How long for recovery time after a long ride.

[Flick of the Elbow]

Hi to all good members.
I couldn't of picked the worst days of the year to go long distance cycling but with work commitments I didn't really have a choice of picking my days.
On Monday I cycled 70 miles across Wales and did the return journey on Wednesday when the outside temp was hovering around 30.
...or if it's down to the more intense cycling I've done more recently.
Johnny

70 miles, a day's rest, then another 70 miles, if your legs feel fine then it can't have been that intense. The difference between taking all day to walk 26.2 miles verses running it in under 3 hours. One is just tiring the other is athletic.
Eat plenty, keep hydrated, enjoy being out on your bike.

 

[DanZac]

The difference between taking all day to walk 26.2 miles verses running it in under 3 hours. One is just tiring the other is athletic.

Bit OT but I wish someone would tell my legs this today, I can quite happily run a 3:40 marathon and still be leaping about the next day, however I've walked 35 miles over the last 2 days (where do I get these stupid ideas from I'm a cyclist and runner not a walker) and I'm finding it a real struggle to get the legs going today.
Shows how different the muscle use is between walking and running and just proves that I'm rubbish at walking.

 

[Milzy]

If you ride for Team Astana about 5 minutes. It's an individual thing. Age, fitness, diet, lifestyle, sleep quality genetics and so fourth.

 

[johnnyb47]

Brilliant advice and thankyou all for giving it out. A rubbish sleep last night but feeling quite good and motivated this morning ,so a small easy bike ride may well be on the cards this afternoon.

 

[johnnyb47]

I had a good ride tonight. Came home with other 16 miles under my belt , flies in my teeth and a scratch on my leg after a close shave with a dozy motorist. Apart from the near miss I still had a big grin on my face :-))

 

[iwantanewbike]

You're probably still dehydrated. You need a lot of water to help absorb the food you should be taking in to replenish your glycogen stores.

Plus one for this. I went for a ride Saturday two weeks ago and still felt awful until Tuesday. I knew I didn't drink a lot during the ride and made it worse by having a few pints in the evening. Last weekend I made sure I drank pint after pint of water until I went to bed and also put a few glasses of water to take on in the early morning. I was absolutely fine the next day.

Glycogen requires 4 molecules of water for each molecule of glucose, so that after ride pizza/pasta will dehydrate you even more.

 

[Arjimlad]

I usually find this advice helpful...!

 

[smutchin]

if your legs feel fine then it can't have been that intense

I would tend to agree with this.

you need some time for your legs to recover

When coaches talk about 'recovery', it's as part a process of muscle adaptation - you work your muscles hard, break down the fibres, then rest (ie very gentle exercise) to allow them to rebuild bigger and stronger.

You've done two long rides, beyond what you're used to, so there will have been some muscle breakdown, but if your legs feel fine already then you've probably 'recovered' already.

What you're describing sounds like general tiredness, which is best solved by getting a good night's sleep, eating well and drinking plenty.

 

[oldfatfool]

All you need is to keep hydrated. Once you get back on the bike and keep at it you will be fine. Having toured in daily temps in excess of 35° over that sort of distance it us true after a couple you feel like you cant be arsed but perciverance is the key, and having to make the coach home 700 miles away probably helped with the motivation lol