Fifty Plus (50+) - Advice after 70 mile ride

When do I take my recovery ride if I rode yesterday? Do I take a one day break?

TIA

If you are going to do a "recovery ride" do it today. That assumes your butt is not too sore to sit on the bike. I rode hard yesterday and I am taking today as a bike rest day and going to the gym for weights, stretching and etc. I will have a hard cycling day on Tuesday.

It depends on how you feel and what kind of shape you are in. I find that an easy ride after a hard day actually makes my legs feel considerably better. It might be the warm up and the increased blood flow that improves healing from whatever little pulls and micro tears I got the day before.

How do you feel today? Did you ride the 70 miles very hard? It could have been a nice easy ride or an epic event. If you are sore and drained then an easy ride could help. If you feel good and plan to ride hard again in the next day of so then staying off the bike could be better. If you are not used to long rides the most imortant thing to do is rest properly. It would be better to error on the side of caution than to push yourself only to suffer some kind of overuse injury.

It was a hard ride with heat index in the 100's. I actually feel pretty good. I thought I would rest today (its going to be above 100 today), do 15 miles or so on Tuesday and then a 30-40 on Wed. Just want to make sure I do this right.

If you are going to do a "recovery ride" do it today. That assumes your butt is not too sore to sit on the bike. I rode hard yesterday and I am taking today as a bike rest day and going to the gym for weights, stretching and etc. I will have a hard cycling day on Tuesday.

Agreed - a recovery ride is typically the day after. Either do a light relaxing ride today or stay off the bike. After yesterdays climbing day my riding today is a simple commute on the bike - no pushing - just taking it real easy. I doubt I went over 13mph on my way into work - my ride home is mostly downhill so that won't be anything either. As with Hermes - tomorrow I will hammer hard - a 17 mile ride at 5:45AM with two steep but short hills to sprint. I will get my HR close to max on the hills and run close to 90% after warmup and before cool down.

How far should a recovery ride be? I did a fairly hard (for me) 52 mile ride today and plan to have a gentle ride tomorrow to soften any tightening muscles etc. Would about 15 miles be the right sort of distance (on a mostly flat route)?

It depends on several things. I have ridden 30-35 mile recovery rides at a moderate rate (16-17 mph) the day after a century when I averaged 16+ mph for the century. It was probably a bit higher than I thought for a recovery ride, but after the first couple of miles the pace felt good.

How much have you been riding? That will be a factor.

It depends on several things. I have ridden 30-35 mile recovery rides at a moderate rate (16-17 mph) the day after a century when I averaged 16+ mph for the century. It was probably a bit higher than I thought for a recovery ride, but after the first couple of miles the pace felt good.

How much have you been riding? That will be a factor.

Last week including the 70 yesterday around 160 miles.

How far should a recovery ride be? I did a fairly hard (for me) 52 mile ride today and plan to have a gentle ride tomorrow to soften any tightening muscles etc. Would about 15 miles be the right sort of distance (on a mostly flat route)?

15 miles would be OK. It is more important to keep your heart rate down in zone 2 and have as high of a cadence as comfortable. As the ride progresses, and you start to feel great, resist the temptation to pick up the pace. last week I did a 52 mile ride that inlcuded some hill repeats and sprinting intervals then did a 19 mile recovery ride the next day. On the recovery ride I averaged under 17 mph and only let my HR get above 136 on two fairly steep hills. I took the next day off and then had one of my best group rides of the season by keeping up with and pushing the young bucks.

Last week including the 70 yesterday around 160 miles.

160 is a decent week. Start out to ride 15 or 20 at a moderate rate. If you are feeling good, add on 5 or 10 more miles.

Last week including the 70 yesterday around 160 miles.

Too late- you should have done it on Saturday.

The milage you are doing means that if you do a 70- it will not bother you.

But- Feeling stiff today- Aching joints- No energy- and feeling hungry? Fuel up and rehydrate today and do a gentle 10 miler. One gear lower than you would normally be in and lower the cadence abit. The legs just have to turn to get some movement back into them and the lungs just need to know they are working.

I can normally manage this for about two miles on the recovery rides and then it goes haywire. A rider comes past me- or I see a rider cresting the next hill and S*d the recovery ride- lets have a bit of fun.

My advice would be to take a nap.

Depending on age, taking a nap or even several naps is a good thing. Even the pro riders take naps.

Pie?

15 miles would be OK. It is more important to keep your heart rate down in zone 2 and have as high of a cadence as comfortable. As the ride progresses, and you start to feel great, resist the temptation to pick up the pace.
Thanks for the reply.
That's the hard bit I'll be going along quite steadily then a glance at the bike computer and good intentions go out the window.

When do I take my recovery ride if I rode yesterday? Do I take a one day break?

TIA

Thursday 81 Hot Miles 110* heat index.
Friday 83 Hot Miles Recovery Ride heat index 111*
Rode slowly
Saturday Felt Great.

Here is an article from the Pez tool box. http://www.pezcyclingnews.com/default.asp?pg=fullstory&id=4798

For me an active recovery ride is at a heart rate below 120 or zone 1. In general, I cannot accomplish that on the road because of the hills / wind so if I think I need active recovery, it is on the trainer.:)