mid-ride recovery - freewheel, rest or keep the legs spinning?
- Thread starter dawn72
- Start date
Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.
Citius
Guest
Tired legs (ie fatigue) after a long ride is normal. Everyone has that. Unless you are resting for several hours during the ride, then you won't recover in the way that you are hoping. Just aim to ride distances which you can complete.
If you mean lactate build up, then some easy pedalling or freewheeling for a few minutes will be enough to clear it. But that won't help with overall muscle fatigue unfortunately.
If you mean lactate build up, then some easy pedalling or freewheeling for a few minutes will be enough to clear it. But that won't help with overall muscle fatigue unfortunately.
byegad
Legendary Member
- Location
- NE England
A stop at a Tea shop for a large pot of tea and piece of cake is the best remedy.
MontyVeda
a short-tempered ill-controlled small-minded troll
- Location
- Lancaster... the little city.
pint and pub lunch for me 
xxDarkRiderxx
Veteran
- Location
- London, UK
Keep you legs spinning with very low or easy resistance. Allow the blood flow to replenish the muscles, Then tea coffee pint and lunch or whatever takes your fancy.
Citius
Guest
Keep you legs spinning with very low or easy resistance. Allow the blood flow to replenish the muscles, Then tea coffee pint and lunch or whatever takes your fancy.
Can you explain how blood flow will 'replenish' muscles?
OP
OP
dawn72
Well-Known Member
I'm fine about having tired legs afterwards it's more about how to make sure I can cope with the fatigue during the ride itself. I live at the top of a really steep hill and normally stick my bike in my husband's van so that I can start and finish on a relatively flat surface but he had take it to work yesterday. According to endomondo, I had a total ascent of almost 2400 feet, most of which would be in my final mile or so. The muscle tiredness had set in before that and I'm just wondering what would have been the best way for some recovery part way through. I had a 10 minute break at the halfway point for a bite to eat
Citius
Guest
If it is actually fatigue, then you won't recover from it during the ride. If, on the other hand, your energy levels are dropping, then some kind of food or drink taken in during the ride will help. The key to distance is to extend your rides a little week by week (depending on how often you ride), so that actual fatigue never really becomes a serious issue.
derrick
The Glue that binds us together.
- Location
- On the edge of London
I normaly just take it a bit easy, keep legs spinning, it works for me.Drink and eat plenty on any long ride.
xxDarkRiderxx
Veteran
- Location
- London, UK
If you spin at very low resistance (easy cycling) your heart and lungs will be able to supply good oxygenated blood to tired muscles. When your training at high intensity and high resistence your actually damaging your muscles. Nutrition and resting will repair the damage and make the muscles stronger. You can aid this process if you spin with low resistance for 10-15 minutes during a ride or at the end of the ride. This is probably why pro cyclists spin even going down hills.
Citius
Guest
Fatigue (decline in a muscle's ability to generate force) as opposed to energy depletion.
Citius
Guest
But that will not be enough to enable a fatigued muscle to recover during a ride. Rest is pretty much the only solution for that.
AyJay
Über Member
- Location
- Suffolk Coast
Yup, this works me also. Sometimes when you stop it is harder to get going again.I normaly just take it a bit easy, keep legs spinning, it works for me.Drink and eat plenty on any long ride.
