I cycled from Wimbledon to Brighton yesterday, which is the furthest I've done so far other than when I went the other way on Friday. Now I have sore legs and I'm having trouble deciding whether to ride about 28 miles today or take the bus, so from a training perspective would it be useful to ride or better to let my muscles recover? (I'm in the early stages of training for a six day ride, so I'll have to deal with some soreness then.)
Is it worth cycling with sore legs?
- Thread starter Wednesday
- Start date
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calibanzwei
Well-Known Member
- Location
- Warrington
Take a rest day (or two)... its when you rest that the muscles repair themselves and are better prepared next time (para-phrased from a post i read on here the other day 
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Fab Foodie
hanging-on in quiet desperation ...
- Location
- Kirton, Devon.
Take a rest day (or two)... its when you rest that the muscles repair themselves and are better prepared next time (para-phrased from a post i read on here the other day
This ^^^
amaferanga
Veteran
- Location
- Bolton
If you're having a rest day tomorrow then I'd ride today. You can only improve by overloading your body to an extent - no pain no gain and all that.
If I didn't ride when my legs were a bit fatigued then I wouldn't get out half as much as I do.
If I didn't ride when my legs were a bit fatigued then I wouldn't get out half as much as I do.
Angelfishsolo
A Velocipedian
- Location
- Cwmbach, South Wales
No pain no gain. OK as long as no strain!
HLaB
Marie Attoinette Fan
I sometimes find relaxed cycling with stiff legs is fine to loosen off the legs but I'm not sure about 28miles.
Chrisz
Über Member
- Location
- Sittingbourne
On your 6-day ride I assume you will be riding on consecutive days so now's as good a time as any to get used to it! So long as you don't go too hard there shouldn't be too much wrong with riding 2 on/1 off for a while mate.
GIven the day is already over so you've probably made your decision, my tuppence is worth very little now. However, I tend to leave a day between hard rides but the 'rest day' is always an easy ride, low gear for 60-90 minutes. I find it keeps the muscles supple and stops them stiffening up. Riding hard on consecutive days is something to work towards.
I did it (turned out the route I took was 16 miles, so 34 by the time I got home). My muscles felt fine once I'd warmed up and I wasn't any slower than usual (also I'd realised that it was only my left leg that was moderately sore, right only slightly, so I suppose this time I wasn't doing whatever I'd done to cause that).
I'm not totally new to cycling; I've been commuting 27 miles every Tuesday since spring until a couple of weeks ago when I started taking longer Tuesday routes and doing a bit on other days. Riding hard at any point is something to work towards at the moment though, I don't think it's in my nature.
I'm not totally new to cycling; I've been commuting 27 miles every Tuesday since spring until a couple of weeks ago when I started taking longer Tuesday routes and doing a bit on other days. Riding hard at any point is something to work towards at the moment though, I don't think it's in my nature.
Sittingduck
Legendary Member
- Location
- Somewhere flat
I did by far my longest ride ever on Sat-Sun and decided to go for a short and gentle spin on Monday, to try to prevent them stiffening. My quads felt weird on Sunday night and Monday but felt ok when I was on the recovery pootle. I think it did me some good because they were back to normal by yesterday.
