Originally Posted by
spinconn
Great comments guys, and informative, but they deal with why you do not want to ride without taking days off. But how about needing to (other than for weather, sickness, etc). From a strictly physical standpoint do you not need a day a week to recover your muscles or is that not an issue going slowly in lower gears?
i don't normally take rest days. i take days off from cycling. if not riding, almost always doing something physical.
i try to route my long rides on back roads or dirt, hitting a decent-sized city every week or so. spend a couple days in town, walking most places to see the sights, going to museums or historical sites.
if riding thru areas with national parks, stop and camp for a few days of hiking the trails, or spend a few days exploring a temple complex.
on longer rides, 6 months or more, sometimes need to take a vacation from the vacation. pass thru town and find a goodwill or salvation army thrift store, pick up half a dozen paperback novels, load up on junk food. then find a quiet spot to spend a day reading.
i'll vary daily distances, pull a shorter ride the day following a century. but no scheduled recovery days.