returning to riding...

B2723m wrote:
:: For one reason or another I just became 'burned out' on bicycling a
:: couple of years ago. Honestly it was a rough divorce.
::
:: Anyway, I've checked all of the bikes and they're still in excellent
:: condition, though tires/tubes will be changed as time goes by.
::
:: Having ridden so much in the past, I feel I can do more damage than
:: good to myself without a little coaching on how to work my body
:: properly back into form.

Ride your bike.

On Fri, 17 Sep 2004 16:31:44 -0400, "Roger Zoul" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

B2723m wrote:
:: For one reason or another I just became 'burned out' on bicycling a
:: couple of years ago. Honestly it was a rough divorce.
::
:: Anyway, I've checked all of the bikes and they're still in excellent
:: condition, though tires/tubes will be changed as time goes by.
::
:: Having ridden so much in the past, I feel I can do more damage than
:: good to myself without a little coaching on how to work my body
:: properly back into form.

Ride your bike.

Succinct, but so true. Start out at 20 min/day, and ride every day. That
prevents =any= excuses. Ride as automatically as you brush your teeth, even
if it's only a mile or two on the tough-to-get-out-there days.

I'm telling you -that's- the whole secret of biking-dogged consistency.
It's such an efficient and low stress exercise, and has such a huge -fun-
quotient, that you can easily do it every day and still recover by the next
day, both physically, and psychologically..

After 3-4 months, up the time to 30 min/day. Consistency is the rule
though. Get out there even if it rains. If you have a stationary bike, ride
that on days when you're snowed in or whatever.

Keep a log. Fill in the log every day.

At 6 months, stop counting the miles per day and aim for 80-100 miles/week.

At 10 months, start working on 'over-cadence', spinning for an hour (on and
off) each day. If time allows, and/or on weekends, start getting in
two-a-days. You'll now be able to recover in about 8 hours.

In a year, you'll be blasting, believe me.

-B

Quoted message said:

Subject: Re: returning to riding...
From: "Roger Zoul" [email hidden]
Date: 9/17/2004 3:31 PM US Eastern Standard Time
Message-id: <[email hidden]>

B2723m wrote:
:: For one reason or another I just became 'burned out' on bicycling a
:: couple of years ago. Honestly it was a rough divorce.
::
:: Anyway, I've checked all of the bikes and they're still in excellent
:: condition, though tires/tubes will be changed as time goes by.
::
:: Having ridden so much in the past, I feel I can do more damage than
:: good to myself without a little coaching on how to work my body
:: properly back into form.

Ride your bike.

Swim and drink lots of water ;-D

"B2723m" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

For one reason or another I just became 'burned out' on bicycling a

couple of

Quoted message said:

years ago. Honestly it was a rough divorce.

Anyway, I've checked all of the bikes and they're still in excellent

condition,

Quoted message said:

though tires/tubes will be changed as time goes by.

Having ridden so much in the past, I feel I can do more damage than good

to

Quoted message said:

myself without a little coaching on how to work my body properly back

into

Quoted message said:

form.

Most experts recommend "LSD" riding (Long Slow Distance) for getting back
into shape. The idea is that it takes longest for your connective tissue to
condition and muscles to vascularize, so it's better not to stress things
too hard while your body is adjusting. You can ride every day in this mode,
but when you start to crank up the intensity, you're better off having rest
days or "active recovery" rides.

Thanks to all!

bradtx

Peter Cole said:

"B2723m" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

For one reason or another I just became 'burned out' on bicycling a

couple of

Quoted message said:

years ago. Honestly it was a rough divorce.

Anyway, I've checked all of the bikes and they're still in excellent

condition,

Quoted message said:

though tires/tubes will be changed as time goes by.

Having ridden so much in the past, I feel I can do more damage than good

to

Quoted message said:

myself without a little coaching on how to work my body properly back

into

Quoted message said:

form.

Most experts recommend "LSD" riding (Long Slow Distance) for getting back
into shape. The idea is that it takes longest for your connective tissue to
condition and muscles to vascularize, so it's better not to stress things
too hard while your body is adjusting. You can ride every day in this mode,
but when you start to crank up the intensity, you're better off having rest
days or "active recovery" rides.

While the rest days or active recovery rides is valid at the level that the
pros ride, I doubt that most recreational riders ride at the kind of
intensity where this 'recovery ride' concept is useful.

Certainly mountain goats like Terry M. would need active recovery rides,
most of the rest of us just need to get out there every day, imo.

-B

B2723m said:

For one reason or another I just became 'burned out' on bicycling a couple
of
years ago. Honestly it was a rough divorce.

Anyway, I've checked all of the bikes and they're still in excellent
condition, though tires/tubes will be changed as time goes by.

Having ridden so much in the past, I feel I can do more damage than good
to myself without a little coaching on how to work my body properly back
into form.

Take it easy, take it easy, take it easy.

Enjoy the ride, and don't worry about "form." It's hard, especially if you
return to a ride you used to do before--you can remember your body
responding differently. You can remember yourself climbing, or sprinting,
or going forever. Forget all that. Just chill out, and remember what it
felt like the very first time you rode a bicycle--focus on just that
sensation. It's always there.

Everything else will return, I guess. But don't be too ferocious. Burnout
is no fun.

-=Luigi

--
www.livejournal.com/users/ouij
Photos, Rants, Raves

Peter Cole wrote:
|| "B2723m" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
|| news:[email hidden]...
||| For one reason or another I just became 'burned out' on bicycling a
||| couple of years ago. Honestly it was a rough divorce.
|||
||| Anyway, I've checked all of the bikes and they're still in
||| excellent condition, though tires/tubes will be changed as time
||| goes by.
|||
||| Having ridden so much in the past, I feel I can do more damage than
||| good to myself without a little coaching on how to work my body
||| properly back into form.
||
|| Most experts recommend "LSD" riding (Long Slow Distance) for getting
|| back into shape. The idea is that it takes longest for your
|| connective tissue to condition and muscles to vascularize, so it's
|| better not to stress things too hard while your body is adjusting.
|| You can ride every day in this mode, but when you start to crank up
|| the intensity, you're better off having rest days or "active
|| recovery" rides.

Is there a recommended length of time (or miles) that one should do LSD
riding? I'm curious as I'm at my 1-year point of riding (only 2000 miles,
though) and am thinking about starting t0 crank up the intensity (short but
intense rides).

On Sun, 19 Sep 2004 11:11:15 -0400, "Roger Zoul" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Peter Cole wrote:
|| "B2723m" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
|| news:[email hidden]...
||| For one reason or another I just became 'burned out' on bicycling a
||| couple of years ago. Honestly it was a rough divorce.
|||
||| Anyway, I've checked all of the bikes and they're still in
||| excellent condition, though tires/tubes will be changed as time
||| goes by.
|||
||| Having ridden so much in the past, I feel I can do more damage than
||| good to myself without a little coaching on how to work my body
||| properly back into form.
||
|| Most experts recommend "LSD" riding (Long Slow Distance) for getting
|| back into shape. The idea is that it takes longest for your
|| connective tissue to condition and muscles to vascularize, so it's
|| better not to stress things too hard while your body is adjusting.
|| You can ride every day in this mode, but when you start to crank up
|| the intensity, you're better off having rest days or "active
|| recovery" rides.

Is there a recommended length of time (or miles) that one should do LSD
riding? I'm curious as I'm at my 1-year point of riding (only 2000 miles,
though) and am thinking about starting t0 crank up the intensity (short but
intense rides).

I think you're quite advanced for the time on the bike, Rog, but according
to the 'LA method', a recovery ride is based on HR.

For intermediate riders he has one day off every two weeks in his charts.

IMO, and I'm a beginner too, the intensity should be based on HR, but also
working on over-cadence. IOW, pedalling at 95-108 rpm and sustaining that
for 10 minutes on the flats or near-flats. If you do that, in my limited
experience, the intensity and speed will come.

The 5 Training Zones are (according to Chris Carmichael):
%HR
1 60-65 Recovery training
2 65-70 Base training (LSD)
3 70-80 Aerobic capacity
4 80-85 Lactate threshold training
5 86+ Max Aerobic - VO2 max training

So I would suggest at the 1-2 year level getting into the HR monitor thing.
I'm about 6-12 mo. away from this, as I'm still getting alot out of my
overcadence, hill climbing and bike handling work. I'm still hanging out at
the 80-120miles per week level, having dropped down a little in the mileage
due to the hill riding.

-B

Roger Zoul said:

Is there a recommended length of time (or miles) that one should do LSD
riding? I'm curious as I'm at my 1-year point of riding (only 2000 miles,
though) and am thinking about starting t0 crank up the intensity (short but
intense rides).

The general recommended length for an LSD ride is at least 1 hour,
but not more than 4 hours. I've bumped up my LSD ride lengths to 7-9
hours lately, but that's because I'm getting ready for a long
two-day race. You're supposed to keep your heart rate at or below
72% of max., but I'm not that disciplined. I'll let it get up to
75-77% on climbs.

The other recommendation for LSD riding is it should make up about
50% of your total training time. And high cadence (spinning) is
good, it helps speed recovery of leg muscles.
--
terry morse Palo Alto, CA http://bike.terrymorse.com/

Terry Morse said:

Roger Zoul said:

Is there a recommended length of time (or miles) that one should do LSD
riding? I'm curious as I'm at my 1-year point of riding (only 2000 miles,
though) and am thinking about starting t0 crank up the intensity (short but
intense rides).

The general recommended length for an LSD ride is at least 1 hour,
but not more than 4 hours. I've bumped up my LSD ride lengths to 7-9
hours lately, but that's because I'm getting ready for a long
two-day race. You're supposed to keep your heart rate at or below
72% of max., but I'm not that disciplined. I'll let it get up to
75-77% on climbs.

This is interesting, b/c in resistance training, as you're handling greater
and greater loads, you need more and more rest. Not saying you're not
correct, just thinking aloud. I'm sure you're a master at listening to your
body, which is the most important thing in training.

Beginners should beware of following other people's training regimes,
obviously.

Quoted message said:

The other recommendation for LSD riding is it should make up about
50% of your total training time.

I think it depends on what stage of training you're at. In beginners it
should make up 80-100% of training, with consistency being the key, imo.

Quoted message said:

And high cadence (spinning) is
good, it helps speed recovery of leg muscles.

For me, spinning is still high intensity training, but maybe I'm doing it
wrong. Still I think I'm making quick progress.

If I push it too much for the phase I'm in, about 30 min after I get back
from the ride, I have a near irresistable urge to take a nap; no joke. It's
happened three or four times after (for me) very hard rides in a building
phase. OTOH, in the right phase (peaking), I can ride some very hard rides
and come back very out of breath and sweating more than usual, and will be
fine.

So it may be a multi-factorial system that one has to be aware of. The body
rhythm, phase of your training, length of time in training, and general
fitness/body type. That's why I say that listening to your body is key.

2 cents.

-B

Badger_South said:

Terry Morse said:

The general recommended length for an LSD ride is at least 1 hour,
but not more than 4 hours. I've bumped up my LSD ride lengths to 7-9
hours lately, but that's because I'm getting ready for a long
two-day race. You're supposed to keep your heart rate at or below
72% of max., but I'm not that disciplined. I'll let it get up to
75-77% on climbs.

This is interesting, b/c in resistance training, as you're handling greater
and greater loads, you need more and more rest. Not saying you're not
correct, just thinking aloud. I'm sure you're a master at listening to your
body, which is the most important thing in training.

Well, the primarily purpose of LSD rides is not recovery. It's the
development of fat metabolism, stamina, and endurance.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

The other recommendation for LSD riding is it should make up about
50% of your total training time.

I think it depends on what stage of training you're at. In beginners it
should make up 80-100% of training, with consistency being the key, imo.

The same is true for the early season, where LSD rides make up the
bulk of training.

Quoted message said:

If I push it too much for the phase I'm in, about 30 min after I get back
from the ride, I have a near irresistable urge to take a nap; no joke. It's
happened three or four times after (for me) very hard rides in a building
phase.

You're not alone. I get a major sleepy attack about once every week,
after I've finished the ride and had a recovery meal. There seems to
be no pattern to it, so it's probably caused by cumulative fatigue.

Well, the rain has stopped and the sun's made an appearance. It's
time to ride!
--
terry morse Palo Alto, CA http://bike.terrymorse.com/

"Badger_South" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

On Sun, 19 Sep 2004 13:02:55 GMT, "Peter Cole"

Quoted message said:

Most experts recommend "LSD" riding (Long Slow Distance) for getting

back

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

into shape. The idea is that it takes longest for your connective tissue

to

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

condition and muscles to vascularize, so it's better not to stress

things

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

too hard while your body is adjusting. You can ride every day in this

mode,

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

but when you start to crank up the intensity, you're better off having

rest

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

days or "active recovery" rides.

While the rest days or active recovery rides is valid at the level that

the

Quoted message said:

pros ride, I doubt that most recreational riders ride at the kind of
intensity where this 'recovery ride' concept is useful.

"Recreational riders" covers a lot of ground. If a cyclist's goal is to get
faster, the standard training (as for virtually any sport) is to alternate
hard workouts with easier ones and/or days off. Going hard every day just
doesn't give your body a chance to rebuild. Another way of looking at it is
that you can't go hard enough to stress your body if you do it every day,
so you'll plateau.

Once you've reached a certain level of fitness, each season becomes a
repitition of the initial curve. You have to go LSD after a winter's
slowdown until you've regained your base, then you can start pushing it.
Pushing hard day after day isn't the way to build strength, the muscles
need recovery time, likewise, pushing hard too early sets you up for things
like tendonitis.

Peter Cole said:

"Badger_South" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

On Sun, 19 Sep 2004 13:02:55 GMT, "Peter Cole"

Quoted message said:

Most experts recommend "LSD" riding (Long Slow Distance) for getting

back

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

into shape. The idea is that it takes longest for your connective tissue

to

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

condition and muscles to vascularize, so it's better not to stress

things

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

too hard while your body is adjusting. You can ride every day in this

mode,

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

but when you start to crank up the intensity, you're better off having

rest

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

days or "active recovery" rides.

While the rest days or active recovery rides is valid at the level that

the

Quoted message said:

pros ride, I doubt that most recreational riders ride at the kind of
intensity where this 'recovery ride' concept is useful.

"Recreational riders" covers a lot of ground. If a cyclist's goal is to get
faster, the standard training (as for virtually any sport) is to alternate
hard workouts with easier ones and/or days off. Going hard every day just
doesn't give your body a chance to rebuild. Another way of looking at it is
that you can't go hard enough to stress your body if you do it every day,
so you'll plateau.

Once you've reached a certain level of fitness, each season becomes a
repitition of the initial curve. You have to go LSD after a winter's
slowdown until you've regained your base, then you can start pushing it.
Pushing hard day after day isn't the way to build strength, the muscles
need recovery time, likewise, pushing hard too early sets you up for things
like tendonitis.

I don't disagree in principle, but I think most rec riders can't 'push it
hard' on the bike enough to require active recovery rides, due to either
lack of mental discipline, or lack of coaching, or lack of competition.

The thing is, biking is so 'easy' on the body that I've found I can recover
in only 8 hours and do another ride. By default most rec riders do all LSD.

If you look at the Heart Rate stages that Carmichael has in his books, most
rec riders stay around or below 60-70 percent of their max rate, and yeah,
80-90% do plateau - without racing or coaching they never get into the zone
where they need active recovery rides in principle and can easily ride
every day with no planned rest days.

Now at the 5-10 year level any riders still on the bike are probably above
the level of rec. riders - maybe we can call them sports riders, and these
are the guys leading club rides and able to hit 30mph on the flats. In that
case, yes, active recovery may be necessary, but they're probably doing
them by instinct. In addition, these riders probably possess superior
genetics or body type.

So again, I agree with you in principle, but the vast majority of amateur
cyclists, IMO, if they tried to ride the schedules that I've seen in books
for 'advanced riders' couldn't complete them, probably don't use HRMs, and
thus are riding at the level where they can ride every day, no problem.

-B

Badger_South wrote:
:: On Sun, 19 Sep 2004 13:02:55 GMT, "Peter Cole"
:: <[email hidden]> wrote:
::
::: "B2723m" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
::: news:[email hidden]...
:::: For one reason or another I just became 'burned out' on bicycling
:::: a couple of years ago. Honestly it was a rough divorce.
::::
:::: Anyway, I've checked all of the bikes and they're still in
:::: excellent condition, though tires/tubes will be changed as time
:::: goes by.
::::
:::: Having ridden so much in the past, I feel I can do more damage
:::: than good to myself without a little coaching on how to work my
:::: body properly back into form.
:::
::: Most experts recommend "LSD" riding (Long Slow Distance) for
::: getting back into shape. The idea is that it takes longest for your
::: connective tissue to condition and muscles to vascularize, so it's
::: better not to stress things too hard while your body is adjusting.
::: You can ride every day in this mode, but when you start to crank up
::: the intensity, you're better off having rest days or "active
::: recovery" rides.
::
:: While the rest days or active recovery rides is valid at the level
:: that the pros ride, I doubt that most recreational riders ride at
:: the kind of intensity where this 'recovery ride' concept is useful.

I don't know about that, Bag. I did 71 miles on Saturday with a lot of wind
and had a lot of hard pedaling. The legs were sore. So I got out again on
Sunday, but took it a little easier. The legs seem to recover quicker.

::
:: Certainly mountain goats like Terry M. would need active recovery
:: rides, most of the rest of us just need to get out there every day,
:: imo.

The notion of active recover also applies in the gym after one has overdone
it with the weights.

Badger_South wrote:
:: On Mon, 20 Sep 2004 13:03:45 GMT, "Peter Cole"
:: <[email hidden]> wrote:
::
::: "Badger_South" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
::: news:[email hidden]...
:::: On Sun, 19 Sep 2004 13:02:55 GMT, "Peter Cole"
:::::
::::: Most experts recommend "LSD" riding (Long Slow Distance) for
::::: getting back into shape. The idea is that it takes longest for
::::: your connective tissue to condition and muscles to vascularize,
::::: so it's better not to stress things too hard while your body is
::::: adjusting. You can ride every day in this mode, but when you
::::: start to crank up the intensity, you're better off having rest
::::: days or "active recovery" rides.
::::
:::: While the rest days or active recovery rides is valid at the level
:::: that the pros ride, I doubt that most recreational riders ride at
:::: the kind of intensity where this 'recovery ride' concept is useful.
:::
::: "Recreational riders" covers a lot of ground. If a cyclist's goal
::: is to get faster, the standard training (as for virtually any
::: sport) is to alternate hard workouts with easier ones and/or days
::: off. Going hard every day just doesn't give your body a chance to
::: rebuild. Another way of looking at it is that you can't go hard
::: enough to stress your body if you do it every day, so you'll
::: plateau.
:::
::: Once you've reached a certain level of fitness, each season becomes
::: a repitition of the initial curve. You have to go LSD after a
::: winter's slowdown until you've regained your base, then you can
::: start pushing it. Pushing hard day after day isn't the way to build
::: strength, the muscles need recovery time, likewise, pushing hard
::: too early sets you up for things like tendonitis.
::
:: I don't disagree in principle, but I think most rec riders can't
:: 'push it hard' on the bike enough to require active recovery rides,
:: due to either lack of mental discipline, or lack of coaching, or
:: lack of competition.

Well, you did say most....but I dunno...I don't think I'm anything special,
but I like to push it. Of course, what I mean by pushing it, in terms of
results, it a lot different than what pro-level rides get when they push it
🙂

::
:: The thing is, biking is so 'easy' on the body that I've found I can
:: recover in only 8 hours and do another ride. By default most rec
:: riders do all LSD.

I don't think it is so much about whether or not you can do a recovery ride,
but more about how your body will react if you always try to push it.

::
:: If you look at the Heart Rate stages that Carmichael has in his
:: books, most rec riders stay around or below 60-70 percent of their
:: max rate,

Hmmph. I wonder if Carmichael knows what he is talking about -- or maybe he
doesn't guys who weigh 240 lbs ought to be on bikes. But I way, way exceed
60 to 70 percent MHR. Heck, I'm not even doing anything at that level.

and yeah, 80-90% do plateau - without racing or coaching
:: they never get into the zone where they need active recovery rides
:: in principle and can easily ride every day with no planned rest days.
::
:: Now at the 5-10 year level any riders still on the bike are probably
:: above the level of rec. riders - maybe we can call them sports
:: riders, and these are the guys leading club rides and able to hit
:: 30mph on the flats. In that case, yes, active recovery may be
:: necessary, but they're probably doing them by instinct. In addition,
:: these riders probably possess superior genetics or body type.

Can't disagree with that. But as Peter suggested, rec rides do cover a lot
of ground.

::
:: So again, I agree with you in principle, but the vast majority of
:: amateur cyclists, IMO, if they tried to ride the schedules that I've
:: seen in books for 'advanced riders' couldn't complete them, probably
:: don't use HRMs, and thus are riding at the level where they can ride
:: every day, no problem.

It's not really about the schedules, imo, it's about the intensity. Anyone,
with a HRM can drive the intensity levels up. The net output may not be the
same as the pros, but on the HRM scale it is just as real and has just the
same result on the body.

"Peter Cole" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:3sf3d.120022$3l3.82464@attbi_s03...

Quoted message said:

">
Most experts recommend "LSD" riding (Long Slow Distance)

If they referred to it as Slow then they not experts, throw that
book away.

The S is for STEADY.

You only ride slow on Mondays. On your long days you must
ride hard enough so that you can't speak a complete sentence without
gasping for breath once during the sentence.

If you're not riding with that intensity on the long days then
turn around and go home, you're just wasting our time.

On Mon, 20 Sep 2004 15:47:29 GMT, Fabrizio Mazzoleni <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

"Peter Cole" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:3sf3d.120022$3l3.82464@attbi_s03...

Quoted message said:

">
Most experts recommend "LSD" riding (Long Slow Distance)

If they referred to it as Slow then they not experts, throw that
book away.

The S is for STEADY.

You only ride slow on Mondays. On your long days you must
ride hard enough so that you can't speak a complete sentence without
gasping for breath once during the sentence.

If you're not riding with that intensity on the long days then
turn around and go home, you're just wasting our time.

Who the Hell made you the boss of this group? The title is .misc, not
..race.
If we are wasting YOUR time, go somewhere else, we ride to enjoy not to
train for the TDF. I get my intensity up to 110% sometimes when I want to
actually feel like there is a heart in my chest but it is not mandatory
for me to get it that high to enjoy riding. I just like being out in the
nature without a car to inhibit my enjoyment or people blabbing at me, or
for all that matter a stereo turned up too loud. Wind, trees, water, and
the occasional birds are all I need. Now if I could only get my freewheel
to click quieter on those coasts I would be happy. Riding at 70% to 80% is
just fine for cruising, (cruising, not race training.).
Bill Baka

--
Using M2, Opera's revolutionary e-mail client: http://www.opera.com/m2/

On Mon, 20 Sep 2004 10:59:06 -0400, "Roger Zoul" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

: While the rest days or active recovery rides is valid at the level
:: that the pros ride, I doubt that most recreational riders ride at
:: the kind of intensity where this 'recovery ride' concept is useful.

I don't know about that, Bag. I did 71 miles on Saturday with a lot of wind
and had a lot of hard pedaling. The legs were sore. So I got out again on
Sunday, but took it a little easier. The legs seem to recover quicker.

Well Props to you Rog., that's pretty amazing with only a year of training.
You're one of the few that are able to physically and mentally push it. How
long did that 71 miles take you? Kudos from me for getting back on the bike
on Sunday.

You're way ahead of me, and I'm pretty hard-core, imo, although I'm pretty
sure if I had better places to ride, i.e., 20 miles of reasonably flat road
and low traffic, I'd be closer. I tend to stop my rides sooner than I wish,
even though I am getting a training effect, due to the lack of good riding
places. I spent 6-8 months riding on a 2.5 mile loop, doing 10 loops at the
most before I just about croaked from sheer boredom and dodging the dog
walkers. ;-)

When I make one of my bi-monthly visits to my brother, my mileage goes up
automatically 50% or more with ease. I dream about having a route where I
could ride to an actual destination, say 50 miles away, with something cool
to see when I got there instead of the same dayum stuff round and round
everyday, heh.

So, yeah, I'd say you're one of those riders that will instinctively do a
recovery ride when needed. You're getting out there, what, 5 days a week?

Now that I'm getting out on the road, I am getting some better mileage, but
I swear after pushing it on the hills for 7 days straight, my legs feel
totally fine. So for me, I'm not able to get up to the level of riding
where I need a recovery.

-B

Quoted message said:

:: Certainly mountain goats like Terry M. would need active recovery
:: rides, most of the rest of us just need to get out there every day,
:: imo.

The notion of active recover also applies in the gym after one has overdone
it with the weights.