Rest Days
 

I'm just wondering what people's positions are on taking a rest day. I tend to ride every day. But if I go on a particularly, exceptionally hard ride, should I take a day off to recuperate/heal/whatever? What do people do?

Rest days should be part of your training program.

I ride every day I can except when I can’t due to work, overly adverse weather or my body tells me not to. I try not to have more than 2 per week.

During summer months when I'm riding daily, I find a rest day at least once a week helps me feel better and strong on the bike. Plus it helps off-set boredom.

It depends on how hard those every day rides are. When I bike commuted every day, I didn't need rest days since I wasn't really pushing my heart rate up all that high. I was also in my 30s back then, I am now 62 - the definition of hard rides is also related to your age to some degree.

If I do a long (more than 3 hours/50 mile) ride that involves hills, etc. I will usually not bike the next day - same as when I lift weights at the gym, I don't lift the very next day. Muscles do need recuperation time, but only when they are actually stressed, or we would only be able to walk every other day!

Heart rate monitors are cheap and apps are free - if you aren't using one, that will help you make the decisions.

You should do what you feel like doing.

Not that long ago I rode pretty much every day where it fit into my schedule. 'My Schedule' would create a rest day every 5 to 10 days, and that was enough.

Somewhere between ages 68 and 70 that quit working. Five days is pretty much my max, and often I find myself not riding (even after just a couple days) simply because I am tired.

dave

do you feel like you need to rest?

Are you training? Are your shorter rides high speed and/or high effort? Are you climbing big hills?

If your daily riding is a fairly short (hour or less, say) and moderate to low effort, there's no harm in doing that without days off. That's like saying we need a day off after taking a couple mile walk.

During biking season, I ride hard for distance both Saturdays and Sundays, and in the winter I train hard at the gym those days. I go to work on Monday, and don't so much as think about touching any kind of weight or machine, including bicycles. I also usually take Fridays off from any kind of workout in anticipation. I don't think there would be anything wrong with taking a short leisurely ride to the store on one of those days off but I just know that I'm pretty compulsive, and would end up making a fast ride of it.

For light to moderate exercise, I believe the recovery period is what's known as a "good night's sleep".

Now, if you need a day off to break up the routine so it doesn't get stale on you, that's all good too. In my mind, this is all about us doing a routine we know we can maintain, and you're the expert on what works best for you.

My basic rules of thumb:

-if you want to execute a high intensity workout, you need a rest day beforehand. (100%+ of ftp)

-if you want to go long, longer, or prep for a distance out of your normal comfort zone you need to ramp to the distance. Estimate the time it will take you to go that far. Look at how long you normally "ride long". Slowly ramp up the time difference by perhaps 30min per week. Just a super rough idea. Rest day after each "long ride" or a super easy and short "active recovery" spin

-I don't think people who commute in z2 really need any off days unless planning some hiit workouts or to race.

That's about it. Feel tired? Rest. Want to go super hard? Rest before and rest after. Don't ever feel pressure to ignore the natural inclination for your body to heal.

Tough Ride
 

I rode one of the toughest climbs we have here in town early yesterday morning (Mt. Scott). Had not done that one before. It was only 2 1/2 hours door to door, but that climb was relentless and brutal. And steep! I usually don't really feel much after an averageish ride, but last night, my gluts were kinda tweaked. This morning, I actually took an ibuprofen (never, ever take that stuff). I'm sore. So, I did not ride this morning.

Uh Huh
 

Today, I actually did.

A quick look up says you climbed an average grade of 5.7% for 4.2 miles. That's pretty damn good--definitely a serious workout. If you're sore, take the day off. I think that's important both physically and psychologically. Making yourself ride through pain is a pretty good way to get yourself to hate riding.