How many days to recover from a "big ride"?

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Xplora
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How many days to recover from a "big ride"?

Postby Xplora » Tue Feb 12, 2013 6:43 pm

I basically went to failure on Saturday (did the fast ride, then attempted another loop of the fast ride straight after coffee), and blew up bigtime. Had to get a lift home, was actually struggling to maintain blood pressure once I got off the bike. Back into the saddle for commuting and I feel STUFFED. No sprint power :(

Any ideas on expected recovery time? Advice on supplements etc? I don't like riding slow :(

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Re: How many days to recover from a "big ride"?

Postby toolonglegs » Wed Feb 13, 2013 1:01 am

3 to 4 days after a monster for me.
Trashed the first day, muscle soreness the 2nd day, tired but thinking about riding hard the 3rd, back into it on the fourth.
Not saying have 3 days off afterwards... just backing it off a bit.
But then I am getting old :lol: .

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Re: How many days to recover from a "big ride"?

Postby Mrfenejeans » Wed Feb 13, 2013 1:25 am

What would you define as a "Big Ride"?
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jamesn184
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Re: How many days to recover from a "big ride"?

Postby jamesn184 » Wed Feb 13, 2013 4:24 am

Biggest ride I've done is 155km with a bit of climbing.. I was sore for about 2 days but was back on the bike after that..
After a 100km ride I'm a little sore but able to ride the next day just not going to hard
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Re: How many days to recover from a "big ride"?

Postby toolonglegs » Wed Feb 13, 2013 4:46 am

This is the only ride I have done that I totally exploded on... was fine till I hit Ventoux averaging 37 or so even with around 2000m of climbing, but I didn't eat enough and in 35 plus heat ran out of water, basically underestimated how long it would take me on the final climb :oops: . By the Tom Simpson memorial I was going backwards, grinding out the last km to the summit took every inch of will power.
I didn't recover enough after that ride... mainly because I had some very strong mates over visiting and they wanted to romp up every hill in site for the next week afterwards. Then I went and did a 80km race.
I totally cooked myself and took about a month to come right... I should have just taken a week off after Ventoux and recovered properly!!!.
Lesson learned!.
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Xplora
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Re: How many days to recover from a "big ride"?

Postby Xplora » Wed Feb 13, 2013 11:42 am

Mrfenejeans wrote:What would you define as a "Big Ride"?
Basically riding to "failure"... I had to be driven home. A big ride could be 20km for some *SOFT*, and 200km for others.

TLL, your experience is similar to mine. I've been riding for two days but its just not happening. Normally I can rev it up a bit but there just isn't anything happening. I'll have to avoid overtraining if it doesn't come good soon :roll:

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Re: How many days to recover from a "big ride"?

Postby Mrfenejeans » Wed Feb 13, 2013 12:01 pm

I did the 106km Santos GBR 2 years ago with food poisoning, after being up for several hours firing from both ends prior to the start. I well and truly reached a point of total exhausting/dehydration finishing the event, truly stuffed to the point I was just able to walk, apparently hallucinating and making no sense what so ever, It saw me have a few days off the bike. Learnt a good lesson that day about take-away food.
Last edited by Mrfenejeans on Wed Feb 13, 2013 12:41 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: How many days to recover from a "big ride"?

Postby DoogleDave » Wed Feb 13, 2013 12:08 pm

Everyone is different and perhaps the title should read "How long to recover after a harder-than-usual effort".

Depending on how hard you pushed yourself over and above your usual effort level (and what you're body has become accustomed to), what other riding/training you have been doing prior and to what extreme, what intake (drink and food) you've had before, during and after said ride along with any physical conditions you have (known or unknown to you) will all have some bearing on the outcome of how long it takes to recover.

But lets just throw an average out there of 2.4 days (for the average rider on an average hard ride in average conditions)....LOL

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Re: How many days to recover from a "big ride"?

Postby simonn » Wed Feb 13, 2013 12:45 pm

Depends what you call recovery. Recovery just to get back on a bike? Recovery to be back at peak?

I looked over my log for last year and both 300km rides I did were on a Saturday and I was back commuting on the Monday, but slower (~5 mins over 24 kms/350-400M climbing each way) for a couple of days. For the 400km (also on Saturday, but did not get to bed until ~04:00 on Sunday) I drove to work on the Monday. For 200kms I do not need to recover.

However, I am not going to be breaking any Strava PRs for a day or two after any ride I push myself on.

Then again, I had two weeks off over xmas and I did not do any commuting, pilates, yoga, weights or boxing, i.e. I sat on my arse and ate pies! After a week off I did 120km with a couple of friends who normally drop me towards the end of climbs (sydney standard gorges) and I killed them on all the hills, and in general for that matter, so.... maybe the odd bit of recovery is a good thing. Alas, I just do not really get the chance for it at the moment. I've been described as a diesel engine - keeps going for a long time, but the acceleration is not so good (fairly accurate IMHO :)).

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Re: How many days to recover from a "big ride"?

Postby TimW » Wed Feb 13, 2013 12:49 pm

Xplora wrote:
Mrfenejeans wrote:What would you define as a "Big Ride"?
Basically riding to "failure"... I had to be driven home. A big ride could be 20km for some *SOFT*, and 200km for others.

TLL, your experience is similar to mine. I've been riding for two days but its just not happening. Normally I can rev it up a bit but there just isn't anything happening. I'll have to avoid overtraining if it doesn't come good soon :roll:
My take on it, your biggest ride is a little over 100 k? up to 120k?, most of the rides are flat, ie to windsor/Richmond/freemans reach(slight elevation not ball busting). Other rides are daily commutes, which you state are normally at full pace cause your a hardman :wink: . Your rides are manually recorded on strava, so i cannot see heart rate or speed data, to see how hard you are actually working,(remember if its not recorded on strava with a garmin or similar it didn't happen) :wink: :wink:
Lee , i reckon you don't eat enough, or don't eat enough breakfast on the day of your big rides, or carb up the night before. Also, every ride does not have to be at full pace. Take the time to use some of the commute rides to recover, ie heart rate slower etc. There is no shame in riding slow :wink: occasionally the body needs it, and a couple of days off every now and then.
The trek store fast ride, then a ride around pitt town should not have put you into difficulty, if you had eaten enough and drank enough fluid(water etc not coffee). Hope this helps and is taken in the right spirit as it is meant.Just as an afterthought, i allways carry enough food in my pockets for a bigger than anticipated ride, just in case i want to keep going :D Tim
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Re: How many days to recover from a "big ride"?

Postby Metor » Wed Feb 13, 2013 1:02 pm

The amount of recovery times depends on a lot of factors.
1. Are you in peak form or not
2. How well rested where you before the big ride
3. Nutrion before/during/after the ride
4. Amount of sleep or hours you can put your legs up on the couch :wink:
5. How well trained the body is
6. etc

I had recovery times of over 1 month after a big ride 178 km 5000m elevation a few years ago. Now I need about 1 week for 238km and 5500m elevation on full speed. The recovery meaning I can perform at the same level again! Not just having an easy spin the next day.

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Re: How many days to recover from a "big ride"?

Postby Xplora » Wed Feb 13, 2013 1:56 pm

You have a point Tim, I'm getting by on a couple pieces of toast and honey, mainly because I don't want to puke LOL a bidon of water and one of staminade, a banana and a couple muesli bars during the ride seems to be OK... probably do need to hit the carbs harder on Friday to make sure all systems are firing for the full 100. BTW there is no such thing as riding slow when you're running late :lol: (Hoping to pick up a Bryton tonight!)

Simonn, recovery to the point where you can start "training hard" again. Not just riding, but trying to stomp your pedals off.

I'm definitely doing recovery rides where I'm not straining the legs at all the entire ride on Fridays, and Monday morning is enforced recovery. Just can't push hard enough to warrant a hard ride.

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Re: How many days to recover from a "big ride"?

Postby goneriding » Wed Feb 13, 2013 3:48 pm

For me, I'll hit the wall about 3 days after the big ride. The day after I usually feel awesome and can go hard again. The second day I'll start to feel the fatigue kick in and then day 3 is a nightmare (upset stomach, dead legs, etc) and I usually don't come right again for a couple of days after that.

Even if I don't ride again the 3rd day after I really suffer!
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Re: How many days to recover from a "big ride"?

Postby Derny Driver » Wed Feb 13, 2013 11:37 pm

How many days till you can ride hard again? Its the amount of days until you feel strong again. Different for every person based on their fitness and training level.
After a very hard day, take a day off and then get back on the bike the next day and ride easy. Listen to your body and ride accordingly. If you are tired for whatever reason, take it easy. Cut the ride short. Take a day off. If you feel great well ride hard. Its pretty simple really.
Even people building for a special race or training for an event cannot just blindly follow programs. If you are sick, tired, run down ... either dont ride or ride slow and easy. Im not sure what the point of riding every training ride like a maniac is, or what the rush is.
PS Try not to ride to failure point. At that point, you are anti-training.

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Re: How many days to recover from a "big ride"?

Postby foo on patrol » Fri Feb 15, 2013 7:08 pm

My suggestion is....... If you have muscle soreness, then you should go for a ride on a small gear = 69-72inc and just spin along easy. Whether it is 10/20/30Klm but do it at a slow pace, so you can ride some of the soreness out. :idea:

If you are flat and no get up and go......... Take a day or two off and start back at a nice gentle pace and only short rides until you start to come good. :wink:

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Re: How many days to recover from a "big ride"?

Postby Xplora » Fri Feb 15, 2013 7:13 pm

Worth mentioning that I don't have an option for 5 days of the week... technically 6... LOL commutes all week then backing up on Saturday. :D

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Re: How many days to recover from a "big ride"?

Postby sogood » Sat Feb 16, 2013 10:34 am

Xplora wrote:Any ideas on expected recovery time? Advice on supplements etc? I don't like riding slow :(
Hey, that's what LA said too. I understand that EPO and corticosteroid injections work well! :wink:

Seriously, just rest, message, eat well and wait for your body to heal up naturally. Pushing early will just land you into deeper irretrievable waters. Your body and mind will tell you when the time is right.
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Re: How many days to recover from a "big ride"?

Postby vander » Sat Feb 16, 2013 12:21 pm

sogood wrote:
Xplora wrote:Any ideas on expected recovery time? Advice on supplements etc? I don't like riding slow :(
Hey, that's what LA said too. I understand that EPO and corticosteroid injections work well! :wink:

Seriously, just rest, message, eat well and wait for your body to heal up naturally. Pushing early will just land you into deeper irretrievable waters. Your body and mind will tell you when the time is right.
HgH number one drug for faster recovery :D

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Re: How many days to recover from a "big ride"?

Postby sogood » Sat Feb 16, 2013 12:40 pm

vander wrote:HgH number one drug for faster recovery :D
That too but still a tad expensive compared with the others. 'Roid for 90% of the result and 5% of the cost. It's a no brainer! ;)
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Re: How many days to recover from a "big ride"?

Postby Metor » Sat Feb 16, 2013 7:32 pm

Xplora wrote:Worth mentioning that I don't have an option for 5 days of the week... technically 6... LOL commutes all week then backing up on Saturday. :D
Shouldn't make a difference. Just ride slow for 1 week. You will see that it makes a huge difference. Resting is the only way to get stronger :wink:

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Re: How many days to recover from a "big ride"?

Postby toolonglegs » Sat Feb 16, 2013 8:10 pm

Also not much point hammering yourself 6 days a week... Organize it a bit for better improvements.
Once you have recovered of course!.
Monday vo2 type efforts, Tuesday FTP type efforts, wednesday recovery pace, Thursday more FTP, Friday endurance pace, Saturday group ride?... A good mix of everything, Sunday rest.

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Re: How many days to recover from a "big ride"?

Postby Xplora » Sat Feb 16, 2013 9:03 pm

Only 85kms today and I felt pretty drained. Acquiring a Bryton 30 disrupted the recovery quite badly, and having to solo the group ride (still managed to stay within 5 minutes of their pace) after leaving late just made it harder. I think I'll have to ensure I'm spinning for a few days this week. No ride next Satruday, more rest...

I've checked the Strava history and I haven't pulled 300+ km weeks since December... I might just lack the base fitness right now :cry:

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Re: How many days to recover from a "big ride"?

Postby foo on patrol » Sun Feb 17, 2013 8:19 am

Xplora wrote:.I've checked the Strava history and I haven't pulled 300+ km weeks since December... I might just lack the base fitness right now :cry:
Or you have been hammering yourself to much and not doing enough easy spin rides for recovery! :idea:

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Re: How many days to recover from a "big ride"?

Postby macca33 » Sun Feb 17, 2013 3:41 pm

I experienced a bit of hitting the wall a few weeks back - had ridden 260Km (the most ever for me in that space) between the Monday and Saturday and went out with a group on Sunday - but didn't feel good at all and got dropped at about 1/3rd of the loop. I rode along with another tail-ender and still had a couple of Strava PRs on segments (he helped me along!), but knew I was spent.

The following week I cut it back to 210Km and felt better.

Now, I'm having 10 days off the bike - due to a holiday - so will return well rested and begin to build up again - sensibly.

Clearly, unless you have years and years of effort under the belt, tracking your own fatigue is difficult, but when the body yells out, it is best to listen - or do yourself some harm / illness, which may have you on an enforced rest.

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Re: How many days to recover from a "big ride"?

Postby Ross » Tue Feb 19, 2013 9:38 am

toolonglegs wrote:Listen to your body.
If I did that I'd never get out of bed, let alone ride a bike!

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