Knotorious
That Guy With The Face
I agree with @pigwot. Riding daily, even if you're pushing yourself to to exhaustion by the end of your ride, is only unhealthy unless you have injured yourself and continue to ride despite your body providing obvious signals that it is in pain or that you are injured in some way. Also, simply waking up the following day with sore muscles isn't anything that should prevent you from riding again the following day.
However, if you went on a really long and physically demanding ride the day prior, where you wake up so sore that you actually walk a little funny, then I suggest doing a lot of stretching before riding that day, and I also suggest going on a shorter, easy ride on an easy, flat trail, or just going slowly on pavement. By doing this, you will actually help your muscles recover more quickly and build strength, while doing another challenging ride would likely delay recovery and possibly cause you to injure yourself.
What's great about biking in general is that it is very low impact, slow strain on your body. The number one exercise suggested by physical therapists for patients with leg/knee injuries is biking (on pavement of course). Pretty much any type of riding can be made easier on a recovery day by utilizing higher gears than you might normally use (this is especially applicable to trail riding). You will have to make more pedal revolutions, and you will move more slowly, but less stress will be applied to your body.
Finally, as Pigwot also correctly suggested, eating on an empty stomach is never a good idea. Eat a normal sized meal with a lot of quickly metabolized sugars/sugar precursors about 1-2 hours before a ride, and bring small snack bars with you or energy gel with you on long rides. Eating meals loaded with carbohydrates (like pasta) on the night before a big ride will provide you with a bunch of extra energy reserves by the following morning as it slowly converts into sugars overnight. Conversely, it's never a good idea to overeat before a ride, and never consume dairy products just before biking as the lactic acid can cause cramping during your ride.
However, if you went on a really long and physically demanding ride the day prior, where you wake up so sore that you actually walk a little funny, then I suggest doing a lot of stretching before riding that day, and I also suggest going on a shorter, easy ride on an easy, flat trail, or just going slowly on pavement. By doing this, you will actually help your muscles recover more quickly and build strength, while doing another challenging ride would likely delay recovery and possibly cause you to injure yourself.
What's great about biking in general is that it is very low impact, slow strain on your body. The number one exercise suggested by physical therapists for patients with leg/knee injuries is biking (on pavement of course). Pretty much any type of riding can be made easier on a recovery day by utilizing higher gears than you might normally use (this is especially applicable to trail riding). You will have to make more pedal revolutions, and you will move more slowly, but less stress will be applied to your body.
Finally, as Pigwot also correctly suggested, eating on an empty stomach is never a good idea. Eat a normal sized meal with a lot of quickly metabolized sugars/sugar precursors about 1-2 hours before a ride, and bring small snack bars with you or energy gel with you on long rides. Eating meals loaded with carbohydrates (like pasta) on the night before a big ride will provide you with a bunch of extra energy reserves by the following morning as it slowly converts into sugars overnight. Conversely, it's never a good idea to overeat before a ride, and never consume dairy products just before biking as the lactic acid can cause cramping during your ride.
