Hitting the Wall After a Long and Steep Climb
Yesterday I expected to be quite comfortable on a ride but I wasn’t. The climb was steep, with bits that were at 17 percent according to others. You pedal, and pedal. You feel the muscles in your legs fatigue. You think, “if only I could stop for a few minutes”, but you don’t. You keep going. You keep pushing. You get to the top.
You rest for a bit, while waiting for others to join. Finally the group is reunited so you continue the bike ride. You descend, but as you descend you take a detour back up to the Chemin Des Crêtes. Yet more uphill, before heading back down. Finally you’re in the Vallée de Joux valley, but there’s a problem. There is a strong sustained wind pushing against you. The group pushes on fast.
I was moving up the group every few seconds, as the group surged forward. And then I ran out of power. I ran out of energy. I couldn’t sustain the pace. I dropped back, and I saw the group continue, oblivious, except for one person, who pushed me. I couldn’t keep up. My legs had given everything they could.
Hitting the Wall
Eventually I was dropped. I continued cycling, but at my pace, rather than their pace. When I got to Nyon I recognised the same symptoms as when I did the same ride in the opposite direction.
I was overheated. The pace had been sustained hard for long enough for me to overheat and lose power. I got back into Nyon but the noise of the circus discouraged me from staying. I didn’t head home because of a noisy event in my village. I headed towards Founex and the lending library. I stopped at a fountain. I wet my hear, my neck, and my face, snacked, and then filled my bottles before wetting my hat and myself again. I limped home at a slow pace. When I got home I wet my hair again, I washed my face again, and I wet my neck again.
After that I sat for two or three hours, doing little. The ride cooked me. I’m still tired as I write this blog post.
Groups are Fun but Fast
I love group rides, and I am still happy to go three to five times per week, but I am not happy to push myself to the max each time. When we hike we slow down, to see the views, to talk, to snack, and for those that are slower. With cycling every ride is a race, which is why it’s nice when other people are slow. It gives the opportunity to keep them company, and to enjoy cycling for the sake of cycling, rather than racing. If the pace had been just a little slower I would have held on.
Metrics
I spent an hour in zone 5 and one and a half hours in zone 4. I spent an hour in zone 3 and 24 minutes in zone 2. That’s why I ran out of power. That’s why I dropped the group. That’s two and a half hours at threshold and above. That’s almost three hours. Two hours and fourty three minutes at threshold and above. Sixty one percent of the ride was at threshold and above.
The Afternoon Walk
According to most fitness trackers walking isn’t sport so by that reasoning it should not have impacted me. I went for a nine kilometre walk the day before but I doubt that it is this walk that fatigued my legs. Walking, for me is rest. it is normal for me to walk an hour and a half every day that I am not cycling. Of course, if I had walked up to La Dôle, then fatigue would be expected.
And Finally
The course was meant to have 1400m of climbing and it had at least 1600m or more. The moment where I ran out of power in my legs is when we were cycling at 26km/h into the wind uphill. That’s where my legs ran out of stamina and I became unable to keep up with the group.
When we got down to the valley I had planned to remove my windrpoof layer but I didn’t have time. I suspected that this contributed to my body overheating. If the stop had been 30 seconds longer I might not have hit the wall.
And finally, I would think twice about riding with this group on Saturday again. The route is nice, and I like the convenience of starting six minutes from home but I don’t like ending a ride feeling exhausted.
Next week I expect to go on a relaxed or moderate ride. As convenient as a local ride is, it’s not convenient if I end up fatigued.