Originally Posted by
JEdward
I think one recovery day a week is a must, and you can use that to replenish calories and energy lost.
Personally I don't think rest days are necessary. My personal opinion is that if I NEED a rest day I over did pretty badly. Easy days once in a while are a different matter I do take a shorter mileage day here and there, but generally ride every day. I do take a relatively rare day off now and then to do something interesting, but not to rest. I have very rarely taken a full day off and when I did it was because I wanted to go whitewater rafting, hiking, or something.
I don't think replenishing calories or energy are really accomplished by taking days off. It is kind of like missed sleep, you make it up right away but much after that it is too late. You might put weight back on but lost energy isn't accomplished that way IMO.