Ride too much??
 

Simple question - is it possible to ride too much?

Context - I'm relatively new to the sport, coming from the casual side over to the enthusiast side. So far I'm loving every minute spent on the bike.

But I also train quite intensely using the Crossfit program, and I'm not sure if my legs can keep up. I'm not having any trouble on the cardio side, but I'm finding that my legs are starting to lag behind. Despite stiffness and soreness, I feel compelled to, for example, ride the 5 miles to work (very very hilly) because I feel guilty for wasting a beautiful sunny day....so I just battle thru the soreness and ride anyway.

I know all about the requirement for rest, but I'm loving the riding thing, and I figure if I just take an easy ride, I'm not hurting anything by riding with stiff/sore legs.

Should I take it down a notch and let my body catch up a bit?

Keep riding.
Rest when you need to.

Yes, it is possible to ride too much. But probably not if you're doing 5 mile rides.

You'll help your recovery from Crossfit if you do easy short rides (vs doing nothing).

Thanks for the replies so far. Aside from my commuting ride of 5 miles, I typically do a 50km (30mile) ride 2-3 times a week....sometimes on the same day following an intense crossfit workout in the morning (yeah, I'm that obsessed with riding).

I'm sure things will even out in the end, but my enthusiasm over biking has skyrocketed since I bought my Tricross 3 weeks ago, but I guess that's a good thing:)

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Now ... you were saying something about riding too much??? :D

I recall an exercise physiologist once got a group of recreational cyclists for a study. The physiologist thought that no one would be able to reach the goal of, as memory serves, it was 60 miles per day for 2 weeks. She was amazed when most of them did it.

I have done 4 centuries on successive days. I don't claim to be any more than a recreational cyclist. The only reason that I did not do more is that I did not have the time to keep it up.

I have a friend who is over 50. He just got back from a cross country tour. He averaged over 100 miles per day for 38 days or something like that. He said that they had about every 10th day off but he went out and rode on those days.

I am talking just ordinary folks.

And there was this guy by the name of Freddie Hoffman. He used to average more than a century each and every day during the year. But he is very unusual. I think a pro riders does something like 18,000 miles per year.

It really is not how much you ride that is the problem. If you ride at a very high intensity one day, it is best to ride at a relaxed pace, a recovery ride, the next day. But there is no reason that you can not ride each and every day barring sickness and accidents.

Go to a bookstore, grab a coffee and read Chris Carmichaels Time Crunched Cyclist book. Word on the street is he has some knowledge and he's a big fan of short high intensity rides and rest days. In a nutshell his studies and others showed that frequent long medium intensity rides didn't give near the gains as spaced short high intensity ones. GL

Yes, it is possible to overtrain. Rest days are important.

You may want to check out crossfitendurance.com for a system of combining CF & endurance training. The site is not terribly clear, but if you poke around you will piece it together. The basic idea is to still do CrossFit 4X a week, but most of your rides will be short, mostly either interval or tempo training. This allows for more recovery, which we do need. Each day the site posts a workout for runners, swimmers, cyclists, and C2 rowers. On "tempo" days, there are different distances depending on the length of the event you may be training for.

The CrossFit Endurance method is controversial, since it flies in the face of the "long, slow, distance" philosophy of a lot of endurance training. And IMO there's a valid argument that CFE alone will not totally prepare an athlete for events longer that 2-3 hours -- though the creators of CFE insist otherwise. But CFE is a great way to get strong on the bike while keeping your all-around CrossFit fitness.

I'm also a CrossFitter and am getting back into cycling. Since I need to harden up my butt for a long event soon, I'm doing long-for-me Saturday rides in addition to shorter CFE rides during the week. For now, Sundays are for rest or very easy recovery ride. When I get closer to my event (a 4-day, 220-mile ride), I'll start doing consecutive long days and ease up on the CrossFit.

Good luck!

Yes, over training is very possible, however if a rider does not take enough rest, then you will dig yourself a hole. Train into shape, rest into fitness!

Thats a new one, never heard that one before, lol...

5 miles to and fro. 10 total miles + anything extra on weekends....

I am a big proponent of it's not what you do for the hour or so you on the bike. It's what you do with the other 22-23 hours off the bike.
Keep riding.

I am no expert by any means, so take my advice with a grain of salt. On Feb 10th I started a riding schedule that was pretty ambitious for my own standards (400mi. per month).
I achieved the milage by riding 20mi. per day on average. I developed a weakness/tenderness in my legs that was persistent. I ran a half-marathon in April which forced me to take a break from cycling; however when I picked cycling back up after a short hiatus I felt stronger than ever. I increased my avg. speed on my routine ride by over 2mph.
I never tried "resting" before, so I do not know if this is the major reason for the strength/endurance increase; or if I am simply growing stronger due to the increased cycling.

:facepalm: