Is it worth cycling with sore legs?

[Wednesday]

I cycled from Wimbledon to Brighton yesterday, which is the furthest I've done so far other than when I went the other way on Friday. Now I have sore legs and I'm having trouble deciding whether to ride about 28 miles today or take the bus, so from a training perspective would it be useful to ride or better to let my muscles recover? (I'm in the early stages of training for a six day ride, so I'll have to deal with some soreness then.)

 

[calibanzwei]

Take a rest day (or two)... its when you rest that the muscles repair themselves and are better prepared next time (para-phrased from a post i read on here the other day )

 

[Wednesday]

Yeah, I know it's by repairing themselves that muscles get stronger. I was wondering if pushing on sometimes could be beneficial too.

 

[Fab Foodie]

Take a rest day (or two)... its when you rest that the muscles repair themselves and are better prepared next time (para-phrased from a post i read on here the other day )

This ^^^

 

[Wednesday]

Oh and I definitely won't be doing anything tomorrow except drinking tea and maybe making a cushion cover!

 

[amaferanga]

If you're having a rest day tomorrow then I'd ride today. You can only improve by overloading your body to an extent - no pain no gain and all that.

If I didn't ride when my legs were a bit fatigued then I wouldn't get out half as much as I do.

 

[Angelfishsolo]

If you're having a rest day tomorrow then I'd ride today. You can only improve by overloading your body to an extent - no pain no gain and all that.

If I didn't ride when my legs were a bit fatigued then I wouldn't get out half as much as I do.

No pain no gain. OK as long as no strain!

 

[HLaB]

I sometimes find relaxed cycling with stiff legs is fine to loosen off the legs but I'm not sure about 28miles.

 

[ttcycle]

if you're just new to cycling I'd take a break and rest. You need the recovery and repair and it's likely that you need to build up your fitness and strength gradually.

 

[Chrisz]

On your 6-day ride I assume you will be riding on consecutive days so now's as good a time as any to get used to it! So long as you don't go too hard there shouldn't be too much wrong with riding 2 on/1 off for a while mate.

 

[monnet]

GIven the day is already over so you've probably made your decision, my tuppence is worth very little now. However, I tend to leave a day between hard rides but the 'rest day' is always an easy ride, low gear for 60-90 minutes. I find it keeps the muscles supple and stops them stiffening up. Riding hard on consecutive days is something to work towards.

 

[Wednesday]

I did it (turned out the route I took was 16 miles, so 34 by the time I got home). My muscles felt fine once I'd warmed up and I wasn't any slower than usual (also I'd realised that it was only my left leg that was moderately sore, right only slightly, so I suppose this time I wasn't doing whatever I'd done to cause that).

I'm not totally new to cycling; I've been commuting 27 miles every Tuesday since spring until a couple of weeks ago when I started taking longer Tuesday routes and doing a bit on other days. Riding hard at any point is something to work towards at the moment though, I don't think it's in my nature.

 

[Sittingduck]

I did by far my longest ride ever on Sat-Sun and decided to go for a short and gentle spin on Monday, to try to prevent them stiffening. My quads felt weird on Sunday night and Monday but felt ok when I was on the recovery pootle. I think it did me some good because they were back to normal by yesterday.

 

[montage]

I read somewhere, the the most effective recovery is low intensity cycling for 30 mins - an hour (low intensity in this case was deemed 80 watts)....better than ice baths/ massages etc etc. Had a look for the article, but cant find it anywhere

 

[monnet]

I can believe that, Montage. I don't train by watts, but I try to do recovery rides at below a 130 heart rate (compared to a 196 max). Different strokes for different folks, but it works for me.