Tarmacguy

I completed a 2 day race on the weekend and haven't touched the bike in 4 days. I have never had this long off the bike since i started riding/training. My motivation has dropped off and is now coming back, and will prob get on the horse tonite..Just wondering if anyone has had a few days off and noticed a drop or increase in performance. I dont expect to have lost any fitness (altho may be surprised) but wonder if my legs will feel dead or will rejoice from the time off..

thanks

botto 

your legs won't feel fantastic if you raced for 2 days, then did nothing for 4.

that'll pass after an hour, or two in the saddle.

Bob Dopolina 

Ride through the crud in your legs and don't expect much. I've done this and occasionally come out really well on the other side. This early in the season, though, so there might be a bit more crud than normal.

You'll know soon enough.

Coyote2

If you didn't feel like getting on the bike, then you were probably smart to lay off. With that said, if you had felt like it, a nice easy ride would have probably helped speed the recovery process.

carpediemracing 

You'll be fine. Yeah, it'd have been better to have done a short ride or something but it's early March and you may find yourself needing that motivational energy at a more critical part of the season. Saving a bit now is fine.

If you want to be precise, you may have lost one hard day on the bike, max. Your body obviously wanted to recover.

Spin a bit and then you'll be fine. I took two days off after a single, relatively short race day (under 2 hours racing). Mentally I was kicking myself by the end of Tuesday, but Wednesday I went and did a hard workout, by the book, and felt fine. Actually, I felt better than fine. I'm waiting for the FedEx guy to deliver something and then I'm going out for a long, hard ride. I dunno if I'd have been this motivated had I forced myself to ride Monday and/or Tuesday.

Remember, recovery is what makes you stronger. Training only sets you up for recovery. I used to "recover" 200-250 days a year (lol - a little too much recovery) but now I'm trying to cut down my recovery to maybe 100-150 days a year, less if my body and schedule can take it.

cdr

ri_us

+1 to no loss of fitness. In fact, it will probably help. Your motivation ebbs and flows with your energy, generally. So, you probably needed it.