I am 66 and I know that you should train different muscle groups on different days. I have read that you can do legs and abs on consecutive days and now that I am older I wonder if that still holds true.

Can I safely ride every day or should I ride, then rest a day and ride again?

I'm 65 and ride every day. Although I did take a day off on Sunday after the double century last Saturday.

YMMV, but I ride every day with no problems.

Rick / OCRR

You have to know your body.

If it's not raining tomorrow, I will be riding with a group of people one of them being 67 years old. He had 15,000+ miles last year and has over 2,000 so far this year. Cruising easily at 23mph with sprints over 32mph without any "real training." He just goes out and rides every day.

Depends on how you train, forget age, whats your goal ?
To be healthy ?
To get stronger to faster or go farther, or both ?

The only way to truly build stronger muscles is to tear them down so they rebuild stronger, think 'point of failure' [COLOR=#545454][FONT=arial][B]exercising.
When I finish a ride, after the ride and the next morning I cannot do even one leg squat and my legs are sore I give them TWO days to heal up and during those two days I stretch slowly and not too hard because we should only stretch warm muscles ....
My mountain biking works all of me so the day after a ride I do nothing, the next day I do abs chest and arms.

On my next ride I do Intervals for my endurance on flat trails and ease off on the mean climbs.

My pain killers are orange juice, banana's and water.
My recovery food eaten ASAP after every ride is a cup of rice then a normal meal.

If your not tearing your muscles down your just doing good cardio,,, Its so true, the saying,, 'No Pain No Gain'

Riding every days is fine but to gain power and muscle mass you must ask more of them than they can give and then
give them time to heal to a stronger state..

^^^+1. If you want to get stronger and faster, you have to stress the system so that it adapts, and adaption occurs during recovery. The harder you stress the system, the more recovery is needed, and the older you are the more time it takes to recover. Recovery doesn't have to be sitting on the couch. Very easy rides can work well for recovery. I suggest checking out Joe Friel's books, Cyclist Past 50 and Faster After 50. They're both a bit hardcore and aimed at competitive cyclists, but the same principles apply to those with lesser aspirations.

I'm 63, I ride everyday. During warmer weather I do a metric century each week (organized or not).

Marc

At 76 I usually try to ride every other day. But if a club ride comes up the day after a sched ride, of course I go.

Thank you for the input. If it doesn't start raining soon I'll get a ride in.

Just don't push too much on your easy days. Often an easy 30 minutes of spinning is good. As you get stronger with more endurance that "easy" day can grow into something that resembles a moderate or hard day when you begin training harder. The important part as already said is allow for recovery and rebuilding.

It was a great month for me.My previous high month for miles was 408 miles.I have been fortunate enough to find a riding group called the Diamond Valley Vello in Hemet California.I’m a better, stronger rider because of them.
I finished this month with a riding time of 40:16 and 502.67 miles.I also climbed 14,703 feet.March will be better.
DateMiles
2/3-13.46
2/4-15.65
2/5-17.38
2/6-22.52
27/-15.32
2/8-33.64
2/9-21.17
2/10- 14.81
2/11-66.24
2/13-27.27
2/15-31.62
2/17-5.93
2/18-45.85
2/20-35.19
2/24-34.59
2/25-35.90
2/27-42.76
2/28-23.37

Usually try and ride every day, as many have also said, it depends on how I feel about things as far as my body, on that day. I don't do two consecutive hard workouts, no real need for an aggressive program for my riding, no racing here due to health issues that preclude that type of riding. If I am just a bit sluggish I can back of the distance, as well as the tempo, and just spin that day. If I feel like I am not capable of a quality ride, I will bag it for a day. One reason I write in my ride data, in the Friel's "Cyclist Diary" I have kept for 3 years, in pencil is so I can change the planned workout easily for those days I decide to change up things, be it faster or slower.

Unless you are just starting out, or returning to cycling after a layoff from an injury or sickness, I think you should be fine if you decide that 2 days straight on working the legs harder specifically is what you feel best riding. Best wishes on your riding, be safe.

Bill

I ride every day but Sunday, although weather and snow have led to a few skipped days here. I think I could perhaps train better so I would be faster, but who knows. Getting out there and burning calories, seeing the change in scenery, that's worth the time for me. Rest when you need to, ride easy when you need to.

You don't state your background in cycling. It can make a big difference whether you have years of cycling in your legs. Assuming not...

You can do either, as has already suggested. Ride easy or moderate everyday (or almost every day), or increase your distance or intensity and take regular rest days. I prefer the latter, but again, as has already been mentioned, it depends on your goals.

as much as I like to ride, I think if I rode daily, I'd get bored pretty quickly with that plan. I try for some kind of physical activity 4-5 days a week, and right now the mix is road/mtn biking and strength and cardio at the gym.

I usually ride 2-3 days a week. Who knows, that'll probably increase when I can finally retire.

Yeah, everybody is different on this one and it depends on how you ride and your goals, etc.

If you ride every day and you find your legs always feel dead or that your riding spirit is diminished, then add in a day off or don't ride quite so hard.

I like to ride 7 days a week. Most weeks, though, I am finding that riding 4-5 times a week with a day or two of cross training feels better. I'm not sure if it is that the cross training and off days are making me stronger or that purposely staying off my bike keeps me jonesing for my next bike ride!

I'm 58 ride 25 miles a day commuting then more on weekends. For me it's just about getting exercise. For me heart/cardio come first muscle building second.

I ride everyday, but I am not training... just for exercise and fun....if I do not feel well, or something comes up, then I do not ride that day.

60 and I ride every day and mix up length & speed. I average 20-24 hours a month, somewhat weather dependent in winter. I recently switched to a fatbike and ride the beach. Brutal. My speed was cut more than 2x and the effort went through the roof. I'm coming out of winter with the best base I've ever had though my spinning and shifting will be a little off as the slow speed of the fatbike and rough beach makes for different bike skills.

Can I ask why you train so hard and what your goal is?

Most days I ride to easy, I could use some motivation and a goal that pushes me.

Year round I get in 5 aerobic workouts a week. Year round I ride most Saturdays and Sundays. From May thru the end of Sept that is 5 bike rides, 3 on Tues, Wed, and Thurs before work. Oct thru the end of April I run a 5k on Tues and Wed and take an hour ride at lunch on Thurs.

I usually ride 5-6 days/week, when weather allows it. In contrast to the "no pain/no gain" philosophy, I have found that riding hard all of the time is a recipe for burnout and injuries. It all depends on your goals. At 61, I am not trying to race or be the fastest guy on a group ride. I usually bike commute 3-4 days/week with 1 or 2 longer rides on weekends. My goals are simply to ride as much as I feel like, enjoy myself, reduce the amount of driving I do, and keep myself in shape. I've also been doing a lot more bike touring as I get older, and riding frequently keeps me in shape for that.

The idea behind taking days off relates more to athletes who are striving for top performance. If you are really working out hard, you may need to take days off between sessions or reduce the intensity a lot.

I'm 68 and got back into riding 5 years ago. I was riding 7 days a week but cut it down to 6 days a week (weather permitting) at the beginning of last year. Living in Florida, we have year round cycling and last year I rode 9,600 miles and never had a problem from too much saddle time. Just listen to your body and don't push it when your body is telling you not to. If your body feels a little sore, take the next day off.

Age 82. Normally I ride year 'round, usually 6 days a week.
Average 100+ miles a week,
Don't do rain or very windy days. Reason: been blown over by the wind about a dozen years ago and broke 6 ribs and punctured a lung. At that age it takes a bit longer to heal!

I also ride everyday for exercise and fun. My typical morning ride is 14 miles and the weekend is between 16 and 20 miles.