Anyone else having issues on long bike rides?

why are you doing long ride on the trainer? do you have a early race that require you to do so? when is your big race? when will you be able to get outside?

in short my answer is, i try to avoid having any of my athlete do long ride on the trainer. we kept them shorter and quality higher. That we, they dont burn out mentally, the progress and get stronger and when weather gets better....we get those long ride outside

Excellent advise! If you do have an early race and need those long rides, take a short break every hour to get something to drink, eat or just a bathroom break. 3 hrs straight on a trainer is mentally killing...

I don't generally do my long rides (over 2 hours, usually over 90 minutes) on a trainer, but when I do have an issue with a long outdoor ride, it's often a nutrition one. Low blood sugar can cause problems which seem to be "mental"--fading motivation, lack of concentration, negative thoughts, etc. Were you taking in enough calories and fluids? It's easy in particular to get really dehydrated on the trainer if you don't have an adequate cooling system and fan. The heart rate drift and abrupt "system fail" with five minutes to go that you describe to me sounds much more like dehydration or blood sugar issues that strictly a mental issue.

Another thought--for me it seems to be paradoxical but true--if you train in a very boring setting, it's easier to do a harder long ride with clearly defined segments and goals (like HR or power targets or time intervals based on RPE) than just put in the time at a steady pace. I really struggled in the past with my long rides--since my bike buddy left the country, they're almost all solo, and in an industrial park around a 6 km loop. Not inspiring. If I don't have a specific target, my brain just fixates on how hot it is, how tired I feel, the wind, how slow I am, etc. etc. Once there's some structure and a target (in my case, I'm using HR as the winds make it impossible to have speed targets and I don't have a power meter), I focus on that and it overrides attention to the rest of the mental "chatter". I go much faster when I do that, with a lower RPE. I posted about this last week--why it feels easier to ride faster....I think it's mainly a mental issue of what I'm focusing on. Jorge's winter cycling program on this site has the long rides with HR and power zones; you could also do repeats at race pace, etc, that would break the ride up and take your mind off "How many more minutes/hours?" Basically, I don't do easy rides, long or short, unless I'm biking as recovery from a race, or on a pleasure tour, or sometimes an MTB ride with friends. It's just deathly dull to do an easy ride around an industrial park!

I don't know if this would work the same way for other people. I probably have some ADD tendencies. I can lack focus without a specific goal, but am very good at focusing for even long periods when I can break it down and have some clear goals--I just go into a zone and completely go after that. Maybe it's a skill I've developed from training mostly solo in pretty unexciting environments, but I don't think I'm amazingly mentally tough--it's just a technique that works.

Failing all else, I've found that one of those gels with caffeine with about 30-40 minutes to go will get me over the hump. My old bike buddy used to call it my "crack"!

Edited by Hot Runner 2014-03-03 6:50 AM

My main race is IMWI in 5 months... I'm sort of ramping up training a lot this year since I have a stupid goal I want to achieve. I'm slowly getting better on the bike (wish I had a PM last year so I could compare notes and past wattage numbers). In the past 2 months my FTP went up about 15% but it's hard to tell if it's because on how I'm training or because I'm just getting serious on the bike again. I'm on the trainer since it's stupidly cold outside still. 20-40 degrees below average and I won't be able to head outside for probably 2 more months. I love the trainer for 1.5 hr or less rides, since it's easy to setup and I can dial in my intervals easily, but the long rides are killer.

I'm thinking Hot Runner may be on to something though about the nutrition though. I've been cheap on my Gu's this year and running upwards of 16 miles without anything (training for marathon in 2 months, so I'm running more than I normally would) and almost never taking them on the bike too. I normally have about 250-300 calories/hour on the bike and I did maybe 150-200/hr last time (all via Gatoraid), so I think I need start using my Gu stash. That and I need to save the shows I really want to watch for the last 1-2 hours of my workout. I started with the good ones this time and I think that hurt me too.

Hi Blastman,

Blastman and I competed in the Vineman Full last July. When I trained for Vineman I did a lot of my training early on the trainer, intervals and long rides. I have gone up to four hours. To be honest a lot had to do with just being able to be at home and train, not riding in Oregon rainy weather, some had to do with safety, and some had to do with just mentally pushing through being tired, bored and getting through it even when I felt like stepping off. I found it mentally challenging and I think it helped me be mentally prepared for Vineman. My 6 hr.. Rides I would get up early ride 2 hrs on the trainer and go 4 hrs. On the road. I did this a number of times for my long rides. I would get off every hour for a short break stretch, bathroom if I need to and get back at it. I always tried to end my sessions with a faster pace and push it alittle unless I was doing intervals.

As well for the run I put myself in positions to test my mental ability to push through tough times purposefully. Running when it was real hot out and knowing I was going to have to walk, so I could run and being ok with it and accepting it. I hand to walk the whole first 4.85 miles of the run of Vineman due to a hurt outside right foot, but eventually after some time I was able to run and in the end negative split each of the three laps of Vineman run.

ok, well here some simple advise

Ironman wisonscin: 5 months away. It s great to have big crazy goal.... but pace yourself. ironman is a patience game...and in training also, you need to leave room to increas your training load for the last 2 months leading up to the race.

you are cheap. no problem.... go to to a nice healthy store and get maltodextrin. it s a powder that as no tast, no sweetness but is a very good..perhaps the best fuel for calorie when training (gu first ingredient is maltodextrin). it will cost you very little and you can fuel many ride for pennys.

add maltodextrin to your gatorade do make it a 250 300cal bottle...than you should be able to substain long run and long ride much better. it s also a excellent source when racing.....

good luck

Training for an IRONMAN And nutrition got expensive for me. Especially when it got to the long rides and long run weekends. I found myself spending about $15-$20 per weekend on nutrition alone. I finally splurged and ordered a large quantity of Perpetumn and gels by the pint. Went a lot longer and cheaper this way. I would stash water, gatorade or other liquid along the route prior to a long run.if not running a loop. If I ran loops/ laps then it was much easier to just stop and keep refilling at the same spot each time, but I always ran with nutrition and some kind of liquid.

If you are on the trainer at home, why limit yourself to gu and Gatordade for calories? I think I saw someone post a "bike buffet" picture on some thread about the longest trainer ride you've ever done. It looked good enough to make me want to do a three-hour ride! I think they even had a pizza delivery box in there. Just set up your bento box, or a table next to the trainer, with whatever snack you want, and ride away. You'll have to finish, to justify the calories!

If trying to save $$, bananas are cheap, healthy, and portable. Nuts and dried fruit, healthy and portable, though not so cheap. I ration my gu since I can't easily buy that in country--only one per long ride (once a week); one for my long runs if over 90 minutes. Everything else is bananas, locally available cookies/granola bars, or random things that sound good. Ultimately, you do want to test your nutrition plan for the race a few times, but there's no need to use only your race nutrition on every long ride.