Went to bed exhausted following ride I'd taken (7)
I believe the answer is:
retired
'went to bed' is the definition.
('retire' can be a synonym of 'go to bed')
'exhausted following ride i'd taken' is the wordplay.
'exhausted' becomes 'tired' ('tire' can be a synonym of 'exhaust'**).
'following' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'taken' is a deletion indicator.
'ride' with 'id' removed is 're'.
'tired' after 're' is 'RETIRED'.
(Other definitions for retired that I've seen before include "Finished work" , "No longer working" , "out of office?" , "Gone to bed" , "Stopped work - went to bed" .)