Did 40 miles on the road and utterly exhausted, is this normal?

I was on a Surly ECR, but I barely made it back in one piece. 30+ plus I started to get cramps in my legs and the last mile home I just wanted to die. Is this normal? It’s just I read about people being able to do 100+ miles a day and my lbs says 40 is nothing? I managed to sort out my riding position too, turns out I was riding the bike (all of my bikes!) completely wrong! I bought a flat ritchey 29er bar and a 70mm stem which gave quite an agressive position and just stuck with it. My back hurt at first (still does after a while) but I cant ride sitting fully up anymore! And it turns out my ECR is the perfect size tor me too now (yay!)

Sometimes 40 miles on the road is harder than 200 miles. Depends on the ride. I wouldnt worry about it.

I can totally exhaust myself in a couple of miles if I go to fast 🙁 just keep at it things will get better :D.

Depends on wind, elevation, tyres, fitness, etc. For some, 40 miles would be a real achievement. For others, it wouldn’t be a challenge.

40 road miles on that Surly thing would not be my idea of fun, though.

I pretty much buried myself on Sunday doing a 45 mile ride, but it was a bit of an experiment I took one tiny bit of flapjack and one mini soreen loaf to fuel me on a lunchtime ride after a busy morning, just trying to see how I got on once fatigue set in. Normally up to about two hours I am pretty much fine, beyond that I need food to keep me going…

So how well fueled were you?

It also depends on what those 40 miles included, all solo? Into headwinds, lots of climbing?

Distance alone is pretty meaningless as a measure…

What tyres?

Serious?

It rather depends on how fit you are, don’t you think?

Completely the wrong bike.

40 miles on my summer road bike. Don’t even notice.

40 miles on the mtb on road? Knackered beyond belief.

People in your LBS will be talking about using the right tool for the job.

Took me 12 months to build up to a century. At first 50 miles was a tough day.

Anything under 80 is easy these days (unless racing). Centuries common, managed a 300 miler in June.

All about building fitness. IT comes with time. I don’t run and I wouldn’t expect to be able to run a marathon tomorrow without some serious suffering.

Bike and conditions and terrain do make a difference too.

Why did you ride a Surly ECR on the road for 40 miles? Seems like an unusual choice to use what’s a bikepacking offroader. Singlespeed or geared?

Did you have enough to eat? I find if I’m properly fuelled I can do 100 mile rides and be feeling okay during/after but if I don’t keep on top of it I just end up bonking, with results similar to what you describe, even on far shorter rides.

The mileage isn’t the main thing. How hard you were riding is. If you don’t know about it, learn about heart rate, get a monitor, know where you need to be to do a longer ride. Also learn about fueling. A couple of jelly babies every 30 mins does wonders!

I’ve done 40km rides that have emptied the tank.

Try it again when the pain has subsided and see how you feel then.

Riding distance is about pacing yourself, eating and drinking correctly and managing to keep going mentally. If you go off at the same pace you do 5 mile across town you will probably burn out. It a bit like when you first start drinking, you start off downing loads then throwing up, slowly you learn how to pace yourself! Or it like sex, you start off throwing up… Just realised when I had such a bad success rate with women when I was younger.

Fuelling is the key.

I rode 112 fairly easy miles on Sunday morning (3’500ft of climbing) doing the Manchester – Blackpool night ride then home again.
I got it completely wrong, blasé approach to it because I’d found it so easy last time.
I didn’t get enough sleep, I ate 6hrs before the event, got to Blackpool & my head was nodding. Completely bonked around the 75 mile mark & had to lie down in a bush shelter for a while! I limped home completely shattered & vowed to eat properly next time.

P.s. op remember the record for a 24hr TT is 556 miles.

for me; Yes

40 miles on road on a Surly ECR,don’t tell me they had fat tyres too? Were you lost or did you fall for some guff about fat bikes being great for everything??

You weren’t in Leeds were you, I passed a guy riding a surly fat bike in stourton yesterday, thought it was a strange bike to be road commuting on!!

He was fair going for it though!!

Is this a humblebrag thread? 😀

“I did 40 road miles on a fatbike and I’m just sooo knackered now”

ECR isn’t a fatbike.

Anyhow it’s well within the bounds to do a road century on a fatbike. I’m pretty sure there’s a few on here who have done it, and I’ve done 80+ miles on my fatbike and have no doubts about doing 100+ if the occasion called for it.

Anyone who rides reasonably regularly can do a century, just take an easy pace, it’s not a race.

It’s simple.

Start fueled up and adequately hydrated. Take an easy pace, it’s not a race (repeat n+1 times).

Give yourself a short rest every hour to eat and drink, it’s not a race.

Repeat enough times and you’ve done the century.

At worst you’ll average 10miles in the hour, so allow 11 hours and you can even have a lunch hour.

Did 50km on a borrowed ht on road this summer. The lack of big gears was the main issue, the slow rolling made it hard work.

Anyhow it’s well within the bounds to do a road century on a fatbike.

Can we file that under just because you can doesn’t mean you should. Struggling to see how it could be that enjoyable.

I did 100km at a 30kph average on the road on my Krampus last year on 34 x 42/10 – anyone whining about gears/tyres doesn’t get it

mikewsmith – Member
“Anyhow it’s well within the bounds to do a road century on a fatbike.”

Can we file that under just because you can doesn’t mean you should. Struggling to see how it could be that enjoyable.

I struggle to see how riding a bike could not be enjoyable. 🙂

Anyhow the scenery is good here. As I said, easy pace.

But the point is, you can do it on any bike at the right pace. This is a 1930s rod braked roadster and I’ve done a century round Wester Ross on it. No gears, draggy tyres, just keep a steady pace, no hurry, eat and drink enough. Pic between Ullapool & Ledmore Junction.

if I can do it, anyone can.

I struggle to see how riding a bike could not be enjoyable

Simply when it’s not fun, when what could be a smooth flowing ride turns into a slog. When the weather turns and you are just grinding down the miles to get home. When you have a perfectly suitable bike a day are on the wrong one. Just getting on a bike doesn’t make everything awesome.

mikewsmith – Member
When the weather turns and you are just grinding down the miles to get home. When you have a perfectly suitable bike a day are on the wrong one. Just getting on a bike doesn’t make everything awesome.

On that we will have to disagree. The first pic was supposed to be a 120 mile loop, but I ran into 20-30+ mph headwinds (it was March in the Highlands) so I ran out of daylight because it knocked my speed on the westerly direction down to 6 miles in the hour for 30 miles. The road signs were thrumming from the wind but I enjoyed every inch of the ride.

If you don’t worry about speed, you’ll get there.

40 miles is a killer. I’ve only done 40 miles (or more) off road but anything over 30 miles is hard if its hilly.

Wow I did not expect 27 replies! Sorry for my late reply, I was so tired last night I practically passed out in my bed! I like to reply to everyone, but there’s too many and people tend to just ignore me when I write so much lol, so I won’t. But thanks all, for your encouraging and helpful advice! (:

I can totally exhaust myself in a couple of miles if I go to fast just keep at it things will get better :D.

Thing is the bike has so much resistance that I have to be at least 60% the entire time. So I tend to get exhausted pretty quick! The replies on here have made me think it’s my bike, I’m selling my fatbike and even maybe my downhill bike now, to get a bike that I can actually ride. And thanks, I will!

I pretty much buried myself on Sunday doing a 45 mile ride, but it was a bit of an experiment I took one tiny bit of flapjack and one mini soreen loaf to fuel me on a lunchtime ride after a busy morning, just trying to see how I got on once fatigue set in. Normally up to about two hours I am pretty much fine, beyond that I need food to keep me going…

So how well fueled were you?

It also depends on what those 40 miles included, all solo? Into headwinds, lots of climbing?

Distance alone is pretty meaningless as a measure…
Oh my god I think you have a really, really good point. I did the London2Southend ride, and after 20 miles/2hours I was absolutely knackered, didn’t think I could go on, but my mum packed me some flapjacks which I found, and one bite changed everything. It perked me up almost instanenously! I barely ate to be honest, and I’m very underweight too, no fat to burn! What kind food do you take on your rides? (:

And thankfully not too many headwinds, nor climbing, was from around watford to kingston upon thames, which is incredibly beautiful, never been by the thames at all really! And I read this one thing Lael Wilcox said about headwinds, that she enjoys them in some way. So I’ve tried to do that. No point dreading it! She’s pretty much my inspiration! What do you mean by solo?

What tyres?

Knards.

Completely the wrong bike.

40 miles on my summer road bike. Don’t even notice.

40 miles on the mtb on road? Knackered beyond belief.

People in your LBS will be talking about using the right tool for the job.
Wow that’s quite a contrast. I love the idea though of having a bike that you can ride all the way to say lands end and then go off exploring the cliffs and beaches there on. Just literally a go anywhere bike. That was the whole point of the ECR for me. I’m thinking a 29er with lockout suspension might be much better…

All about building fitness. IT comes with time. I don’t run and I wouldn’t expect to be able to run a marathon tomorrow without some serious suffering.

You are right. I think that’s my problem really. I don’t really ride that kind of distances at all. Heck I hadn’t been on my bike for a week and I was wearing flip flops and shorts too. That’s my humblebrag! 😀

Why did you ride a Surly ECR on the road for 40 miles? Seems like an unusual choice to use what’s a bikepacking offroader. Singlespeed or geared?

Its the easiest bike I have to ride! I’ve the ECR, a Moonlander, a Mukluk and a Cove STD, and the ECR is the best by far for on the road. It’s supposed to be a dirt touring bike so I figured it wouldn’t be too bad on the road. It’s not, just a ton of what I think is unnecessary effort. But I built it up and plan to use it for bikepacking!

Crap I’m making this really long but I just want to reply to what to everyone’s said, sorry!

Did you have enough to eat? I find if I’m properly fuelled I can do 100 mile rides and be feeling okay during/after but if I don’t keep on top of it I just end up bonking, with results similar to what you describe, even on far shorter rides.

I think you and Cookea have nailed it here, this is probably the main problem. What do you eat before/on rides?

The mileage isn’t the main thing. How hard you were riding is. If you don’t know about it, learn about heart rate, get a monitor, know where you need to be to do a longer ride. Also learn about fueling. A couple of jelly babies every 30 mins does wonders!

The thing with the ECR is I have to ride quite hard to get anywhere. Considering getting something else instead maybe, thanks for the advice! Jelly babies sound delcious, I haven’t had them in about 5 years but you’ve given me a sudden craving!!

Riding distance is about pacing yourself, eating and drinking correctly and managing to keep going mentally. If you go off at the same pace you do 5 mile across town you will probably burn out. It a bit like when you first start drinking, you start off downing loads then throwing up, slowly you learn how to pace yourself! Or it like sex, you start off throwing up… Just realised when I had such a bad success rate with women when I was younger.

Those are some good analogies, they make it very easy to understand! 😀 I do do the same pace! I will experiment with varying it, thanks!

40 miles on road on a Surly ECR,don’t tell me they had fat tyres too? Were you lost or did you fall for some guff about fat bikes being great for everything??

I may have fallen for said guff…

You weren’t in Leeds were you, I passed a guy riding a surly fat bike in stourton yesterday, thought it was a strange bike to be road commuting on!!

He was fair going for it though!!

No, I’m in London! Haha I tend to get too excited riding it and do exactly that! I always challenge myself to keep up with the cars which as you can guess does not fare well for my stamina!

Is this a humblebrag thread?

“I did 40 road miles on a fatbike and I’m just sooo knackered now”

Noooo… An ECR isn’t a fatbike! 😀

ECR isn’t a fatbike.

Anyhow it’s well within the bounds to do a road century on a fatbike. I’m pretty sure there’s a few on here who have done it, and I’ve done 80+ miles on my fatbike and have no doubts about doing 100+ if the occasion called for it.

Anyone who rides reasonably regularly can do a century, just take an easy pace, it’s not a race.

It’s simple.

Start fueled up and adequately hydrated. Take an easy pace, it’s not a race (repeat n+1 times).

Give yourself a short rest every hour to eat and drink, it’s not a race.

Repeat enough times and you’ve done the century.

At worst you’ll average 10miles in the hour, so allow 11 hours and you can even have a lunch hour.
You make it sound so easy! The toll it takes on ones legs is very tough though, I found my legs shaking after the 40! The thing with the fatbikes is you have to work quite hard to get them at a decent speed, or at least in my experience with the 3″ Kanrds. On an easier rolling bike, like I think my Moonlander with 3.5″ Vee Speedsters is kind of easier to ride, I’m guessing because the wheels are not monstrously big, so that could be doable I guess. The mental factor of going on for that long is quite big too! I am going to persevere with it though, thanks for the advice! And I’m afraid as much as I do love fatbikes, I agree with mike, there becomes a point when you just don’t want to slog across the road. I think I need to sell one of my fatbikes and try something else!

Thanks for the advice all, really need to think about food now! (:

Is it because you continually stop when MTB waiting for mates etc etc (eg little intervals)where as on the road you don’t tend to?

I’m surprised with the responses on here. Seems a fairly suitable choice of bike to ride 40 miles, if you ask me.

The biggest problem with it however, would be the tyres. Put some slick, or semi-slick tyres on, and it will roll much faster. Riding nobblies on the road just drag on your soul.

A road bike will travel much faster, especially in the hills, but not necessarily everyone’s cup of tea. And won’t necessarily save a lot of energy. It’ll mostly help you do it quicker, and possibly encourage you to expend more energy! Like driving a fast car…

Fuelling is a personal thing. When I was less fit, I used to eat a lot when on the bike and still suffer. Nowadays I can do rides of the same distance and eat barely anything. I’m not sure if that is more down to the fact that my diet has improved and become less sugar intensive, or if it’s because my body has learned to burn fuel more productively. I guess it’s a bit of both.

Anyway, I remember the first time I went over 40 miles. I was in my 20s and it nearly killed me. I was completely done by the time I got back. Nowadays it’s a quick morning ride. Just a case of building up to it, fuelling properly, and learning to be efficient, whether it be in your riding technique, the bike you use, pacing yourself, or whatever else. Most of it you will learn from experience. Completely normal to be knackered if you’re not used to it.

Good effort to push on as far as you can, whether thats five miles or five hundred. I’ve got a Fargo, which tends to go a bit of allsorts, bridleways, Sustrans, odd tracks and roads. I find Big Apples a good compromise tyre, though I couldn’t keep up with proper roadie mates on carbon and 25mm tyres, I can roll along all day. The 29×2.35 wouldn’t look silly on an ECR in place of the knards for road and harder tracks and might get you a few more miles before the jelly legs set in.

I ride a longitude (not a million miles from the ecr).
For offroad I’ve got 3″ chronicles on it on 35mm rims. For on the road I’ve got a ligher set of 29er wheels with 2.35 supermotos (posh big apples). It goes like stink with the slicks on.
Don’t worry though, I get tired after about 2 miles sometimes. For me it all about regular time on the bike and lots of eating.

I was wearing flip flops and shorts too

Ahhhh, I see.

You win.

fin25 – Member
I ride a longitude (not a million miles from the ecr).
For offroad I’ve got 3″ chronicles on it on 35mm rims. For on the road I’ve got a ligher set of 29er wheels with 2.35 supermotos (posh big apples). It goes like stink with the slicks on.

A similar setup on the ECR may be what officerfriendly needs for his ECR.

100 miles is more a mental game than anything else. Steady pace, rest, eat, drink, and don’t think about how far it is.

I cycled from Machynlleth to Bristol over 3 days last weekend.

Although by no means my typical ride, I have done plenty of long-distance and 100+ mile rides over the years. But, unfortunately, even c.50 miles per day was proving hard work this last weekend.

In hindsight, the first factor was that I was not well! I’d been travelling all over the UK the week prior with work, plus my two kids had puked the weekend I went away. I wasn’t symptomatic, but I still felt like death for several days after the ride and struggled to walk up stairs!

The second factor was the route and terrain. Boy, if ever there is a hilly, badly-surfaced alternative to the direct route; the Sustrans network will take you along it! In their defence, the views and tranquility are amazing.

So – you may just not have been on top form, nor following the easy route!

I did 100km at a 30kph average on the road on my Krampus last year on 34 x 42/10 – anyone whining about gears/tyres doesn’t get it

😯 Bloody hell, are you pro?

I’ve been struggling to achieve that (well over slightly longer distances, with hills) on the road bike, I didn’t think I was *that* unfit 😳