Back Into It After A Rest

Well, after spending the last week relaxing on holiday with my family, today I got back on the bike!

Starting off at Opossum Bay before 116km ride.

I was really intrigued to see what eight or nine days of no riding would yield.  I'd thought about just doing a regular 50km ride, but being fairly confident that I hadn't lost too much conditioning, I figured 'why not just go for a good long ride?' So I did!

Wow!  Now don't get me wrong, I'm not claiming to be anywhere near the condition of a professional cyclist (in fact, I'm quite open about how much of an amateur 'amateur' I really am), but today's ride gave me the tiniest glimpse into what it must be like for to be a professional cyclist.

Having read a few biographies of professional cyclists now, a common theme that seems to run throughout is the idea that in the space of as little as a week not riding their bikes, they can loose a lot of conditioning and performance.

The main thing I noticed early on today was that those eight or nine days of rest have had a significant impact on my power output!  I don't use a powermeter (who can afford those things anyway?), but I could feel it almost straight away on the sort of inclines that I've been comfortably climbing using my big chainring for weeks, I just didn't have the strength in my legs to do so today!

I confess, I was really quite surprised!  It wasn't a case of panic stations or anything like that, I did perfectly well on the little chainring, but it was really incredible what the result of the break from riding turned out to be!

Fitness wise, I didn't feel too much difference.  The distance wasn't harder than it's been at any other time - I still managed to maintain a good pace over the 116km that I rode today.  Until the last 30km or so, I figured the loss of power was the only really difference.   Then the cramp came!  I don't think I've experienced such pain on the bike for four years or so!  I spent the last 40 minutes of todays ride peddling through bouts of cramp in my quads, calves and hamstrings.  In the end I was wishing I'd only gone for a short ride!

Anyway, the Red Shield Ride starts a week on Friday, so I've got eight days to see if I can get some power back into the legs and ease the pain of leg cramps!

If you're interested in seeing today's ride, you can find in here.