Antioxidants in food

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I have recently read about the benefits of the antioxidant qualities of foods such as pineapples, prunes and tomatoes and have subsequently worked them into my food intake on a daily basis. Unfortunately as i have been riding a lot less then normal lately, due to other commitments, i can't tell if introducing these foods into my daily regime has had any impact yet.
I would appreciate any advice from fellow users of this forum on whether these, or any other foods high in antioxidants, are useful to a cyclist who is putting in around 120+ miles a week spread out through the working week on my daily commute. What i read is that the antioxidant qualites in the food help to aid recovery by helping the body deal with any remnants of lactic acid that are remaining after the days ride but im not sure who true this is.
I tend to eat the fruits with large helpings of natural yoghurt which i have also been led to believe is nutritionally sound for a cyclist to eat and again im interested to know if this is factually based.

My question for you is, what's wrong with oxidation?;)