So this 'recovery ride' malarky

[Dave7]

I am not in your league..........plus I am an old fart of 68.
Normally if I do a 40 or 50 miler I need at least 3 days off (partly for my sore sit bones to recover). However last Friday I did a 35 miler and next morning for some reason felt the "need" to do a short 10 mile "sprint"..........(sprint for me was 40 minutes ).
I felt so good that I WAS going to do another 10 the 3rd day but my bum wasn't having any of that.
I then played a full 18 holes on Monday and again on Tuesday.
Today, as its raining I got on the excercise bike but my legs were like lead.........I just did 15 minutes.
Playing 18 holes in a competition tomorrow and planning a 40 mile ride on Friday.
I'm working on the assumption that at 68---if I keep this up--I just won't have time to die

 

[Deleted member 1258]

In all the years I've been cycling I don't think I've managed a recovery ride, I've started recovery rides full of good intentions but those intentions have never lasted long.

 

[jack smith]

I always get out when the legs are sore from running or cycling i find it stops them being sore and loosens them up. Pretty much any sort of riding does it forme not just slow pace stopping at every cafe

 

[PeteXXX]

I don't know if it is necessarily a 'must' to do a recovery ride after a long'un, but I do like to get a few miles in on the following day. Sometimes it isn't so much to stretch the legs as to fend off the mojo effect!
Once a long planned ride is over, I occasionally need to make more of an effort to get out there and pedal.

 

[PhilDawson8270]

A "recovery ride" to me, is just wanting to get out on the bike on a rest day.

So a slow steady, no strain, little effort, rest. But some time out on the bike.

 

[HLaB]

I've found for me a gentle ride every so often seems to keep me injury free. Its maybe just a coincidence but I won't be changing my routine ;-)

 

[nickyboy]

Being the good chap I am, I've found this old thread rather than starting a new one

I did back to back centuries last weekend. Despite doing a fair bit of cycling generally, my thighs are sore today. I'm also knackered and hungry which discourages me from doing a "recovery ride" in any case. Not that I've ever done one before. It feels counter-intuitive. Shagged out and sore = feet up eating cake

Or is there actually some real, non-anecdotal science behind recovery rides?

 

[400bhp]

Or is there actually some real, non-anecdotal science behind recovery rides?

From what I've been reading and following recently, in reality a recovery ride is not what you might think it is. I assumed it was literally going as slow as possible but it's more classed as somewhere around "endurance".

Utterly pointless really unless you're "training" for something & that means generally training to get faster.

 

[Racing roadkill]

The physiology behind this, isn't that difficult. When you complete a multi hour 'endurance ride', you will probably have gone through most, if not all the phases. To begin with, your body will be using up the 'low hanging fruit' (stored glycogen) from your liver and muscles. This is easily motabolised, and really doesn't require any special enzymes to be produced in order to release the energy. However, after a couple of hours, you will have exhausted the stored glycogen reserves. This is what's technically referred to as your 'Lactate threshold'. When you reach this point, the body has to produce lactic acid, in order to metabolise stored fat, to keep the energy supply coming. This is much harder work, and you almost certainly won't be able to supply as much energy, as you need, at the required rate, unless you back the effort right off. At this point, the body will go to Ketone production, in order to keep you alive, and supply fuel to the brain, quickly enough, to stop you from packing up. When you stop, the muscles will have excess lactic acid, which will hurt, if you don't do something to help break it down, and ship it out. This is where the 'recovery ride' comes in. A low intensity ride, is a great way, to shift any undesirable metabolites, produced during the previous intensive exercise phase.

 

[tommaguzzi]

And there was me thinking "i'm on a recovery ride" was just an excuse for going slowly.

 

[Tenacious Sloth]

For combat duty, the RAF polish their jet fighters because they move faster through the air.

I think in my 25 years as an RAF Aircraft Technician, a jet fighter is about the only item I never had to polish.

And there was me thinking "i'm on a recovery ride" was just an excuse for going slowly.

Quite. Reduces the embarrassment factor of posting a slow ride on Strava.

Graham

 

[adamangler]

it might be a personal thing but ive found recovery rides to be a rubbish concept.
If my legs a sore form a ride then going out again is going to make them worse, unless i cycled slowly enough to put no pressure on the pedals, but a 5mph bike ride sounds boring as hell to me id rather watch eastenders

 

[400bhp]

it might be a personal thing but ive found recovery rides to be a rubbish concept.

Yes it's just you.

 

[adamangler]

Yes it's just you.

Which is fine as it means I don't have to do a recovery ride which I don't enjoy or doesn't help me recover.

 

[Brightski]

Different people need different things..
I train/race Sat - Sun - Tue - Thur but ride everyday