# Rest day



## vontress (Jul 19, 2009)

I commute to work every day and try to do one long ride on the weekend. Long rides are 70-100 miles. Often hilly. Do I need a rest day during the week or is it ok to do my shorter commute rides. I want to get stronger, focusing on a couple of double centuries later in the year. I seem to recover about the same if I rest or not. My body says all ok.


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## kbiker3111 (Nov 7, 2006)

How short is a shorter commute?


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## DMH1721 (Aug 30, 2010)

A complete -- off the bike -- rest day would be more for mental refreshment than anything else. I tend to feel worse if I take a day off the bike, but do take one day a week where I don't ride at all . . . 
If you do ride on rest days, you must go easily enough to recover. Too many times, people go too hard on their easy days and too easy on their hard days. It is a very easy cycle to get caught up in.
My friends and I used to joke -- if you start to sweat on a rest day, you are going too hard


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## vontress (Jul 19, 2009)

Commute is 25 miles round trip. There are always 1 or 2 days I take commute easier. My body usually tells me to slow it down.


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## MontyCrisco (Sep 21, 2008)

vontress said:


> Commute is 25 miles round trip. There are always 1 or 2 days I take commute easier. My body usually tells me to slow it down.


IMO: listen to your body but don't take a day totally off the bike unless you're really too fatigued or sore to even think about riding. Just try to keep the effort level of your commute good and low so it really is 'active recovery'. I know it sounds obsessive, but I actually commuted with my power meter one day last week just to make sure my pace wasn't getting too brisk.


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## kbiker3111 (Nov 7, 2006)

DMH1721 said:


> A complete -- off the bike -- rest day would be more for mental refreshment than anything else. I tend to feel worse if I take a day off the bike, but do take one day a week where I don't ride at all . . .
> If you do ride on rest days, you must go easily enough to recover. Too many times, people go too hard on their easy days and too easy on their hard days. It is a very easy cycle to get caught up in.
> My friends and I used to joke -- if you start to sweat on a rest day, you are going too hard


Like 'Crisco said, make sure to keep it loooooooooow pace. 25 miles is long enough that you can get a decent workout in if you're not careful.

Theres nothing wrong with taking a day off either, but its not necessary.


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## etane (Sep 8, 2009)

Would it be accurate to, say, take your resting heart rate first thing in the morning and take a rest day if your resting heart rate is higher than normal? I was reading about this but haven't tried it yet.


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## rbart4506 (Aug 4, 2004)

There is nothing wrong with taking a day off the bike...In some ways it's probably better then an easy day...

All I know is that my off day tends to be Monday and by the time I get to that day I so want it off....


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## bigbill (Feb 15, 2005)

I commuted daily in Hawaii for almost 3 years. I drove to work six times during those three years. My commute was 26 miles round trip but you can't think of it like that. It was ten 13 mile rides with 12 hours or less recovery in between. I typically didn't ride on saturday and went long with a group on sunday. Longer rides were 50+ during the winter months (later sunrise) and 100+ in the summer months. I would ride to the ride. Ideally, I would spin to and from work on monday and tuesday and go harder on wednesday and thursday. Friday was an easy spin but I would add an extra 10-15 miles on the way home. I say ideally because there were mornings where I was running late or had to be home after leaving work later than usual and had to ride an individual time trial. Life throws wrenches into even the best laid plans.


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