Here's the thing. No one needs recovery if they are riding less than 15 hours a week. You don't need to "rest" the day before a training race in March, you don't need to "spin" your legs out after a 40 minute crit, you don't need skin cream where you sit if you ride less than 10,000 miles a year, and you definitely shouldn't be riding wheels that are shallower than 38mm.
It must be nice to be pro right? Ride your bike all day in foreign places. Eat all the food they can stomach. Wake up every morning feeling like the local little league team had batting practice with your legs all night long. Hoping to god today isn't the day they go down breaking every bone in their body and ending their career.
It hurts to race in March. Even the guys pushing the pace at the front hurt. If you are in the "gutter," there is someone at the front hurting himself more than they are hurting you and actually, they are probably liking it that it hurts you.
Yes, pros riding 600k a week, they probably do need a massage once in a while, they probably need to eat a few more calories, they probably do get 11 hours of sleep after an 8 hour 250k day of riding, and yes, they might go on a 4 hour recovery ride the following day to well...recover.
Go ride your bikes, and if you are caught saying you are taking it easy on saturday in order to get a "result," then come next year, you probably will be in the same place you are now. Get better, hurt a little more, go faster.
Whatever you do, keep having fun.
Hardcore...
ReplyDeleteI love this post...I couldn't agree more but I'm a little nuts....
ReplyDeleteIf you point is, Cycling hurts, and Amateur cyclists don't need complete weeks off the bike, or to taper for training races, then I couldn't agree more.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, I would disagree that amateurs don't require some recovery periods. Pro's need recovery because they ride a ton, and they're able to do so much riding because their bodies have worked up a tolerance for that kind of stress. Equally, an amateur can get to the same point needing recovery from less training, simply because their tolerance is not as high. How much recovery an amateur requires... I could not answer, you're probably right, though, and it's probably not as much.