Sitting in ice?

[jmax24]

I was at a mtb race last weekend and I was talking to a couple of guys that race in the expert class.They were telling me that the night before the race they would sit in a bathtub full of ice for five or ten minutes.I, being a beginner,asked why.They said that it ridded their legs of lactate acid and gave them the feeling of "fresh" legs the next day.
Is this common practice?Sorry if it's a stupid question but I live in an area where cycling has only recently taken hold and our most experienced racer is a guy that races sport.Thank-you for your replies,Jason

 

[the holster]

i've only known to do it after a race for recovery

 

[WarrenG]

I was at a mtb race last weekend and I was talking to a couple of guys that race in the expert class.They were telling me that the night before the race they would sit in a bathtub full of ice for five or ten minutes.I, being a beginner,asked why.They said that it ridded their legs of lactate acid

I wouldn't take much advice from those guys.

First, lactate is not sitting in your legs. Within 75 minutes of finishing exercise, no matter how intense-even a race, the levels are back to baseline, esentially zero. If you do some easy riding at the end of the exercise it will be gone in less than 20 minutes. Fact.

Sitting in ice will cause constriction of _some_ blood vessels, and then getting out of the ice will cause a little bit of a surge of blood. So will a few exercises or a bit of massage.