Jim, I think for MOST cyclists a "recovery ride" means a hard ride that is only slightly less difficult than the mind blowing hard ride the day before. Or, as hard as ones legs will allow them to go the day after a hard ride. The problem is you are not going hard enough or long enough to force adaptation at either level. So you basically dig your hole deeper without reaping the benefits from training. And at most of our ages, this is not a good thing. We don't recover like the 20 year olds who can go out and do multiple consecutive days of z4-6 work.
I (and many others I know) have posted personal bests on a first training day following a REAL RECOVERY ride. Not only does a real recovery ride (more appropriately called "active recovery") aid the recovery process, but as I understand it also helps keep aerobic enzyme production up so your legs don't feel "dead" the next day; we all know the dreaded heavy lactate feeling you get when you go to ride the day after being totally off the bike. For what it's worth, you can't escape self-selected cadence (without doing so very conscientiously), but the consensus is that recovery should be higher cadence, meaning 88ish-100 rpms. You tend to get best blood flow and pedal torque low to ensure minimal "work." SSP, glad I didn't come off wrong. I'd like to think in the bike world we all share knowledge with each other. After all, the goal is to get faster and stronger, right? So I figure we should all share info when it will help someone else or when someone else obviously has the wrong idea about something. I also know there are guys on every corner who think they are pro sportiffs and are itching to correct someone and dole out instructions every chance they get. And I do NOT want to sound like that sort of guy. ;-) By all means, if anyone sees that I'm off base or misinformed with any of this info, please correct me. :-) On Sep 1, 11:03 am, ssp <[email protected]> wrote: > It is good to hear the advice of an experienced > cyclist. I, for one, appreciate you taking the time > to share your thoughts. > thanks > bert > > > > On Sat, Sep 1, 2012 at 10:24 AM, Chris Smith <[email protected]> wrote: > > Well, picking an arbitrary number, I'd say 99% of cyclists don't do > > "true" recovery rides. Most end up doing a ride that is between zone 2 > > and 3, and/or ride too long/far. But when I was reading through the > > posts, I noticed Bob's post here said "real recovery," which I thought > > made the distinction between "real" and what most people do. Like I > > said, I wasn't trying to get into anyone's business, but > > constructively pointing out that if someone thinks the ride described > > is a real recovery, it is NOT. No way to say 100% without power > > numbers, but I think it's safe to generalize here and say it's likely > > a zone 2-3 ride and I imagine probably too long s well (but he didn't > > say how long he rode). > > > Which brings me to the question, why do people not do REAL recovery > > rides??? I think they are the single most enjoyable ride(s) I do all > > week!! Ride should be a maximum of ONE hour. I usually end up with a > > 70-100 watt average,which typically equates to 13-15 mph average > > depending on winds. And when you finish the ride your lgs are so warm > > and tingly it's scary! So warm and tingly and relaxed that I MUCH > > prefer a recovery ride to a massage any day of the week!! > > > Anyway, not trying to sound like a know it all...just trying to offer > > some constructive feedback. As we start to lose daylight I'm going to > > need to find some folks in Wilson to ride with on days have to work. > > > On Sep 1, 7:55 am, Marian Mathews <[email protected]> wrote: > > > None of the COWS that post on this site ever do a true recovery ride. > > The > > > word recovery is used extremely loose with this group. > > > > On Sat, Sep 1, 2012 at 7:44 AM, Chris Smith <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > Not to get in your business, but a HR of 130-150 is not recovery unless > > > > you have a god awful high resting HR. And unless you had a 15-20 mph > > > > tailwind, an 18mph avg is not true recovery either. Sounds like u did a > > > > zone 2ish ride, and depending on how strong you are, possibly a zone > > 3, or > > > > mix of both based on HR. I mean this constructively, hope I am not > > out of > > > > line posting this. > > > > > -- > > > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > > Groups > > > > "CyclistsOfWilson-COWs" group. > > > > To view this discussion on the web visit > > > >https://groups.google.com/d/msg/cyclistsofwilson-cows/-/00npN2qz_PYJ. > > > > To post to this group, send email to > > > > [email protected]. > > > > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > > > > [email protected]. > > > > For more options, visit this group at > > > >http://groups.google.com/group/cyclistsofwilson-cows?hl=en.-Hide > > quoted text - > > > > - Show quoted text - > > > -- > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > > "CyclistsOfWilson-COWs" group. > > To post to this group, send email to > > [email protected]. > > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > > [email protected]. > > For more options, visit this group at > >http://groups.google.com/group/cyclistsofwilson-cows?hl=en.- Hide quoted > >text - > > - Show quoted text - -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "CyclistsOfWilson-COWs" group. 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