Went out today on my usual 30 mile ride, which I have done countless times this year. It incorporates a lot of undulating terrain and four steep climbs of varying lengths (none of which exceed two miles, however). Am used to riding 90 miles plus per week and will quite happily do this route without pushing it v.hard in under 1 hour and 40 mins. Normally enjoy it, regardless of weather conditions, and am used to strong headwinds, pouring rain and the cold.
However, today after 20 miles, I hit the wall and totally monged out, so to speak. This has happened once before on a long, very hot ride, so I have first-hand experience of some of its delightful symptoms. Had absolutely no power or energy, felt cold and extremely tired and just wanted to get off and phone for a taxi to take me back. Ended up crawling home (not literally, but would probably have been quicker to do so) in some obscenely low gear, as could not even get up pathetic small and short inclines without feeling like I'd just completed a marathon in weighted diver's boots. To make it more embarrrassing, windspeed was a measly 6 mph (8-10 mile headwind) and the weather, although it rained moderately for about 20 mins and was a few degrees c colder than of late (10 celsius), was certainly nowhere near as cold as I've been used to (I was also wearing cold weather clothing), yet I felt freezing cold.
Really wondering why I had such a bad time of it, given that I had my usual breakfast, that I'm so used to the route, have put the miles in over the year, and'll quite comfortably do double this distance with no such side effects in far more dehydrating conditions. Recently had nearly two weeks out of the saddle due to terrible weather, but - again - this has happened before and I've come back to the bike and felt really fresh. I don't have a virus or anything, and my sleep pattern's fine. The one differing factor is that over the last three rides - all done since Saturday - I have not drunk the 750 ml of High 5 I usually take prior to going out.
So, my question is, is this [censored]-poor performance likely to be due to the lack of High 5 alone, or do colder and wetter conditions combine to really take it out of you?