breathing difficulty several hours after a strenuous ride.

[Salinwa]

I'm curious if anyone, without asthma, experiences difficulty breathing several hours after riding, like 12 to 15 hours later. I'm 48 and started riding last year. Rode a lot more regularly last year and walked a lot and never had a problem with this. This year I've not ridden or walked near as much so in that respect my lungs are not getting the workout like before. This year I rode a half century and later in the middle of the night I awoke in the wee hours having difficulty breathing. NOT fun. Didn't ride for a couple of weeks and then did 10 miles and experienced very mild difficulty about 15+ hours later while sleeping.
I'm wondering if lungs need to be worked up to exercise levels, if they're like a muscle that if overworked can cause this type of thing. Also, it's only when I'm sleeping that this happens, in that deep breathing kind of sleep. I'm asking here because two days after the half century ride I met some "serious riders" (100+ miles to the top of a mountain) about this and they knew exactly what I was talking about but I didn't get a chance to really talk to them about it.
It's the night of the ride that it happens and then it's gone. I figure I'm just not conditioned to be pushing so hard when I ride. I'd love some honest opinions about it and to know if I may be right that I just need to be working up to my hard rides rather than going all out without training properly, how that relates to the lungs. Sorry so long winded.
Thanks

 

[Kakashi]

I'm curious if anyone, without asthma, experiences difficulty breathing several hours after riding, like 12 to 15 hours later. I'm 48 and started riding last year. Rode a lot more regularly last year and walked a lot and never had a problem with this. This year I've not ridden or walked near as much so in that respect my lungs are not getting the workout like before. This year I rode a half century and later in the middle of the night I awoke in the wee hours having difficulty breathing. NOT fun. Didn't ride for a couple of weeks and then did 10 miles and experienced very mild difficulty about 15+ hours later while sleeping.
I'm wondering if lungs need to be worked up to exercise levels, if they're like a muscle that if overworked can cause this type of thing. Also, it's only when I'm sleeping that this happens, in that deep breathing kind of sleep. I'm asking here because two days after the half century ride I met some "serious riders" (100+ miles to the top of a mountain) about this and they knew exactly what I was talking about but I didn't get a chance to really talk to them about it.
It's the night of the ride that it happens and then it's gone. I figure I'm just not conditioned to be pushing so hard when I ride. I'd love some honest opinions about it and to know if I may be right that I just need to be working up to my hard rides rather than going all out without training properly, how that relates to the lungs. Sorry so long winded.
Thanks

I really haven't experienced any breathing problems after a hard ride that disappears naturally. I did experience some problems like chest pains once but it was during the ride, it was a long uphill climb and I had no practice for months, during the stretch of the climb suddenly my heart rate increased and I felt pain in my chest, I just endured it and continued but after I reached the peak and was coasting, the pain subsided and never returned afterwards.

 

[treecko142]

If it happened during sleeping, it may be a different problem relating to other factors, such as your weight family history, any sleeping problems in the past, smoking history, etc. but it really helps to warm up and ride for shorter rides after a long break rather than going at it again on a long distance ride after a hiatus.