Originally Posted by
spinconn
From a strictly physical standpoint do you not need a day a week to recover your muscles or is that not an issue going slowly in lower gears?
For me that is a choice I can make. I ride at a relaxed enough pace that I can ride day-after-day without needing to take an extra day to recover.
That was different on a supported ride I did across Africa where I wasn't the one setting the distance/direction/schedule. In that case, there was a particular itinerary and the choice was either to ride or be in the support vehicle. I didn't want to be in the support vehicle so I rode whatever I could and then found scheduled rest days more welcome.
If I had done that as a self-supported tour instead of a supported ride, then I would have had lower average mileage. In part because I was carrying my gear. However, also in part because I would have picked distances that matched the conditions e.g. if I was feeling less than 100% I would have made a shorter day, if I had tailwinds I would have made a longer day, if I had headwinds I would have made a shorter day, etc.