Whole blood donations have always hit me hard for several days. But I donated platelets throughout my racing days - every two weeks. First time, the Red Cross called me at work and asked it I could leave early and do the two hour donation. It was Thursday, club race day. I said yes because my dad donated forever, had deep ties in the Boston medical community (and was in fact building bone scanners at the time). Went and did the donation. Then with bandages on both arms, rode the roughly 20 miles to the race. Felt pretty woozy at first but started feeling better. Arrived in time for the start! So I lined up. Won. Rode home. A 60+ mile day with some speed work. Wow! I can do this!
Platelets - the donations for us hardcore cyclists. Losing 5 ounces of plasma slows us down not at all! We keep all the red blood cells. (And I've received benefits I've never seen from whole blood donations - heartfelt hugs from total strangers. Those strangers were there to donate for family members going through cancer treatment. We community donors were a godsend to them.)