Call me a 'fetus', but, at 52, I don't feel much need for days off. I TAKE them, yeah -- but I don't follow any sort of training plan. My riding is transport and fun. Any more than 2 in a row, though, I feel it, and not in a good way. Riding is part of my identity, one of the really few things in my life that are unalloyed pleasure. I suppose I could be 'addicted' to the ride endorphins, but I don't feel good if I skip more than the occasional 'necessary' day.

If a day off from work is wrapped up with obligations at home, and I can't ride, I accept it. If the weather is disagreeable (rain rides are a warmer-weather thing...), I skip and look forward to the commute the next day.

Oddly, though -- when I broke my collarbone, I was off the bike for 7 weeks, couldn't even touch it. The day I was released to go back to work was the same day I could get back on the bike, and I rode to work. It felt GREAT! Didn't really feel the lack of conditioning, either.