Talk to me about post-ride recovery

[jenniferh]

I went on my first group ride Saturday with the cycling club my hubby and I joined. We were in the new rider group and took the shortest route, which was 25mi. I was a little worried heading out since my longest ride to date has been 10mi and that was more than double, but the pace was okay and I didn't really hit my limit until about 23.5mi and was able to push out those last couple of miles without a problem.

I did end up with a the beginnings of chaffing, but 12 hours later it seemed to have cleared up for the most part. It wasn't raw, but red like it would have turned into chaffing given more miles. My bones are sore today too. Not my sit bones. Those feel fine and my soft tissue was mostly fine while riding, but my bones on each side of my labia feel a little bruised.

And I'm pretty stiff today. The muscles around my knees and ankles are the main areas I'm sore. Is that normal?

A few questions, is chaffing on your first ride normal and is it likely that I just need more time in the saddle? Should I expect it to get worse?

Also, I know I didn't eat and drink enough. It was just 25mi but I know my breakfast wasn't big enough. I felt great until about mile 20 and then I was strarving and thirsty. And then about 3 hours after I got home I was soooo tired. I could barely stay awake. Shoould I keep eating after I ride?

[Owlie]

I don't get chafing, per se, just discomfort if I signficantly up my mileage. It goes away with riding more. Actual chafing may be a lubrication, a chamois or a saddle issue--or a combination. I also get the same bone discomfort you do. Again, I find it goes away with riding more...just with a few shorter rides between long ones!

Muscle soreness...I've never had the ankle problem--cycling is the one thing that doesn't make my left ankle snarl at me! Just last weekend I had the knee thing, though, after a 36 mile ride. Never had it before with ~25 mile rides, so I'm looking for input on that too! Warm showers and a few gentle ride (~15 miles) spent in a lower gear than normal helped with the stiffness and muscle pain. (You'll probably want to do shorter rides than that, though!)

I take food with me even on 15 mile rides. A Clif bar (may I recommend the mint chocolate ones? They taste like Girl Scout cookies!) or a package of the Shot Bloks. A 24oz bottle of diluted Gatorade, the same size bottle of water and a Camelbak (depending on distance and the weather) are my friends. I definitely need to eat after riding. It'll take some experimentation to figure out what works for you.

[jenniferh]

Whew. It sounds like my discomfort is just becuase I increased the milage so much. I was riding with my hubby who is stronger and faster than me so I was pushing harder than normal in addition to increasing my distance. I'm actually suprised my quads aren't sore today.

I drank 1 24oz bottle of water and about 1/2 the other bottle. I had 5 honey zigers and 1/2 a cliff bar. I probably should switch one of those bottles to an electrolyte mix and add a camelbak and double my food intake. I'm wondering if some of the knee and ankle soreness is from dehydration. Those are the first place I feel dehydration usually.

Overall the ride was a lot of fun. I can't wait to go back and ride again in a few weeks.

[malkin]

I'd ice any place that feels sore or tired.

[Owlie]

I'd ice any place that feels sore or tired.

That. I should have iced my knees. Alternating it with warm showers would have likely meant that I wasn't sore for three days afterwards!

[XMcShiftersonX]

It sounds like you increased your mileage pretty well, so good job with that! As far as the chaffing and pain goes, I would try some chamois cream applied directly to the pad of your cycling shorts and reapply anytime you go to the bathroom. Also, something I've been doing more lately is repositioning frequently on the saddle, and standing up at least once on every hill to give the area a little break.

Nutrition-wise I've heard it's good to eat between 150-300 calories for every hour that you're on your bike. I will have a gu packet and two shot blocks every hour with water, every other hour I may have more, like a clif bar or a banana. I hear "eat a little, frequently" is a good motto. I usually stop every hour for a few minutes to eat a little bit and stretch a little. While I'm riding I'm drinking my perpetuem protein/electrolyte drink. I've also read you should try to consume one water bottle an hour. I think staying well hydrated has improved how I feel more than anything else.

After your ride, you should eat something right away. Immediately after I get off my bike I usually eat a clif builder's bar, then when I get home (if I didn't ride from home), maybe 30 minutes later, I'll make a fruit smoothie with protein powder, then I'll stretch and shower and within an hour eat a real meal. It's important to eat after as well to prevent yourself from feeling like crap, and drink lots and lots of water!!

[malkin]

Another handy hint for icing:
Prop your beer against the ice bag and claim that you are multi-tasking.

[tulip]

Are you wearing cycling shorts without undies?

Drink more, eat more, and treat yourself to chocolate milk at the end. It's a great recovery drink.

good job on the longer ride.

[trista]

I'm new to cycling, but I can tell you that when I first started doing indoor spin, my bones and general crotch area were sore for the first few days, but it went away. I've never had it on my bike, but I think that's from the spinning experience - I'm already used to the pressure there. So anyway I do think you get used to that and it's pretty quick.

After a workout, I make myself a smoothie almost as soon as I walk in the door: 1 cup frozen blueberries, a banana, yogurt, milk, a kiwi, and something to sweeten, usually honey. If I remember I put in some protein powder. I don't like the way it tastes though, so I often forget on purpose. I rarely get muscle soreness.

DH likes Endurox for recovery. It tastes pretty good. I'm just not big on powder of any kind. I've tried it though, and it does seem pretty effective.

[jenniferh]

Thanks everyone. I can't wait to try a smoothie. Yum! What a great treat after a ride.

It's been 48 hours since I rode and my muscles all feel great. It never did turn into actual pain, just the normal stiffness after working a little too hard. My ankles feel fine too. Now my only real concern is my knees. They are still sore.

I'm wondering if I might need to tweak my saddle a little. I've had a bike fit, and 30-day follow up fit, so everything fits, but I'm wondering if a tiny adjustment would make the knee pain go away.

[trista]

One bit of advice I got when I was experiencing knee pain was to make sure i wasn't riding at too slow a cadence (and too high gear). It was really good advice. I increased my cadence to between 80 and 100 (averaging around 90), and the very next ride the knee pain stopped. It's never come back.

I have a cadence sensor that at first really helped maintain the right cadence for me (I would have a tendency to forget to shift), but I hardly look at it anymore. Now I know just by feel what my cadence is.

[marni]

chocolate milk or a mocha smoothie with chocolate protein powder and espresso used to be my favorite recovery drink- however my daughter brought me a bottle of choco vin which is sort of like baileys irish cream with mint- which could easily replacer it if I was willing to snooze the afternoon away. Chocolate milk or a protein smoothie- either choclate mocha or mango chile are my favorites.

marni

[jenniferh]

I went for a 10mi ride this evening and I think I've sold my knee pain. My cleats needed moved. Both shoes cleats were pushed to the far right and the right shoe's cleat was crooked. I straightened it out and evened it up the the other shoe and I centered it and now the pain seems to be gone.