keeping the water intake up to ensure metabolism of carbohydrate to energy/ perfomance.

I know that feeling, I am starting a new regime to try and get back on track, each time I ride I get cramp which is very annoying.

Hoping to fix that as I would like to do the SXC series next year and need to be fit for it

i see the problem - field hockey - mtfu and play football ya girl 😉

it may do you some good to take a couple of weeks off..? Alot of roadies i know do that, and hopefully you will come back feeling fresh. Its worked for me before.

Its all in your head... see a shrink! 😀

I am off the booze for 2009 and not had a drop, liquids seem to be fine, but will have a closer look.
As for MTFU, try playing against 10 men with sticks that want to hurt you, a bll that gets hit at 100 mph and is hard plastic and the goal keepers rugby tackel you for fun wearing full body padding.

Football is easy!

I can sympathise but cant offer any advice as Im in the same boat.

Was going great Feb-May, riding 4 times a week, 8-10hr rides at weekends, climbing 3000m+. Went out to Nepal and rode the Annapurna circuit in 3 days at the beggining of June and since then its been all down hill.

Came back to UK and got a flu type virus which took weeks to recover from, the injured my back lifting concrete gravel boards.

Manged to complete the Raid Pyrenean at the end of August but since returning have felt weak on the bike and really lack motivation to train.

... time of the year?

I'm feeling pretty similar too! (Although it is spring here) Spring / Autumn put a bit of stress on the body - it's all to do with the moon and the sun, man*..

A combination of some weird head cold thing that wouldn't go away + not sleeping properly + bored with riding the same routes

= me tired and listless, with dead legs and strangely enough, also a niggling knee ache.

I'd take it easy and/or rest or try another activity for a few weeks. Work out what it is you want to achieve with your cycling, (do you even want to race anymore?), and plan toward that.
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* Ok, I can find nothing, even on Google, about this whatsoever. But someone told me this once - and it just seems to make sense, kinda, in a kinda hippy-fied groovy way. 🙂

ROFL Harris

"i see the problem - field hockey - mtfu and play football ya girl"

Sorry MTFU and football in the same sentence...??

Possibly should read MTFU and play Rugby??

Just a thought.

On a serious note the injury and loss of form could be your body just telling you to take it easy for a while.

Overtraining, with not enough recovery time after the 85k Merida.

Take two weeks off all exercise, then two further weeks gentle training off the bike, see how you are then?

Agree - have a break, relax. I've just taken the winter off after 4 years of pretty full on racing and feel much better for it. I am fat, happy and proud of it. Starting to train again is hurty though, very hurty.

yeah, compounded fatigue... a good week off, then a few weeks of something light and completely different, then starting to add bike back in will help.

And don't worry too much, it'll come back eventually!

Be head strong I know you need to see a sport therapist
You may have done to much.

Maybe best I dont know where you are but to say I am in East London and
I know I can go to West Ham Football Club and pay there therapist and
Physio to check me over its about £ 65 per one visit

So see if you can do the same near by you, at least they may give you
a head start.

go to West Ham Football Club and pay there therapist and
Physio to check me over its about £ 65 per one visit

Their ability to get Dean Ashton back on his feet would not install me with confidence. I'd rather pay a fiver and get a wipe down with Leyton Orients magic sponge 😉

On a serious note it sounds like the kind of performance drop that comes with a viral infection.

concentrate on running and [u]field hockey[/u].

That'll be your knee buggered then. Spent my teens and early twenties playing hockey at a reasonably decent level on astro and this did for my knees completely.

Going back to the OP - I find that I get this intermittently on my commute. I just try to do something different; change the route / pace etc so instead of doing a regular 10-12 miles at a decent pace I'll try doing 18-20 miles at a slower pace or swap a hilly short route for a flatter faster one. I'd also check that you're properly hydrated as this affects me hugely.

Nah, not the hockey, been playing for 21 years with no real issues.

Play Premier division level so it is very competitive and demanding, but the knee injury happened 8-10 weeks ago.

I think your problem is that you are timing you hill climbs. Have you tried just going for a ride?

I think it's important to take a break at the end of the season. Take it easy, try not to do anything bikey for 2,3 or 4 weeks and then get back into training. It will be good for your knee and good for your head. I had a similar problem a few years ago and had to more or less stay off the bike for 6 months.
I did find that a low dose of Ibuprofen helped with the knee, 2 in the morning and 2 at night for a week (whilst not biking) and the inflamation went away. This was from an overuse injury that sounds similar to yours.
Just consider this summer over, take a break and then get on with preparing for next year/season.

"I am off the booze for 2009"

think this is the problem....your obviously mental! 😯 😆

thread closed.

As for MTFU, try playing against 10 men with sticks that want to hurt you, a bll that gets hit at 100 mph and is hard plastic and the goal keepers rugby tackel you for fun wearing full body padding.

Tell me about it. Nearly lost my eyesight through a fast flying ball (never played since). 🙁

Play Premier division level so it is very competitive and demanding

Regional prem or national prem? I never made it beyond North Prem.

I know everybody's already said it, but try just taking it easy for a bit, in general as well as with training. Virus or something also popped into my head- I had a fluey thing a month or so ago, and even when I otherwise felt fine riding just went right down the pan, no energy and even a short ride left me wiped.

I've felt similar recently, especially on steeper climbs where I just can't generate any power from my dead legs. Now I also have a pain in my left knee?!
I was having a really good year up until July and then took it easy for a few weeks due to the bad weather / other commitments and I haven't felt the same since. I can still do long 6hrs rides no problem; so fitness is not the issue just a frustrating lack of power.

i had something similar at the start of the season when i was training for a sportive - went out one ride and had lost my climbing legs completely. this went on for a while, and it got worse. In the end, i pulled out of the sportive as i wasn't getting any better. I think it was over training - losing leg power/climbing ability is a sign. It might be that you have over trained? (I really wasn't convinced that I had over trained, as I still felt ok, other than no leg power, but over time I have come to the conclusion that I had. I also went to see my GP, and he ran a whole bunch of tests and his diagnosis was over training)

If you are really worried, you could always talk to your gp. Otherwise take some time off all exercise, rest up and see how you feel. A virus would also leave you lacking in power.

Currently playing regional prem 1 but national league is the aim of the team this year.

I think over training could be it and also that my muscles have learn't the route as it is the same most rides.

Think a few weeks off and then out on the road bike to get the legs spinning at a higher RPM to get them going again.