Post-ride blues - anyone else?

Interesting question.

I do get the Monday blues a bit after a big ride or weekend of riding (strangely similar to my clubbing days), but I'd assumed it was a physical thing. Could be an emotional aspect to it though.

Kind of. I tend to push fairly hard when I go out so am often exhausted when I finish a ride. I have noticed the next day that I can often feel pretty flat. I figure that pushing hard does something to my brain chemistry. But I don't have any underlying issues and it only lasts for a day so I just take it as the price I pay for a good hard session. I have noticed that it doesn't happen if I do something less strenuous though (e.g. a hike rather than a bike or run).

Hope that's some help.

In my experience, 'The higher the High the lower the Low'.
I'm usually buzzing after a good ride, but as I do it regularly I guess I'm used to the absence of that come Monday morning, when it's back to normality.
Conversely if I go away for a bike trip and have an amazing time, the return to work feels crushing, probably as it's out of the ordinary, and it's such a contrast from the high to low.

Greater the effort and high, the greater the lull after IME. I suffer from this, it's like post holiday blues mixed with post exercise fatigue. Best thing to do is go for a recovery ride/walk/swim the day after. Helps your body recover and gets everything pumping. Another thing to remember is to eat proper nutritious food and drink plenty of water after strenuous exercise. I think we can sometimes reward ourselves with crap food post exercise which is the opposite of what your body needs to recover.

Glad you're back on the bike, keep it up and hopefully the post ride blues will fade away as your fitness returns.

"Consistently overworking your body with too many very high-intensity workouts can lead to post-workout depression, anxiety or mood swings. A sustainable training plan will have cycles to it, with some high- and low-intensity work"

Sounds about right.

https://www.austinfitmagazine.com/why-does-post-workout-depression-happen/#:~:text=What%20Can%20Cause%20Post%2DWorkout%20Depression%3F&text=Consistently%20overworking%20your%20body%20with,%2D%20and%20low%2Dintensity%20work.

Yip, pretty much after every ride I get a big drop in mood. I often feel okay (but not great) on the ride itself. But I know why I feel like I do and it's not from doing too much physically.

Thanks all - appreciate the replies.

Try doing a season in Whistler then going back to live in Sunderland. That nearly ended me.

These days work really bums me out but I've got lots of 'it could be worse' life experience to keep myself in check. Now that I've started riding again after a really long break I really struggle with the monotony for the first half of the week, then day dream about riding for the second half.

It's definitely not the first thread about feeling a bit flat this time of year. Just to try to get out there as much as you can right now as spring will come around in no time. And you'll want to be in the best shape you can be to capitalise on the lighter evenings and warmer weather. (I know we are officially in spring but it certainly doesn't look or feel like it)

Was at BPW with a great group of chaps on sunday. Had a blast. Monday morning, back at work.... what a load of shite.

I guess i get the blues a little, but i look forward to the next ride/session, which takes the edge off.

I have noticed that not cycling to work makes me have the proper blues. I start worrying about losing fitness, putting on weight, plus the mental health benefits i miss out on. Thankfully back at it today after not doing it for over a week. Feel much better for it.

It might not be all post-ride blues, at least down here spring doesn't feel like it has properly sprung and we're in mid March now, feeling quite chilly outdoors this morning and very grey again.

It’s definitely not the first thread about feeling a bit flat this time of year.

Nothing to do with time of year IME.

More likely to get this in summer when I've done a big weekend, or full week, of riding.

@chakaping but is it exacerbated by the lack of sun, lack of warm and the grey skies associated with the early part of the year? I think so.

Winter definitely kills me. Every year I wonder how I'm going to make it. We're about 9 months in now, about 3 months to go. It might be warm and bright for a bit then straight back into the murk. I hate it.

@dirkpitt74

I get this a lot when I am on the way home from skydiving; the drive back (usually on my own) is an hour and is far too long to spend with my own thoughts when I have a bunch of brain chemicals draining out of my body. Mondays are very hard when the season is on as work is just really inconsequential compared to the weekend. The theory is that time in the air is real and it is work/home that is not, but it's more that you are so focused and free when jumping that the daily garbage just never registers until you have to go back to it.

The only thing I can suggest is that it does pass, it just takes a bit of time. If the weather is nice, maybe another short ride could help top up the feeling of nice-ness until the weekend comes. Get some sun, get some air? Do you have a pump track near you? That might be fun to hit for 30 minutes at lunchtime.

@chakaping but is it exacerbated by the lack of sun, lack of warm and the grey skies associated with the early part of the year? I think so.

We all have different feelings and experiences, and I'm sure it probably does interact with SAD-type symptoms for many. But for me, what the OP describes is a distinct thing.

Hope this isn't a distraction from the helpful discussion though.

I have this problem every time I cross the border from Scotland back into England. Which normally coincides with a Sunday into Monday.

Life in general does this to me, I find myself longing to be heading out into the wilderness out on my bike. Especially when I'm having a tough day at work and the weather outside is good.

Get it after a weekend away riding but not after a "normal" weekend of local riding.

Not getting good sleep after exertion can be a factor too, I bet - points made above about nutrition and hydration for recovery contribute to that. Lot of hydration/post ride supplements claim to help. I used red wine which is probably very bad

I usually get this in the way home after a ride. I should have gone further, I should have gone harder, I shouldn't have taken the easier option, all these thoughts get me down however much I enjoyed the actual ride.
Oddly enough it doesn't bother me as much when I ride with others, just when on my own

I've suffered from this a lot. Not going too big or too hard is key, and fuelling both before and after. If any of that doesn't happen, just be prepared for it and keep your head down till it passes. I used to find Mondays and Tuesdays a real struggle at work after a big weekend riding, especially amplified if booze was in there as well.

I try to treat my 1hour Monday morning commute as a recovery ride. Then I'm at work and worky stuff keeps me preoccupied.

As I've got older (early 50s) booze = poor quality sleep = crappy mood the next day so I've massively cut back in the last couple of years with really a noticable improvement of mindset the next day.

Vit D supplements also help, as does planning the next ride.

My solution to this is to always ride on a Monday morning. Either the off-road 1.10 gravel commute or a 2 hour singletrack ride. I no longer get the Sunday blues as a result because I’m looking forward to it.

Sounds like having to work for a living needs to be abolished so people can be happier all the time

Sounds like having to work for a living needs to be abolished so people can be happier all the time

Steady on, I reckon a three-day week / five-day weekend might be more realistic.

Sounds like having to work for a living needs to be abolished so people can be happier all the time

I fully endorse this strategy and enthusiastically await its implementation.

Mostly after racing.... yeah !!!!

😀 🙁