Aim. During exercise the blood flow is redistributed away from non-active tissues to the working muscles. It is not known to what extent that situation persists after very intense exercise and whether the situation differs between exhausting and non-exhausting exercise. Methods. Nine healthy young men cycled first for 2 min at 314 ± 11 W (non-exhausting ride). Heart rate, blood pressure, stroke volume, and blood flow to the leg, arm and acral and non-acral skin were measured for 30 min after the exercise. Thereafter the subjects cycled at the same power for 4 min to exhaustion, and the same set of measurements were repeated. Results. The mean arterial pressure was constant at the pre- exercise level after both exercises. The blood flow to the leg was higher than at rest, but fell during the recovery period. At each time point it was higher after the exhausting than after the non-exhausting ride. After the exercises the blood flow in the brachial artery was higher than at rest, and it was at least as high after the exhausting as after the non-exhausting ride. The blood perfusion of non-acral skin was unchanged after the 2 min non-exhasting ride compared with the resting value. After bicycling to exhaustion the perfusion of non-acral skin was doubled. The perfusion of acral skin was higher after both exercises than at rest and with no systematic difference between the two exercises. The frequency of vasoconstrictions in acral skin rose by time during recovery, and throughout it was higher after the 2 min non-exhausting than after the 4 min exhausting ride. Conclusion. Although the blood flow to the arm may be reduced during strenuous exercise, it is increased above the pre-exercise level during recovery, both after strenuous non-exhausting bicycling and after bicycling to exhaustion.