Rest Days?

[shootingstar]

Every year during spring, summer and fall, I do go through several wks. of cycling every day.

Now my distances are shorter...because workplace is closer and I'm not cycling longer distances after work for fun this year as often, compared to a few years ago. Part of it is due to the city where I live now and also what I feel like doing.
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When I was 51 yrs., I was cycling daily spring, summer, fall, each 30-40 km. daily within a 2- 2.5 hr. period when I was unemployed and looking for work ...off-bike.

Then weekends during that same time period (I was unemployed for 18 months), on weekends, each day ride was 40-60 km. I did go through several periods of cycling daily for 14-20 consecutive days. Then a rest day of no cycling or under 15 km. I did rack up alot of mileage with 2-3 bike touring trips for a few days..up to 7,000 km. for 1 yr.
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When I started off cycling at 32 yrs. for 14 yrs. onward, I was work commuting-cycling minimum of 30 km daily with some evenings of extra 10-20 km. for fun/fitness. Then weekends, going on longer distances for a ride somewhere.
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So now I noticed at 53 yrs., because I'm not cycling as long distances daily, I just found out this past holiday weekend, I cycled on Sat. only 32 km. Sun. 49 km. Mon. 65 km......I was glad by Mon. to do only 12 km. But I haven't been off the bike for the past 3.5 wks. It has been cycling....even a short distance. It's not hard for me, because we don't have a car.

But because now I'm doing much shorter distances daily, I want to remain cycling daily during spring, summer and fall, and get pissed off if occasionally I'm not cycling on a particular day due to super windy & rainy day. I get really impatient just walking to some place for half an hr.! Does that make sense? We've discussed this before in TE forums about the body getting hooked on cycling.

It doesn't hurt to take a rest day regardless of one's age. But for myself, the secret to consecutive cycling and not feeling overly burnt out, is to build in some days of much shorter and relaxed distances...for fun/utilitarian cycling where one's attention is focused on the errand, etc., not the cycling itself. It's psychological tricking for me and one naturally builds/maintains some level of cycling fitness.

[nuliajuk]

I'm mainly a swimmer, so what I find is that swimming is a good recovery from leg-oriented land sports like cycling, and leg-oriented land sports are good recovery from the upper body work of swimming. I don't do breast stroke at all because whip kick hurts my knees, so alternating swim days with running/cycling days allows me to exercise at least 6 days a week without being overly tired.
I'm 53 and post-menopausal. In some ways being done with periods is a good thing - I'm able to exercise much more consistently than when I had to deal with the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle and the fatigue that went with it. On the other hand, recovery takes longer as I age, so I have to be careful not to overdo it in any one session. Short sessions more often are better for me than long killer sessions just two or three times a week.