"The 33"-Road Bike Racing - How soon is too soon for a recovery ride?

If my understanding is correct, the point of a recovery ride is to get your blood circulating through your legs to help flush some of the lactic acid buildup.

If that's the case, then couldn't you start a recovery ride shortly after your training ride? Or would it have different effects if you waited a day?

... this oughta be good ...

I haven't ever seen any real evidence in support of "recovery rides" ... maybe I've just missed it.

I haven't ever seen any real evidence in support of "recovery rides" ... maybe I've just missed it.

I have, and will look for the link. The study compared 2 hours of peddling at something like 90 watts, to applications of cold, and to cold compresses. This was done in between TT efforts. Those doing the recovery spins actually improved for the second TT effort - everyone else showed reduced power.

Joe Friel discusses it in his blog - that's where I saw it. Couldn't find the complete study.

http://www.joefrielsblog.com/2011/05/short-term-recovery.html

I spin my legs out after a race or hard intervals. If I do a "recovery ride" the next day, it is at high cadence and low power with the goal of improving cadence.

I have, and will look for the link. The study compared 2 hours of peddling at something like 90 watts, to applications of cold, and to cold compresses. This was done in between TT efforts. Those doing the recovery spins actually improved for the second TT effort - everyone else showed reduced power.

Friel says - in the comments: "this study does not address what is the best way to recover for tomorrow's stage/test." and "That's an interesting question that I have never seen addressed in the literature"

Friel says - in the comments: "this study does not address what is the best way to recover for tomorrow's stage/test." and "That's an interesting question that I have never seen addressed in the literature"

True, but the OP's question is "how soon is too soon", and this study would indicate it is beneficial not to wait. It certainly makes sense intuitively, not that intuition is always right, that iif easy spinning removes toxins, you'd want to do that right away.

True, but the OP's question is "how soon is too soon", and this study would indicate it is beneficial not to wait. It certainly makes sense intuitively, not that intuition is always right, that iif easy spinning removes toxins, you'd want to do that right away.

Yep, this I agree with... but normally we call this a cool-down, not a recovery ride. Just for definition purposes, don't most riders think of a recovery ride as a separate day from the main effort?

Just for definition purposes, don't most riders think of a recovery ride as a separate day from the main effort?

Or later in the same day, maybe. Good point, and I agree it isn't clear there is any benefit to it over just relaxing. I think of it as a way to get a ride in (and work on form or cadence like Hermes) without messing up recovery, and without looking lazy by sitting with my feet up. It also lets you ride with someone who otherwise wouldn't keep up with you.

I have found that if I do a recovery ride of very low power and moderate cadence the day following a hard training/race day that my legs feel better on the 3rd day.

I have also noticed that if my recovery ride isn't at least 45-60 minutes long that the "refreshing" effect is not as noticeable on the 3rd day.

Some good thoughts, and ones I was trying to work through myself. Technically speaking, I guess a cool down period is a recovery ride, though in my head I was defining recovery ride as a ride that follows a training ride with a break in between allowing enough time for your HR to return to rest, whether it be 30 minutes or 24 hours.

Ultimately the question is what is the best way to recover from your workout. I've been led to believe that a cool down followed by a recovery ride the following day is the way, although it's interesting to hear different schools of thought. Surely there are some concrete studies on this, whether for cyclists or some other sport...

For me, to do a proper "recovery" ride, I need to sleep a bit. It could be an afternoon nap but it's still sleeping. In SoCal I've done two rides, a harder one early, then some napping, then an easier one, usually with the family kids or whatever.

For recovering from workouts... depends on fitness. When I'm not fit I do better taking days off. When I'm fit I do better with easy rides. After really hard rides I feel much better when I eat protein and carbs, esp 2 days after I eat. I also crave salt when it's hot, and I've been avoiding electrolyte drinks as I seem to experience cramps when I drink electrolyte stuff. That last bit is a correlation, not necessarily causal, but every time I've had some electrolyte stuff "just in case" I've had massive twinges.

I've heard of them being done at the end of the day after a morning workout (kensuf did these a lot last winter to get in an extra hour on the bike) but I've only done this once after a race when I couldn't ride for the next few days when I got my wisdom teeth removed...of course I don't know how my legs felt the next day because I didn't ride :P.

I normally do them them the next day though for 60-90 minutes (most of the time 60).

For me, a recovery ride is a ride where you can get in additional miles without causing additional stress on the body. I usually do recovery rides the day after a hard ride as a way to spin out my legs and lightly work my aerobic system without working my legs too hard. If I do this activity at the end of a ride, I consider it a cool-down. I've never thought about doing it later the same day, though I guess if you have the time and desire, there's no harm in it (by my earlier definition).

I've never found that doing a recovery ride actually helps me recover any better than just resting, except mentally. It's always nice to log additional miles. YMMV.

I use recovery rides to makes sure I don't stiffen up. I'm so inflexible that when I take days off my legs sometimes lock up a bit and it takes a couple days before they get back to normal. I also seem to be more prone to injuries with days off. Now, I still take one full day off each week, but if for some reason I need another day off like on recovery weeks and stuff, I will just do a 30min spin under 125 watts. Not enough to cause any stress to the legs and it loosens up my mind and legs for the ride the next day.

Anyone have links to research studies? I did a bit of googling and found mostly threads and blog posts.