Just after some help as I have found lately I am feeling very flat and legs feeling tired and heavy.

Just some back round, this is the first year I have ridden serious km's over winter ( around 300km plus a 1 hour watt bike class a week ) prior to this was just a summer rider but no wanting to get lot more serious.

Did also attempt 1 winter rode race 1 month ago which was 99km handicap event with over 1000m of climbing.

Just before the road race I was feeling awesome on the bike, strong, my power was right up, but since been really flat, have had the odd day where i was ok, I generally eat well, always fuel up straight after a ride, stretch plenty and get the odd leg massage. I also train with a SRM powermeter.

Is this just a case of over doing it and body adapting to extra km's over winter or I am training wrong and possibly not eating enough.

My feeling is I should maybe pull back on the power for couple weeks but keep up the km's?

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Gloss Black Special Order Colnago C59 with SR and Mavic Cosmic Carbone SLR
Giant TCR Advanced SL Rabobank
Go Cadel

It could always be a (viral) infection or some other condition, a thorough medical check-up would at least help to rule that out.

Sometimes a total break from cycling also helps. If the doctor says you're healthy, why not still put the bike away for a week or two, and see how things go?

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Bikes: Raceur, Beateur

I get the impression that the OP is looking for a bit more of a solution than simply hanging up the bike for a couple of weeks. Which, given my guess is the OP raced Melbourne to Ballarat, isn't really the best way to set up for the rest of the Open's for this season.


OP, you need to be a bit more specific with what your weekly training looks like. Intensity of rides. How much rest you're getting, etc

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Baum Ristretto, Baum Mondrian Corretto & the '89 Merckx! | "If you could eat it in one sitting, hold your line." | twitter.com/Tinea_Pedis

Causes of fatigue are legion. A detailed history of racing, training, diet, work, family/home life, other physical/mental activities, travel, weather, sleeping patterns for as long as the symptoms have been around would be a start. And yes, I am serious!

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"Physiology is all just propaganda and lies... all waiting to be disproven by the next study."
"I'm not a real doctor; But I am a real worm; I am an actual worm." - TMBG

I'd just take maybe a weeklong break and assess any changes you might have had. Focus on diet and sleep should be first and foremost. If that's not doing it, illness might be a factor too. Losing a week won't kill you, especially if you're feeling weak (it'll probably get you faster in the end). Tapeworm is exactly right, I've had fatigue from multiple issues prior to getting into my training flow.

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Cervélo S2 2012 Red
Great minds think alike... sadly, so do the mediocre ones.

Thanks but I am not sick nor have any infections

Usually week looks like this:

Mon - Core work and 30 min easy indoor spin
Tues - 80 km ride med to high intensity
Wed - 1 Hour Watt Bike Class
Thursday - 40 km ride med to high intensity
Friday - Rest
Saturday - 100km plus long low to med intensity
Sunday - 50 - 70 km Hilly ride

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Gloss Black Special Order Colnago C59 with SR and Mavic Cosmic Carbone SLR
Giant TCR Advanced SL Rabobank
Go Cadel

Have you changed or added anything in your diet ? I got these kind of symptons and in the I found out that it was eating green salad leafy foods that were causing the problem they were affecting my thyroid just enough to cause fatigue and lethargy. Its always worth keeping a diary of your food . I would keep riding and make a note of your diet. If you can do the same ride for a week or so then you will be able to judge your progress easier. Its very annoying but if you work through it in a logical way you will sort it out .
Good Luck

This is well over 10 hours per week. In your first post you say that you have just been "getting serious" so this might very easily just be too much to handle properly (being unaware of your general fitness). Get a week of rest with just a few very easy recovery rides, then start building up the weekly hours and intensity (5 hours, 7 hours, 9hours per week for example), then again get a rest week etc.

The most usual thing about getting serious is seriously overdoing stuff

Thanks for advice, I wouldn't say its well over 10 hours but close enough, al my rides are in excess of 30kph average, my general fitness it very good.

My diet has not changed at all, not eating something I never have in the past so I would say its maybe just time for some rest.

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Gloss Black Special Order Colnago C59 with SR and Mavic Cosmic Carbone SLR
Giant TCR Advanced SL Rabobank
Go Cadel

The reasons could be from multiple issues for example:-
Weather - lack of regular exposure to sunlight can effect vitamin D levels.
Sleep - different timing or disturbed sleep can result in the circadian rhythms being disrupted.
Stress - can effect the body in a whole host of ways
Illness - you don't have to be "sick" to have an infection or the like. Minor illnesses can result in you just feeling tired. Without blood tests you don't actually know.
Overtraining - highly unlikely giving the training you've outlined. However, combined with other issues it could be a compounding factor.

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"Physiology is all just propaganda and lies... all waiting to be disproven by the next study."
"I'm not a real doctor; But I am a real worm; I am an actual worm." - TMBG

We should also keep in mind that there are literally billions of viruses and bacteria that cause mild infections that have never even been studied or named because they never cause an illness or epidemic that is serious enough to kill people; but they can still make you sick. And "sick" has a range of intensities from "feeling completely wasted" to "just not quite at 100%".

It can easily take 2 weeks to recover, and a month to regain full strength. 2 weeks to a month can seem like eternity if it is in the middle of a racing season.

+ 1 , I had a virus a few years back, took almost 5 months before I was right again . There are so many out there and there is no way to treat them . I bought a indoor cycle and just rode that until it got better. Hope its not a virus .The trick is to just accept where you are and in the end you will be fine . It's tough because you dont feel like it will ever get better but your strength and feelings just come back really quick .