Recovery Rides

Barbarossa

Note to self: a recovery ride means riding round gently, spinning easily and looking at the scenery. It doesn't mean racing peopleup every climb!

BUT you can't let mountain bikers beat you, can you?

jgsi

Nope, thats why I try to do mine on the turbo and watch some youtube tour magic on the telly, but even that gets iffy.. you can't let a Schleck beat you up on a mountain either can you?

richa

I am interested in what is the point of a recovery ride? Say I ride hard on Sat & Sun. How does a recovery ride Mon pm help my recovery? Why is a gentle ride better than rest?

Thanks.

Herbsman

RichA wrote:

I am interested in what is the point of a recovery ride? Say I ride hard on Sat & Sun. How does a recovery ride Mon pm help my recovery? Why is a gentle ride better than rest?

Thanks.

Increases blood flow to the legs.

Increased blood flow ---> increased delivery of stuff that makes recovery happen.

smidsy

Barbarossa wrote:

BUT you can't let mountain bikers beat you, can you?

Depends if your on a Mountain I suppose :P

I have to confess that even as a new rider (Jan this year) I find it hard to resist catching people up ahead who amazingly somehow appear slower than me.

As for hills - well I just spin and hope.

amaferanga

If you're really that insecure that you can't ride without trying to prove to everyone that you're faster than them, then why not do recovery rides on a mtb or in baggy shorts? That way no-one will expect you to be fast.

Tom Dean

A recovery ride does not include climbs.

amaferanga

Tom Dean wrote:

A recovery ride does not include climbs.

Why not? If you can climb them at recovery level power then there's no problem. Hard to do a ride without any climbs around here.

Tom Dean

I always worked on the assumption that you're supposed to keep a decent cadence. I don't have low enough gears to keep cadence up and power down on anything I would class as a climb.

Tom Dean

If anyone can link to any research on recovery rides on rest days, I would be interested to read.

Mike67

amaferanga wrote:

Tom Dean wrote:

A recovery ride does not include climbs.

Why not? If you can climb them at recovery level power then there's no problem. Hard to do a ride without any climbs around here.

^Ditto

I live up a hill and am surrounded by the blasted things so can't avoid 'em ...unless I go out somewhere in the car but that's a faff.

Saying that I do find it very hard not to push it when out on a supposed recovery ride...Strava has a lot to answer for

Tom Dean

Blimey if you can't help chasing strava times you're definitely better off staying on the sofa! I mean, that's like racing, right?

colinsmith123

My recovery rides used to be my hardest rides of the week. Keeping in the 1-2 Rated Perceived Effort was not easy. You can't let an MTB'r pass, can you? And for goodness sake, my commute would take a whole 10 minutes longer than riding anywhere from 3-10 RPE.

Seriously though, a few week's ago my training changed to peak conditioning and during my interval efforts I am now giving it 100%,I've found that I can only ride the next day at recovery pace as I am that knackered. Next day, my body is back to normal, ready for its next damn thrashing, which it's going to get later.

During the previous training phase the efforts were very similar, still 100% but left me with a different kind of knackered. I don't know the science behind that and I've banned myself from research and data, it was becoming a major distraction to my training.

so back to the question, is there any scientific evidence of the benefit over recovery rides over rest days? Yes. Around £16.50 per day saved on fares to work.

cyco2

http://www.coopersofstortford.co.uk/src ... fAodrxCGXw

Because I bought this for a friend with arthritis in the ankles I thought I'd try it after an interval session and I found it beneficial. The one I have is electric and can go up to a cadence of 90rpm. I think the problem with 'recovery rides' is the temptation to over do it which can set you back rather than recover. A granny ring for the hills is a good idea.

CYCLESPORT1

Tom Dean wrote:

A recovery ride does not include climbs.

Unless you live in a valley

Herbsman

cyco2 wrote:

http://www.coopersofstortford.co.uk/src/gbase/coopers-of-stortford-mini-walker-prodst08791i/?gclid=CJX09M_CnbACFU4lfAodrxCGXw

We cannot find this article.

shockedsoshocked

Herbsman wrote:

RichA wrote:

I am interested in what is the point of a recovery ride? Say I ride hard on Sat & Sun. How does a recovery ride Mon pm help my recovery? Why is a gentle ride better than rest?

Thanks.

Increases blood flow to the legs.

Increased blood flow ---> increased delivery of stuff that makes recovery happen.

You also get the hormonal response from exercise (testosterone etc) for muscle recovery but you haven't done anything to fatigue yourself.

Tom Dean

amaferanga wrote:

Hard to do a ride without any climbs around here.

Mike67 wrote:

can't avoid 'em

CYCLESPORT1 wrote:

Unless you live in a valley

You don't have to ride.

cyco2

Herbsman wrote:

cyco2 wrote:

http://www.coopersofstortford.co.uk/src/gbase/coopers-of-stortford-mini-walker-prodst08791i/?gclid=CJX09M_CnbACFU4lfAodrxCGXw

We cannot find this article.[/quote

Just google 'mini walker' then. That's all I did. I was so lucky to get this one. A wet day instead of riding into Oxford I went on the bus a found it for £10 in a charity shop. They would be really good for people who have problems walking and need to increase the blood circulating in the legs. Or like my friend who has arthritis. She is delighted with the effect if gives.

SBezza

Some riders may find that with a complete day off the bike when they next train they feel like crap, a recovery ride can help with this. Some rider might benefit from time off the bike however, I think it all depends on how you personally react, and the sort of training you have been doing.

As to doing a recovery ride and then racing people (or Strava segments), you are obviously not training hard enough to warrant a recovery ride LOL. If training very hard, they can be a very pleasant hour pottering around the countryside, especially if the weather is nice. There are certainly days when I couldn't be arsed if a pensioner came passed me at 10 mph.

d4evr

Well after a hard (for me anyway) 40 miles today, I am looking forward to an hours recovery ride tomorrow after the school run. I do feel it helps and it beats doing nothing IMO. If anyone does overtake me, I will just make mental note of who they are and try and blow them away another day!!

amaferanga

Tom Dean wrote:

amaferanga wrote:

Hard to do a ride without any climbs around here.

Mike67 wrote:

can't avoid 'em

CYCLESPORT1 wrote:

Unless you live in a valley

You don't have to ride.

No, but a ride with a few hills can still be a recovery ride.

d4evr

Recovery ride done and not one person passed me, probably due to the fact that it is p!ssing down and everyone else is indoors, at work or on the turbo! I'd sooner be out in the (really) fresh air though!!