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When going for a day ride, climb a hill, have a beer and a sandwich and then shread on the familiar path down - all is well and fun.

However, if I go on a after-work-and-sleep-in-sleeping-bag ride or a multi-day ride, it is common to begin the day with a rough descent. I have been sleeping on hard ground, my joints have been immobilized for 8 hours and on top of that it's the coldest part of the day.

In such a situation, what would be a good sub-five minutes workout to prepare my body for extended descent? I am also recovering from right shoulder and right knee trauma.

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    Ride down a couple of meters of the descent, ride up again, repeat until satisfied?
    – stijn
    Apr 20, 2016 at 15:09
  • @stijn, sorry, can't make turns that sharp. I will try it with 3 meters next time and report back is this nicer, compared to traditional martial arts warmup.
    – Vorac
    Apr 21, 2016 at 7:24

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I'm 40, and have back and joint issues that make getting up in the morning hard work. If I get-up-and-go its terrible for the first half-hour. So here's what helps me:

  • Full flexion of joints. That means pushing your limbs to the ir comfortable maximum extensions then holding for a few seconds, then a little further. Nothing rough.
  • A hot shower - where possible.
  • Warmth - standing in a sunny spot helps a heap, as does pressing a hot coffee cup against sore muscles.
  • Food - eat your damn breakfast!
  • Water - hydrate!
  • Warmup ride - Do a short loop or gentle out and back to get limbered up. Not going hard, just getting fluid into your joints and heating the muscles.
  • Clothing - consider wearing a tighter compression top and pants. These will get your muscles up to working temperature sooner.
  • Sleeping clothes - don't wear the riding clothes while sleeping - you want to relax not be constrained.
  • Gloves - I wear some home-made cotton gloves that cover 2/3 of the forearm. Again these help with keeping warmth in.

Getting sufficient sleep helps immensely. Whatever helps you get to sleep is good too. A plain sleeping bag is better on a sleeping mat, and picking somewhere without rocks/sticks is best. I've never tried a camping hammock but some people swear by them.

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    Joint issues? You are high too often? Hehehe.
    – Vorac
    Apr 24, 2016 at 4:28
  • @vorac no, never. Its an age thing - you'll find out :-P
    – Criggie ♦
    Apr 24, 2016 at 5:45
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  • stretching
  • ride for 5-10 minutes on flat ground using a low gear
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  • Totally right, but could you expand this to a bigger answer? Adding specific stretches.
    – Criggie ♦
    Apr 22, 2016 at 23:58
  • How would riding flat ground warm up the upper body?
    – Vorac
    Apr 23, 2016 at 5:58
  • Hmm. Stretching cold muscles is a great way to get injuries :-(
    – andy256
    May 4, 2016 at 2:00

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