Originally Posted by
banerjek
Lately, my legs have been perpetually sore. There's nothing wrong with them -- I've just been riding harder than I should during the week.
When I woke up today, I found myself dreading my ride.
So two questions: 1) Is there any truth at all in the idea that I could get no fitness benefit from riding on sore (but uninjured) legs or am I just grasping at straws; and 2) When do you take an outright break without even taking a recovery ride?
There is truth to the idea of dimishing returns to soreness, no matter the level of training. If you are sore as you say, then you either need to stretch more or take a recovery day. At 45 I can go all out and torch my legs to the point of very painful walking ... but stretching out and one easy spin or couch time the nexy day and I am good to go again. My training plan calls for an easier week every 4, with at least one day off the bike in that week. I train about 7-12 hours a week.