Surely everyone is different regarding the way they feel when returning from rest days. Usually I have my best rides the day after my rest day, but that could be due to way the intensity levels of my training rides are structured. once again the question "training for what?" eerily creeps across threadend's mind
It is interesting that many of the training guidelines that are designed to peak you for an event go real heavy on rest the week of the event. Some I have used actually jump you from a single day of non-riding up to 3 days of non-riding and 2 days of recovery riding the week before you race.
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2003 Iceman Challenge - 2:34:55 - 897 / 2,000*
2002 Iceman Challenge - 2:39:23 - 1093 / 2,186
2000 Iceman Challenge - 2:49:18 - 1516 / 2,153
*estimated