Rubbish legs or not enough Fuel?

I eat a banana for breakfast, then go and do a ride of between 130 and 170 miles, a fair bit. I stop for a coffee and a cake, at about half distance, then top up my energy levels with jelly babies, and pistachio nuts, on the return. I regularly end up with a calorie deficit of 3000 after one of these rides, so if I know I'm doing a 5000 calorie ride on (for example) the Friday, I'll use an app such as myfitnesspal, during the week, to try and get a calorie excess of about 4000, in the week leading up to the ride. Thus far, it's worked quite well. I rarely bonk on a big ride, if I think I'm heading for the bonk, I'll use the aforementioned emergency supplies to try and avoid it. I've found that if I do bonk, the best way to emergency fuel to get home, is to add coconut oil to a double shot espresso. That really hits the spot.

Anyway I was out on a ride today and I've noticed that I feel like I have no energy at all. Hills were just hard work for me, but I noticed the rear wheel was slightly out. I was so knackered at the end of my ride today that I just stopped peddling on a hill and fell over (lucky it was on a closed road).

I'm still building up my distance at the moment but I think I'm going to do one short ride, one medium and a longer ride which pushes my distance. Also hoping to have my road bike back on the road soon which will help.

Garmin calorie counter is a made-up number. Ignore it.

Regardless of what might be the cause, I suggest you try changing your food timings.

A *small* bowl of something light like Rice Krispies before you leave, or better still nothing. I suspect that by eating a large portion before starting your body is set to expect more of the same.

Carry and consume at least 2 water bottles, ideally 750ml. Also carry a malt loaf cut into 4 slices/chunks. I like Snickers, cut in half and stowed in the seat pack so I have to stop to get at them.

Don't touch the malt loaf/Snickers/whatever until you've been riding for at least 1.5 or 2 hours.

When you get home blend a banana with milk and a scoop of protein powder, then a protein-dense lunch with real food a little while afterwards - beans on toast, tuna sarnie, scrambled eggs or similar.

Your mileage seems a little on the low side for endurance riding. Try and build it up to 125-150 miles a week With a least one ride of 60+ miles of steady riding. The other rides can be shorter but with interval sessions built in.

drink(well sip) upto 1 litre per hour and eat complex carbs of no more than 50g carbs (including drink if it's a carb drink.) Per hour

Build up the endurance slowly - if you are used to doing 30mile rides, then yes, the legs will fell fine at 30 miles, and dead by 35. But next time, you should feel fine doing the 35. Just build up the distance slowly.

Also - you are comparing your performance to last summer?
Very dangerous, as this time year the cold air is more dense, the winter weighs more then summer garb and muscles are less efficient when cold. You also consume more calories just keeping yourself warm. So its very difficult to compare performance now with what you were doing in the summer.

Work on building fitness right now, and then when the temperatures warm up, you should find the performance comes back to you.

As you slowly build, your endurance will improve.

Remember, the Sky GC riders don't eat anything

If you're getting 10 slices out of your Soreen loaf you are certainly under-fuelled, if you're getting 5 slices per loaf that's about 33-34 grams of carbs per slice which is under (what I think is) the recommended 40-60g of carb intake per hour.

I think you could be starting to feel that deficit in the last hour or so of a long ride 4 or 5 hour ride, especially if you are also increasing the length of your rides.

Try adding some energy drinks and perhaps swapping the 4th or 5th slice for a couple of more quickly digestible gels to get the carbs in before you've finished your ride.

You just need to ensure you are taking on calories as you go. It might also be that you are working too hard - there is a double whammy effect when your heart rate elevates. Firstly, you consume blood sugars more quickly - more so if you are in the red (or working anaerobically). And secondly, your digestive tract stops working if you are working too hard (the blood is pumped elsewhere).....which is how Michele Ferrari was able to calculate if a rider was going to crack - you can't work at a particular rate for too long without bonking.

Basically ensure that you have an energy drink in one of your bidons (4:1 is a fav) and that you drink every 15 minutes on longer rides, and nibble something every 30-45 minutes. That should keep you going for longer.

Keep a gel with you as a 'get out jail free' card. Gels are nasty and you don't want to use them, but If you are tanking it'll keep you going, but as soon as you reach for it you'll need to be eating and drinking as much as you can because you will be on empty.

If you are riding at intensity you need will only be able to ride for 2-3 hours max without refuelling. After that you'll have used all your blood sugars and glycogen stores. So what you describe seems to fit in with bonking perfectly.

I find refuelling with beer half way though a ride is very effective. And planning a ride with a good pub in the middle is fun.

The calorie calculation (let's call it that!) on the Garmin is woeful, and over estimates by close to double!

I ride with a power meter on one bike and not on the other, and the total power over a ride with PM is as close as damn it to the same as the calories consumed on the ride due to the body's efficiency at processing calories to make kilojoules. This is reflected in the calorie figure being the same on my 810 as the Kj figure when on the PM equipped bike.
I did the same ride yesterday on the bike without PM (which is incidentally, lighter and has better wheels etc), and the calorie estimation that is just based on time, weight and distance instead of any actual measurement of consequence, was just under double the figure previously measured.

thought this would be a decent place to make a first post. hello all.

i too did barely any miles over christmas. a chest infection killed november so i'd been off the bike until middle of feb. i'm a really average rider but here's my experience of fueling for a ride.

this does not assume you've had breakfast as i will often ride without it unless it's going to be a biggie (70 miles plus)...it does assume a decent coffee before you leave. natch

out for an hour or so? take a water bottle. with water in it.

out for 2? take a gel (high 5, citrus...taste like melted icepop) and a bottle, with robinsons in it.

out for 3, 4, 5, 6+? porridge an hour before leaving. double espresso before heading out the door. a gel for every hour expected on the bike (and bits of flapjack) - two bottles - both with high 5 electrolyte mix in them).

i don't ride at all hard for the first 10 miles as it ruins me if i do. i generally ride to where i'm working but not destroying myself.

for me, it's all about the miles in your legs. turn your legs over for longer distances more often and the easier it gets.

Don't forget that what you eat the night before will be fueling your body. I always carb up the night before a ride and then breakfast tops me up.

I think you need more fuel. I can ride for 2 to 2.5 hours unfuelled (even no breakfast) but beyond that it gets slow and painful. Using High 5 energy drink, malt loaf, bananas and even gels seem to fix this - the drink alone is surprisingly effective. Eat little and often on longer rides. Recently the same (70 mile) ride with and without fuel were leagues apart in terms of ability to maintain pace - with fuel I could significantly press on for the last hour.

Years ago on properly long rides 100 to 150 on successive days I found I wound wind down to a slow pace as I ran out of fuel - I am guessing this was my fat burning level then add a Mars bar every 20 minutes and I was back up to normal pace.

Eat more get more

If I ride hard, I am done after 70 mins. I need to eat or my legs feel dead.

If I ride slow it can be two hours before i feel hungry and slow.

If you are saying your pacing is fine and your food is fine. then its your fitness. otherwise just eat more

I'm not sure that I'd trust the calorie readings on the Garmin. I got widely different values on my 20-odd mile commute with and without a heart rate strap. (With was substantially lower) even though the time was very similar. I'd just aim for more miles, and eating a bit before you get hungry - I'm a cereal bar man myself.

It is about endurance, simply sounds like you do not have enough miles under the bonnet, try doing some short interval training, esp if there is a good 5 min hill near you.

Hard to tell from what you've said. I rode 2.5 hrs this morning then had a bacon sarnie and did another 2 hours; we're all different. For me, I get a pick up just by stopping around the 2, 2.5 hrs mark, even without eating. Are you just riding too hard and/or too long?
I believe your body can only process something like 60 cals an hour so no point pigging out. What do you drink on a ride? I got through two bottles on my ride today, one of water one of SIS diluted stuff, I find sipping constantly really helps me, a little and often.