Will my bike and my body forgive me?

[liberty]

I've noticed if I'm not on my bike every three days or so my body punishes me. It takes a few rides to get back in the swing of things. Does this happen to anyone else?

Well, here's the deal. In May I will be out of the country for about 10 days and I am already dreading the bike rides that follow my return. Do you know of any exercises I can do to at least maintain a bit of bike fitness and avoid the dead zone? There is no possibility of riding during those ten days. At the most I will be able to walk a bit. Maybe even a bit of jogging. I will be visiting a lot of people, so there will be fattening, fried food at every turn. It is offensive to them if you don't eat what they give you... I know it will be a good time to practice portion control. But the loss of bike time and the time it will take to regain any training I have right now scares me. Help!!!

[smilingcat]

you wont lose much in physical conditioning. so go and enjoy your ten days. yes the first few days back may be hard on a bike but your body will "recover" quick enough. Why not jog first thing in the morning before all your scheduled activities.

[Starfish]

You can keep stretching and doing abs. Also things like chair-dips, back extensions, pushups, lunges, all the stuff you can do in a room. Not aerobic, maybe, but you will keep in touch with your body and keep some of your cycling muscles toned, at least. Why not take a jump rope?

[liberty]

Thanks for the advice, ladies. I can't believe this is such a big issue to me. Kind of takes me by surprise. It is true the more you ride your bike the more addictive it gets. Not that I'm complaining. I'll just have to look at this trip as an opportunity to cross train.

[RoadRaven]

If your legs are aching after a few days off the bike then relish it Liberty... it is your body letting you know it is getting fitter and fitter.

I find two days off the bike my legs are hinting at being uncomfortable... after three days they ache. All I need to do is go for a short gentle ride to ease it... even just half an hour on the indoor trainer.

This is normal if you do regular riding and you miss out on rides your body is expecting.

[jotjepoes]

I'm so glad you posted your post and it doesn't surprise me that it's a bit of an issue to you.

Last Christmas break, my partner and I took about 2 weeks to travel around New Zealand (we are in Australia) - every city we went to, I hired a bike and did a morning ride of at least 40 mins. I'm fairly new to riding (only "seriously" riding for about the last 18 months) but used the excuse that I had an organised ride to do shortly after I got back, to keep riding everyday. Fortunately, my partner (who doesn't ride at at all) was very encouraging of me keeping up my new found fitness. Despite all the Christmas cake, turkey and general eating I didn't put on any weight, thanks to the riding. Anyway, to get to the point - I'm glad to see someone else just as concerned about being away from the regular routine of the bike. Yes, bike riding is addictive, but at least is a positive addiction!

I can't jog as I have bad knees, but if you can, I'd just keep up the general fitness by jogging. Your "bike legs" should probably come back soon enough. Otherwise, if you really miss it and its possible maybe hire a bike for some of the time you are away? It can be a bit of a hassle, but if you are into early morning rides, it can be a great way to see a new place!

[easterbird]

Wow! I was sitting here listening to the rain here in Pa(1.5 " so far)and feeling sorry for myself because yesterday was my last bike ride for a month!!!....I am going on a bird watching tour to Bhutan for a month and am regretting losing the conditioning I kept at all winter and how bad it will feel when everyone else will be in shape in midMay when I return .

Malliotpois,I even checked your mileage at bikejournal to see if I could catch you(if I stayed home). I'm sick,I diseased ever since this bike thing bit me!
I plan to do yoga/pilates stretches and some ab stuff daily but these trips are wonderfully intense schedules to see great stuff. Feeling sorry for me ,too? Thanks for listening, I feel better already.