Man I am slacking last year. Riding stats are going down.

[fooferdoggie]

between the wife and I our riding is going down. Get the same milage commuting about 100 miles a week but we dont ride the tandem every day like we used to and we cant do 40 or more miles on the weekends. sucks watching my energy getting worse and nothing I can do about it. I just like to keep track my ride effort is nothing to brag about.. My HR average and my power output have dropped a lot and its had to do a 30 mile ride now. Where I could do two on the weekends no problem 2 years ago. riding is my main activity and it's slowing down. I think my wife is suffering some from long covid too.

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

between the wife and I our riding is going down. Get the same milage commuting about 100 miles a week but we dont ride the tandem every day like we used to and we cant do 40 or more miles on the weekends. sucks watching my energy getting worse and nothing I can do about it. I just like to keep track my ride effort is nothing to brag about.. My HR average and my power output have dropped a lot and its had to do a 30 mile ride now. Where I could do two on the weekends no problem 2 years ago. riding is my main activity and it's slowing down. I think my wife is suffering some from long covid too.

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Sorry to hear that. Are you giving yourself permission to use more assist?

I ask because my riding's also down due to a left knee problem. Only a couple of months in my case, but in retrospect, I could have ridden a lot more that first month if I'd just kicked my PAS 1/9 habit at the outset.

Now that I'm using PAS 3/9 most of the time , cycling's easier on the knee than walking. Wish I'd swallowed my pride earlier.

 

[fooferdoggie]

It's my wacky body. I think it's a genetic condition that makes me intolerant of carbs. it's been slowly getting worse. somewhere in my 20s or so it started getting worse making my body weak loosing muscle. I was pretty weak when I stopped riding but then 4 years ago I discovered e bikes. my energy levels came up after months of using a ton of assistance and almost no effort. but then it peaked and has been going down. my legs are not always so bad but my arms are so wimpy they get third grating cheese. my sit bones hurt even on my soft saddle I used to be able to ride 50 miles on some days they hurt as soon as I start my commute. last year I did 30 miles a day every day and was fine more on weekends. thats about 18 miles in commuting and 12 miles on the tandem. but now we don't always ride the tandem as my wife or both of us are too tired.
more assist can help but its not really solving the issue. the tandem just takes more energy even being a e tandem we tend to ride right were the motor cuts off when feeling good but when tried we need more and go slower so we cant ride as far,
but if I don't ride I will lose even more energy riding is what keeps me going. my diet is so restricted its almost impossible riding keeps me on it because its the only way I can have energy controlling what I eat. I cant tell how tired I really am without riding unless I have to work hard. docs have no clues and I doubt there is any solutions. My arms are so weak because they always feel tired so i don't push them so then they get weaker. weights or such may help a little but its feels like I have already worked out as soon as I start. some days I can hardly get my bike into the stand some days I can.
it used to be I was tried because I did not control what I ate good enough. but then I was eating more carbs and more foods that bothered me. Now I pretty much live on meat, eggs, cheese, with non carby veggies 3 times a week and a little chocolate 3 times a week. it could be the carbs in the chocolate may be too much its hard to tell. if I stop eating that chocolate it will be the last carbs I can eat. the more carbs I eat the sicker I become the less carbs I eat the more sensitive to them I become. if I eat say 10 jelly belly jelly beans I will be wiped out for a day.
5 or so years ago I could eat all the carbs I wanted one day a week and feel kinda of bad then it got worse fast now I cant even eat a fun size York peppermint patty. the last two times I lightly splurged on carbs caused me to clip a pole on our tandem and we crashed and my wife cracked her kneecap. then I went months without hardly any carbs. I had popcorn at the moves because I was not going to ride that day so I figured it would be ok but it cause me to mess up at work the next day and I almost lost the tip of my finger in my router table. so thats the last of carbs in any real amount.
So even physically carbs are a bit no no.

 

[fooferdoggie]

Covid knocked out my Fall riding too, I scrambled to put in miles in Decenber to get above 3000 miles. It was our 4th warmest on record, but still a lot of cold rides that I would not normally have taken. Now I'm acclimated to it. Rode both my regular bike and an ebike today for 90 minutes total, to get a good start for 2024. When the snow finally comes, I'me done til Spring.

its ot the weather I only stop of there is ice or snow o the ground. or I am too tired. mostly now its too tired.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

mostly now its too tired.

We're not getting any younger... Your yearly distance is still very high: it is in the upper echelon of Strava riders.
Try to relax and do not think in terms you have to be riding 10,000 miles a year.
All the best to you and your wife!

 

[fooferdoggie]

We're not getting any younger... Your yearly distance is still very high: it is in the upper echelon of Strava riders.
Try to relax and do not think in terms you have to be riding 10,000 miles a year.
All the best to you and your wife!

I am. ot I am thinking of how my energy levels are really dropping. some days it hurts to sot down period because of my sore muscles. I would if it could be that my work is much slower so I am not moving as much? hard to really tell.

 

[Art Deco]

If you are slowing down, it really doesn't matter ... you and your wife are still active for your age. Go take hard look at the shoppers at your local Walmart sometime ...
ArtDeco

 

[fooferdoggie]

If you are slowing down, it really doesn't matter ... you and your wife are still active for your age. Go take hard look at the shoppers at your local Walmart sometime ...
ArtDeco

its not just slowing down its running out of energy. its a big drop from last year. thew bier is just an indicator of my energy levels. all I do is ride I don't have energy for much of anything else. it takes almost all of my energy now.

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

I am. ot I am thinking of how my energy levels are really dropping. some days it hurts to sot down period because of my sore muscles. I would if it could be that my work is much slower so I am not moving as much? hard to really tell.

This undiagnosed condition is certainly having a big impact on your quality of life. Hope you find a treatment soon.

Advice from a retired MD: When you become a medical mystery under those circumstances, best to get a specialist at a big academic medical center involved if you haven't already.

University docs don't always shine at primary care, but they're your best bet when things get weird. Your primary care doc can direct you to the expert or specialty to try first. A referral from your primary may help with insurance coverage.

Good luck.

 

[fooferdoggie]

I have went through the docs no one really has a clue. But my esophagus has hurt all my life and it was always thought it was heartburn. Well lots f horrible tests later they have found its just hyper sensitive. It's gotten so bad over the years and the only help is strict diet control. All the meds that would help make it worse and al the meds for other things I have tried over the last 5 years make it worse. The worse it gets the higher my blood pressure goes and it causes all kinds f wacky pains in my upper body u=it causes a lot of stress on its own and the super strict diet takes a huge toll on my energy and metal energy to control. Even liquid fats set it off and even wearing a mask.
I am finally talking to a pain management phycologist to help learn ton control and deal with it since I cant take anything to help it.
I found one woman on Facebook with the same problem that ran on the female side of her family mine ran on the male.
Carbs dont even give me energy either when I could still somewhat eat them I tested it many times. I only get energy of I ate more protein. Plus they make me gain weight like crazy even with les calories. I have a good GP doc who has listened to me and helped me as much as she can. But this is such an odd and rare thing and no one has a clue what to do. And medicine in the US is not exactly the greatest thing. I tired a higher end medical group one year and I could not get one doctor to believe me so I went back to the great doc I have after a year of wasted money.
I all always low on energy and never feel energetic anymore. Its been years since I felt that though for a bit it was better how its dropping down again.

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

I have went through the docs no one really has a clue. But my esophagus has hurt all my life and it was always thought it was heartburn. Well lots f horrible tests later they have found its just hyper sensitive. It's gotten so bad over the years and the only help is strict diet control. All the meds that would help make it worse and al the meds for other things I have tried over the last 5 years make it worse. The worse it gets the higher my blood pressure goes and it causes all kinds f wacky pains in my upper body u=it causes a lot of stress on its own and the super strict diet takes a huge toll on my energy and metal energy to control. Even liquid fats set it off and even wearing a mask.
I am finally talking to a pain management phycologist to help learn ton control and deal with it since I cant take anything to help it.
I found one woman on Facebook with the same problem that ran on the female side of her family mine ran on the male.
Carbs dont even give me energy either when I could still somewhat eat them I tested it many times. I only get energy of I ate more protein. Plus they make me gain weight like crazy even with les calories. I have a good GP doc who has listened to me and helped me as much as she can. But this is such an odd and rare thing and no one has a clue what to do. And medicine in the US is not exactly the greatest thing. I tired a higher end medical group one year and I could not get one doctor to believe me so I went back to the great doc I have after a year of wasted money.
I all always low on energy and never feel energetic anymore. Its been years since I felt that though for a bit it was better how its dropping down again.

And with all that, you ride all those miles? Amazing!

 

[Art Deco]

And with all that, you ride all those miles? Amazing!

all those miles ... lots of 'em on a tandem with a mostly blind wife. Way beyond amazing I say.

 

[fooferdoggie]

And with all that, you ride all those miles? Amazing!

he thing is all my life I have walked tons no choice really since I don't drive I had to walk and ride the bus Apple Watch said I did over 5 miles a day. so cycling was not a huge change. but believe me my legs would often feel tired and I have to crank the assist up. Years ago when this was at its worst I rode a regular bike my lungs were so tight it was hard to breathe for the first half of the ride till my lung relaxed. it was so hard to peddle back then. as I controlled what I ate it got better till I thought I could eat cabs again then it got a lot worse.
then I started riding again 4 years ago I could not put any effort into it. I had to crank up the assist to max and keep my heart rate low or I was so weak after riding. back then my energy was so low even walking 5 stairs had my legs feeling tired. yes I can ride a lot but my heart rate is lower overall. if I have to rake leaves I am tired in a few minutes. almost anything that takes much effort tired me out fast but cycling. It maybe that work has been so much easier the last couple of years that I am not working enough to build up my energy but I don't now for sure.
But I know carbs dont give me any energy and ow they tire me out. It all comes from protein. I need a certain amount of fat but adding more does not give me more energy. I can only tell how food fuels me when I am feeling good. The nI am tired no amount of eating helps.

 

[fooferdoggie]

I think riding overall takes less effort than walking. well with a e bike. I ride almost everywhere it feels like so much work walking now. walking up the hill I have walked up for 30 years even when so sick seems harder now then riding up it.

 

[Rexlion]

 

[gromike]

That sucks, but you're still doing the miles.
Old age is finally getting me. I suppose the new mantra is to do what you can do. Sometimes they never cure you, and you walk the road that you're on.

 

[fooferdoggie]

Within part of it is I have not been working that hard at work since the pandemic. so thats a lot less activity for me and riding is about the only real activity I do now.

 

[Art Deco]

I don't know what the deal is with @fooferdoggie with mileage.
I ride my bike to work 20 miles back and forth on a sunny day. Rainy days I get in my Toyota.
I log in 2000 plus miles a year on my bike.

He doesn't drive. At all.

 

[fooferdoggie]

He doesn't drive. At all.

hell I would never trust myself anyway. my ADHD (getting evaluated on that now) just keeping focused while riding is hard enough. could not imagine at speed. plus driving makes you lazy. my daughter walked everywhere with us she could outtalk anyone at school as soon as she got car she started gaining weight.

 

[Rome]

I'm the slacker. Since a new 5 mile stretch bikeway destined to my work shop along side the Historic Railway. I've been using throttle too much.
Where a year ago was all dirt and mud.
Now it's all asphalted now.
I know it's repeated photos. I observed this in the making. I'm planning on putting super moto tires on my bike.
It's short cut to work. It kind of took the thrill from riding my Da Ridiculous Bike.
I'm not accustomed to riding on street tires.