Seattle Forrest

Are you smoking crack or something?

bakes1

Ouch
Now it's a party!

popeye

17 MPH @ 208 Watts does not sound right. Are you estimating power from something other than a PM or are your brakes dragging?

BlazingPedals

+eleventy-eleven

revchuck 

Based on his location, my guess is that it includes a bunch of climbing. For me in the flatlands, 17 mph would be 150ish.

bbattle

It's a 54cm

bmcer

Every ride is a recovery ride to me. I ride to recover from the stresses of life when I can't ride. It works, and that's no BS.

bigdo13

I mean, I dunno what gives... that's why I'm lookin for opinions....

I never really thought much of the recovery ride durations...i kind of would lose track of time a bit due to focusing on riding a bit...

I train at altitude (a lil over 6K ft above sea level) in Colorado and it does wonders for stamina... I think I noticed awhile ago that I could do 2 and 3 hour rides pretty easily.. so I started making them my recovery rides instead of my main efforts or "real training days" which are 5 or 6 hours long....

My purpose for riding is to get as proficient and fit as possible... no specific event on the calendar now... I guess I'm training for ultra endurance..

bigdo13

realllllly ?

and may i inquire what you're letting it go for? You are letting it go no?

Heathpack 

Not exactly sure what you mean by ultra endurance, if you're meaning ultra events or even exactly what you would consider ultra events. But if it helps, I work with an excellent coach and was doing some ultra-ish stuff earlier this year. By that I mean some climbing races in the 100-125 mile/10000-13000 ft climbing range and some double centuries, plus a few fast centuries that I was riding for time.

As far as my schedule goes, I just ride what I'm assigned and I sometimes get assigned a day off, sometimes a recovery ride- this week for example, I have one of each. My recovery rides are always optional, I can skip them if tired. I get assigned 1 hour rides which I must do at no more than 55% of my functional threshold power (this is the power analogue to LTHR, if you're not familiar). These usually work out to a TSS for me around 35-45. Light on the pedals, high cadence. I have no heart rate instructions but HR is usually around 100, and my LTHR is around 165. I carry a fairly high training load, usually have a CTL in the mid to upper 90s, I ride 5-6 days a week.

Recovery rides IMO are in no way BS, I like them and rarely skip one when they're on my schedule. But they are definitely counter-productive if you over-do them, which it sounds like you are.

bigdo13

bingo.... I live in one of the hilliest city's in the country and I'm at 6,000 ft altitude...

revchuck 

Okay, so it appears you weren't clear on what the accepted definition of a recovery ride is - hardly a hanging offense. Generally, it's a ride of 30-60 minutes duration in Zone 1 with occasional forays into lower Zone 2. Some folks go longer, but keep it at the same intensity. My guess is that your two-three hour rides are Zone 2 affairs where you're not pushing hard, just out riding.

My rule of thumb for recovery rides is that if you don't feel guilty for going so slow, you're not doing a recovery ride.

bigdo13

wow... so yeah, going out for just 30-60 minutes at a granny z1 effort.... okay, I am seeing most people are reacting to my recovery rides being too hard and/or too long....

Machka 

Yep ... this is where you'll go to the park and ride the MUP at not much more than a walking pace. Where you ride with really slow friends or family members. Where you take your camera and stop every 10 min to take photos.

It's just something to kind of stretch out the muscles a bit. In fact, you might include stretching in the middle of it. Cycle a casual loop around a park, then stop and stretch a bit, then cycle another casual loop.