# What is "easy recovery ride"?



## new2rd

So, I've read something along the lines that American's don't ride easy enough on recovery days and not hard enough during "hard" days. That we tend to stay more in the middle ground. The "hard" efforts are difficult to argue since we all have different pain thresholds. 

When I'm riding an "easy" recovery what should I be doing? 

Yesterday I tried my best to go "easy" for a nice 2 hr ride. I tried not to pay attention to my cycling computer and never put out any hard effort. I don't have a power meter, but the effort I put forth was something that I would use to ride for 4+ hrs. My HR was in the mid 140's to low 150's most of the ride, my LT HR is around 173. 

Although this was a relaxing ride, I find it difficult since I always feel like I'm racing against the clock. :mad2:


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## jtimmer1

my recovery rides are 1 to 1.5 hours of zone 1, no higher.


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## Rollo Tommassi

*Mouth open?*

Yes, Zone 1, but one trick I know to gauge your effort is that you should be at a pace to breath thru your nose only. Mouth open to breathe? Ease up.

Also, keep that cadence up, 95-100rpm
:thumbsup:


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## Urb

jtimmer1 said:


> my recovery rides are 1 to 1.5 hours of zone 1, no higher.


Same but on the trainer watching tv.


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## veloron

IMO a recovery ride should be 60-75 minutes, 90 minutes max. Keep in mind that a recovery ride is just to keep your legs spinning. Think of it as a day off the bike without being off the bike. Your recovery ride should feel ridiculously easy. To the op; the ride you describe was an endurance ride pace, not a recovery ride.


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## Alex_Simmons/RST

Like a walk on the pedals. Avoid hills.


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## new2rd

Sounds good, thanks for all the advice.


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## draganM

Rollo Tommassi said:


> Yes, Zone 1, but one trick I know to gauge your effort is that you should be at a pace to breath thru your nose only. Mouth open to breathe? Ease up.
> Also, keep that cadence up, 95-100rpm
> :thumbsup:


 thanks, nose breathing, that's a great tip I hadn't heard before. 

Cadence is always such a challenge, every 3 minutes I have to yell in my head "STop GRInding" . Maybe I need a single speed bike for recovery days or tape the STI levers in one position


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## Chris96

i was told that you should be able to sing while riding at recovery intensity...
also no more than 90 mins


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## laffeaux

Chris96 said:


> i was told that you should be able to sing while riding at recovery intensity.../QUOTE]
> 
> I wish that were true. I've tried singing and and I still sound like crap.


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## new2rd

Chris96 said:


> i was told that you should be able to sing while riding at recovery intensity...
> also no more than 90 mins


The cows and horses usually look at me a little funny when I do that.:blush2:


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## brads

Rollo Tommassi said:


> Yes, Zone 1, but one trick I know to gauge your effort is that you should be at a pace to breath thru your nose only. Mouth open to breathe? Ease up.
> 
> Also, keep that cadence up, 95-100rpm
> :thumbsup:


I agree with this one, it's what I do for my recovery rides also


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## ZoSoSwiM

I always joke that while doing a recovery ride you should be going so slow you feel like an idiot. 

Z1 heart rate/power and I do my best to find a route that has no climbing. Easy easy easy.. In the past I've had a hard time going easy enough. So I sometimes play a game of trying to keep my power in zone 1 the entire time with no spikes into higher zones. This involves pedaling so slowly up any small incline I almost tip over. I realize this provides zero training benefit but it's challenging in other ways so keeps things fun.


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## Eric_H

When I was racing seriously, if I had a planned recovery ride I almost always did them on my rollers. Super easy to regulate the intensity and no chance of ruining it by hammering up a climb, plus I would likely maintain a higher cadence at lower resistance than if I was on the road and for me, this was the goal of the recovery ride - get the blood flowing without inducing any muscular trauma.


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## new2rd

I'm keeping it simple now, just an easy ride with the legs spinning. Taking in the scenery and relaxing.


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## plx

waste of time if you're not a pro


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## Alex_Simmons/RST

plx said:


> waste of time if you're not a pro


Why? 
The benefits of cycling easily are multi-factoral. Just because there is not a lot of physiological benefit does not make it a waste of time.


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## NJBiker72

Urb said:


> Same but on the trainer watching tv.


Agree easier to go easy watching a show or movie.


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## stevesbike

Alex_Simmons/RST said:


> Why?
> The benefits of cycling easily are multi-factoral. Just because there is not a lot of physiological benefit does not make it a waste of time.


is there any physiological benefit? It appears this is best studied in elite soccer players, where there is no reported physiological benefit to active recovery. I see there is a recent paper on triathletes reporting superior performance in passive recovery group, but haven't read that paper.

If there is no benefit, it seems like there are potential disadvantages for amateur cyclists: 1) riding too hard on a recovery day, 2) time that could be used for non-bike purposes, 3) lack of a psychological break from training. 

"The present findings are in accordance with our previous data suggesting the lack of effects of active recovery training on the recovery pattern of specific neuromuscular fatigue parameters, blood markers of physical stress(7) and inflammatory markers..."

Andersson, Helena, et al. "Active recovery training does not affect the antioxidant response to soccer games in elite female players." British journal of nutrition 104.10 (2010):1492-1499.


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## plx

stevesbike said:


> is there any physiological benefit? It appears this is best studied in elite soccer players, where there is no reported physiological benefit to active recovery. I see there is a recent paper on triathletes reporting superior performance in passive recovery group, but haven't read that paper.
> 
> If there is no benefit, it seems like there are potential disadvantages for amateur cyclists: 1) riding too hard on a recovery day, 2) time that could be used for non-bike purposes, 3) lack of a psychological break from training.
> 
> "The present findings are in accordance with our previous data suggesting the lack of effects of active recovery training on the recovery pattern of specific neuromuscular fatigue parameters, blood markers of physical stress(7) and inflammatory markers..."
> 
> Andersson, Helena, et al. "Active recovery training does not affect the antioxidant response to soccer games in elite female players." British journal of nutrition 104.10 (2010):1492-1499.


this.


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## aclinjury

I train about 15-18 hrs/wk, and I almost never do "recovery rides".

Instead of "recovery ride", I either find myself just sleeping more, and then go for a light jog or swim. This also gives my butt some rest time too as my colon agrees.

I think some of us amateurs are taking this whole "recovery ride" thing too seriously. W'e're not pros.

Also, since most of use don't get paid for cycling, we should not just cycle as the only form of exercise. It's better to do other stuff like jogging or weightlifting as these have the benefit of maintaining bone density.:idea:


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## Mike T.

Alex_Simmons/RST said:


> Like a walk on the pedals.


The 7-11 guys used to call them that.

They're the hardest rides to do as we're all programmed to ride hard. 
They're at an intensity where you hope you don't see someone you know ("Is that as fast as you GO?")
It's a ride where you hope no-one comes up behind you to pass (as honor is on the line!)


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## King Arthur

new2rd said:


> So, I've read something along the lines that American's don't ride easy enough on recovery days and not hard enough during "hard" days. That we tend to stay more in the middle ground. The "hard" efforts are difficult to argue since we all have different pain thresholds.
> 
> When I'm riding an "easy" recovery what should I be doing?
> 
> Yesterday I tried my best to go "easy" for a nice 2 hr ride. I tried not to pay attention to my cycling computer and never put out any hard effort. I don't have a power meter, but the effort I put forth was something that I would use to ride for 4+ hrs. My HR was in the mid 140's to low 150's most of the ride, my LT HR is around 173.
> 
> Although this was a relaxing ride, I find it difficult since I always feel like I'm racing against the clock. :mad2:


Should be nice and easy, require no effort at all and zone one power or heart rate.


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## Alex_Simmons/RST

Mike T. said:


> The 7-11 guys used to call them that.
> 
> They're the hardest rides to do as we're all programmed to ride hard.
> They're at an intensity where you hope you don't see someone you know ("Is that as fast as you GO?")
> It's a ride where you hope no-one comes up behind you to pass (as honor is on the line!)


It is difficult for some to check their ego at the door. Many a tale of a "recovery" ride gone wrong!

A recovery ride can also be a chance to have an enjoyable cruise with a significant other, a child/parent, or catch up with a non-racing friend who doesn't ride much but enjoys a trundle and needs a bit of encouragement themselves. Nice cruise, lap up some good weather, stop you eating too much, enjoy a coffee after with friends.

If you've suffered a fall, have some impact injuries (but not breaks or serious injury), then it can help to keep some motion going rather than do nothing and stiffen up.

Maybe use it as a chance to break in some new shoes, stuff like that. Lots of possibilities and if it helps the mood/motivation, without adding any stress, then it's served its purpose. 

Sometimes the day after a no-ride day feels worse than if you've at least turned the legs over.

If you are really knackered, then sleep would be better.


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## new2rd

Just realized that I started this thread. Well, yesterday I really needed a recovery ride. I think I've been fighting some kind of bug for the last week, but after going out for a 3 hr fairly tough ride I got off my bike feeling like Jay Cutler. So, yesterday morning I decided on a nice easy recovery ride. When all was said and done I rode for 42 minutes and I think I only covered 8 miles. I was hoping to get a single digit STRAVA suffer score, but only managed an 11.


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## Marzo92

*What is a recovery ride? Next - why? when?*

Relatively new, so considerate passes only; no 2 tires in the gravel shoulder please.

Ok I understand the low effort on recovery rides. Second, when do I do them, and first, what is the benefit?

Thanks.


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## evs

*After a hard ride*

the next day is good to do an easy ride. It helps get the blood flowing through the muscles and loosen them up and help relieve soreness. If you think you're going to slow... go slower... haha, ride like your gramma. I like to challenge little kids to races so I don't feel to bad.  Sometimes I throw in a couple of quick fast efforts and some fast spinning just to get the heart going a little bit. Always a small ring ride though and no hills.  I think someone said swimming also. I like to swim once in awhile especially when its hot out.


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## Gudmann

Marzo92 said:


> Second, when do I do them, and first, what is the benefit


The byproducts of hard effort that cause muscle swelling and soreness are better cleared out by movement than complete rest.

After a hard effort, I do minimum of 10 minutes cooldown, feels almost at walking speed, most often +15 min, try to do 20 min when I feel very worn out, to keep blood flow and ward off stiffness.

The day after I do 30 or 40 minutes of similar, hardly feels like a warmup, if it feels like effort it is too much.


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## LatvianRider

That is not easy, two hours is only easy if you are a full time pro. Even elite level racers rarley do recovery for more than 1.5 hours. Your recovery should be 45min-60min and you should not feel like you have to push the pedals at all. Your HR should be around 100-120max.


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## GDeAngelo

It does suck that on mondays I am pulling a 3 year old in a trailer. I love the ride, she has blast, but sometimes I'd like to just have an easy easy monday. lol


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