Is the Garmin right?

Recovery, recovery, recovery. We hear that as much as we hear train, train, train. Maybe more.

When I get home after a ride, and select Save Ride on my Garmin, it tells me how many hours of recovery I (supposedly) need before riding again. If I\’ve ridden any harder than gently, the Garmin is likely to say I need more than 24 hours\’ recovery.

Twelve minutes into a ride, the Garmin automatically shows a Recovery Check screen. Even when it told me the morning before that I needed, let\’s say, 36 hours of recovery time, it almost always says my recovery has been Good. That strikes me as a bit odd. Is the Garmin right? Am I doing something wrong in my \”training\”?

Now and then the Garmin will say Fair for Recovery Check. That can happen if I do a very hard effort early in a ride. Sometimes it just happens, and I then I wonder what\’s up.

As far as I can remember, only once has the Garmin told me Poor for recovery status. That was when I absentmindedly started a new ride instead of putting the thing on Pause, so I ignored it.

Taking a week away from riding, as the article suggests, seems like too much to me, especially now, with Cycle September coming up. I want to be in good condition for it! Maybe over the Christmas break?