Road Cycling - Recovery Ride, or Rest Day??

I am wondering which would be better for me.

I have been slowly building base milage to ensure I dont injure myself. Well, yesterday, I went riding with a good buddy of mine, and one thing led to another, and I was 15 miles from home, after riding 26 miles. In the end, my long ride of the season made a jump from 29 miles to 41 miles. The legs actually felt great coming home, I was a little tired, but the ride was done at a pretty moderate pace, so I didnt kill myself ;).

Well, after feeling great last night, this morning, my legs are HATING me. All kinds of sore and tired. An hour after waking up, they are feeling quite a bit better, but I can tell they are not "normal." So the question is this:

Would today be a better day for a recovery ride (10-15 miles of nice low, 100bpm riding), or should I be taking the day off to let my legs recover that way??

-BlueDevil

Hard to say. Age plays a part in the decision as does general fitness level.

It appears that your weekly mileage is fairly low based on your long ride of 41 miles. I'd say rest a day. No sense risking an overuse injury that'll keep you off the bike for awhile.

I am not doing massive milage yet, but am getting in a few.. Last week I had 125 miles over 6 days of riding.. When I go out, I like to ride for at least an hour+ (typically 17-18 miles minimum). I am trying to lose about 15-20 lbs, so I am spending this month doing more time, at a slower pace, so I am burning fat (to hopefully drop 5-10 lbs this month, at which point I'll start increasing my biking fitness next month). And I am a young'n at 24.. but no, I do not want to risk an overuse injury.. though I wonder if a little spinning might get my legs feeling a little better..

decisions decisions...

I have always been told that active recovery is better. I'd put it in a low gear and spin easily for the 10-15 vs. a day off! Especially after your "Hardest" ride to date.

I rode about 28 miles last night, my normal distance. The difference was my buddy got a new cyclocomputer (never had one) and he was trying to maintain a 21-22 mph pace. We usually click off about 19-20, so I was quite whooped. Not to mention the 5 mile stretch with a tailwind where we kicked it up to 28-29 for the 5. That really got me!

I went home took a HOT bath and stretched. Today, I'll just do a quick spin on my mountain bike to help move out the lactic acid.

L8R

This worked for me:

M,T,W,TH, - 40 to 50 daily. Hills, sprints, the usual.
Friday - easy fairly flat 25 alone
Saturday - race
Sunday - day off.

the problem with "active recovery" is that, once you're on your bike, you absolutely have to have the discipline to keep your hr below 60%, and that's quite difficult. there's always the temptation of going faster, or attacking a hill. if you can't keep yourself reined-in, then it's best to rest.

I would have to agree with all of the above. Sometimes a rest day is needed sometimes recovery but I would lean more towards active recovery. After a race or century take a rest but during weekday workouts active recover is probably betterI use my commute to work effectivly. For example yesterday I did a 40 mile ride with intervals. This morning is a 5 mile commute which keeps me in check like velecipedio was saying. iow I don't want to ride hard on my commute so its a good recovery. Then 5 mile ride home is a good warm up for another ride after work. I don't know if commuting is an option for you but if so just letting you know how it works for me. btw if you choose to rest streching is a good way to aid in recovery

Recovery is such a personal thing. For me, recovery rides really seem to help loosen me up. Here are a few things I do post ride to aid in recovery

1. replace fluids. i bottle accellerade, tons of water
2. carbs and protien right after a ride (within 20 min).
3. Hot bath followed by stretching
4. Recovery ride the following day. single speed around the park checking out he babes. <- might elevate heart rate over 60% :)

One thing about active recovery. Beginners are usually better off resting totally, while the more experienced rider should do some active recovery. Read this somewhere, I believe on xtri.com but I can't find the article.

the problem with "active recovery" is that, once you're on your bike, you absolutely have to have the discipline to keep your hr below 60%, and that's quite difficult. there's always the temptation of going faster, or attacking a hill. if you can't keep yourself reined-in, then it's best to rest.
Thats exactly my problem, I can't control my HR, its like my body is a fixed speed machine and my
riding speed is changed only due to a change in the terrain or the wind.

I did just about the same thing - longest ride this season was 25 and fairly flat, and then I did a 40 mile ride with some decent hills. I took the next day off - my legs told me to do so in no uncertain terms. A few weeks from now when I have my legs back, I'd probably hop back on the bike the next day.

It's all fun.

I find that I do much better going out and riding the day after beating myself up on the bike then not riding. I think the blood flow through the injured tissues must accelerate the healing.

I rode 180 miles this one day and reasonably fast too. The next day, my legs felt it. But I went out and did 35 miles in the afternoon and avoided pushing at all. During the ride, my legs sort of "loosened" up and all the pain and stiffness went away. I have experienced this sort of thing many times.

Of course, as has been mentioned by other posters, "recovery rides" only work if you can refrain from pounding your legs. If you are one of those ardent "no pain, no gain" people, you are better off sitting on the couch for the day. Your legs do need to heal.

Thanks for the advice everyone..

Turns out I didnt have much of a choice- a piece of lab equipment broke, and I am the only one who knows how to fix this particular piece.. so I was stuck in the lab until it was dark out.. oh well.. my legs feel 100% better now, so I'll be putting in some nice miles today!! :)