With the description of "my knee was screaming in the first 1.5 miles of the ride", after being off the bike for week, I would be pretty concerned about the knee and I think I would be going to the doctor to have he or she look at it.

Could be Chrondolomacia (sp?) that is more under the knee cap though so it is hard from your description to tell what it is. Usually, you do not injury your knee too badly while cycling, but it could also be tendinitis??? Anyway, just thoughts.

Sometimes a knee will just need warming up and stretching when you are experiencing one of the two maladies above, and then will get a little better as you are warmed up.

Did you push really hard on the ride you went on? i.e. were you pushing bigger gears or feeling fatigued and at that point did it feel like you were pushing a bigger gear when you weren't? You could have fatigued your knees pretty good since you have just started riding this year.

But, I think if you have "screaming" pain, you should go see a doc. If it is nothing serious, at least they can send you to a PT where they can give you stretching, strengthening, etc. exercises to help you work through these issues with your knee.

spoke