RecoveryDIAGNOSIS

TRAVEL FATIGUE — WHY YOU RIDE POORLY AFTER TRIPS

You take a work trip or holiday, miss four sessions, and it takes you two weeks to feel normal again. The numbers say you only lost a handful of training days; the feeling says you lost a block. That gap is almost always manageable — if you plan for it.

THE SHORT ANSWER

Most often, this is because circadian disruption from time-zone shifts — HR and RPE stay elevated for days. The fix: use an hrv check on day one back — if hrv is down >15% from baseline, start with zone 2 only for 48-72 hours.

WHY THIS HAPPENS

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Circadian disruption from time-zone shifts — HR and RPE stay elevated for days

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Dehydration from flying — pressurised cabins cost ~200ml/hour

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Sleep debt compounded across consecutive travel days

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Meal-timing chaos — late dinners, skipped breakfasts, disrupted fuelling patterns

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Stress cortisol from travel logistics adds to training stress

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Inactivity during travel — sitting in airports and cars increases stiffness, reduces blood flow

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The urge to 'catch up' with a hard ride day one — exactly the wrong move

WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT

Use an HRV check on day one back

If HRV is down >15% from baseline, start with zone 2 only for 48-72 hours

Pack a travel mobility routine

10 minutes daily on the road keeps the body primed to ride when you return

Prioritise sleep over mileage for 72 hours

A week of under-sleeping needs 3 nights of 9+ hours to rebuild

Plan 2 easy days before resuming intensity

Don't chase the block you missed — rebuild the platform, then add intensity

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WHAT THE EXPERTS SAY

Laurens ten DamProfessional cyclist, 16 World Tour seasons; Tour de France top-10 finisher

Across sixteen World Tour seasons ten Dam learned to treat the days after travel and disruption as easy rebuilding, not catch-up. The instinct to slam in a hard session the day you land is exactly wrong — prioritise sleep and easy riding for a couple of days, let the body resettle, then add intensity back once it's resilient again.

Hear it: Laurens ten Dam on Overtraining & Gravel | Roadman Cycling