Recovery after a big ride for older cyclists.

[ColinJ]

190 miles last Saturday left this 62 year old a little tired the following day. I blamed the wind, the temperature, my lack of miles, but I do notice that I'm slower up hills than, say, 20 years ago.

A friend of a friend still races in his mid-70s. I'm sure that he is slower now than he was in his 30s and 40s, but he is probably still faster than I have ever been!

 

[derrick]

Chocolate milkshakes for me. But only after a couple of beers.

 

[Globalti]

Yes! Beer! It's a healthy natural drink. Not sure how good it is for muscle repair though.

 

[matiz]

I'm 61 always have a chocolate milkshake after a long ride then put my feet up for a couple of hours followed by 30 min stroll along the seafront if I skip the walk my legs struggle down the stairs next morning

 

[Joshua Plumtree]

I'm coming up to 55, so waaaay younger than some of you lot. But still ache like hell the day after a long ride, a short hard ride or a session of heavy weights everybody tells me I'm too old for.

We're all looking for solutions to the problem, but my instinct tells me there probably isn't one.

Thinks it's just a case of MTFU and get on with it. Nobody ever died from aching muscles as far as I'm aware!

 

[Drago]

Guinness! Best of both worlds.

 

[TheJDog]

Lorks, I'm only 45 and I ache the day after a long ride. Isn't that just the way of things?

 

[Citius]

Lorks, I'm only 45 and I ache the day after a long ride. Isn't that just the way of things?

Pretty much. Although the old saying goes, "the more you ride, the more you can ride", so conditioning will play a role in determining how much recovery you will need.

 

[The Jogger]

ONLY 45

Lorks, I'm only 45 and I ache the day after a long ride. Isn't that just the way of things?

 

[ColinJ]

I certainly felt pretty good today after a day off the bike to recover from my exertions on Tuesday!

PS Please stop talking about beer - I have given up, but quite fancy one! The problem is that I do not stick to one, and I am not going to risk going back to where I was less than 3 years ago. If only it were possible to make a really good alcohol-free beer!

 

[windyrider]

I take a recovery formula, as soon as I can after a long ride, follow that up with a good meal sometime later and a good nights sleep.
following day a recovery ride, which for me is an hour on a Watt bike at around 120 watts at 80rpm which takes my heart rate no higher than 110 bpm.
I find a recovery ride in the real outdoors realy difficult to keep to and end up overtraining if I'm not careful.
Seems to loosen everything up and keeps at bay any delayed muscle soreness.

 

[Venod]

I'm 63 how I feel after a long ride is very dependent on speed elevation wind strength, I find I can't cope with the wind like some of the younger riders but put it down to age, I find a rest day after a really draining ride works wonders.

 

[Deleted member 1258]

At 63 I'm doing a manual job, commuting 13 miles a day 4 days a week most weeks, and riding 50+ miles on a Sunday morning 3 Sundays out of 4. Legs can ache on a Sunday afternoon and tend to be a bit dead, how dead depends on the length and hardness of the previous days ride, on a Monday Commute and recover over the next couple of days.

 

[totallyfixed]

Milk, sometimes as a banana milkshake followed by 5 mins of stretching. The longer the ride the more important is the stretching, in particular the hamstrings which never get properly extended during cycling. Then again I am a relative youngster.

 

[swee'pea99]

Sorry, 190 miles? 190 miles? Gordon Bennet. I don't think recovery would be an issue. Burial plot maybe...