You might also want to think about "recovery rides" after a hard ride. Just take the bike out and spin easy to get your legs moving, but not working hard. DH swears his muscles recover so much faster after running a marathon, riding a century or anything really strenous, when he does a recovery run or ride later that same day and/or the next.

I'm big on rest days, too. My legs are a little sore today from what I've done this week and I'm going on a tandem ride with DH later. I was planning on riding my single tomorrow, but I'll wait and see how I'm feeling after the tandem ride. I want to give my muscles a chance to recover.

Sounds like we're at a similar level. I ride 90-ish miles per week right now. I feel I'm doing amazing for me! Pushed myself to do a climb yesterday that I've only done on the tandem before. And it wasn't too horrible! That's a good thing!

By the way, you're doing a good thing learning to listen to your body. Along those same lines, you shoudl also be listening to how your body feels after certain foods. I find eating a banana before a morning ride works well for me. Eating something different may or may not affect my ride. When you have an especially hard time riding, think about what you ate that morning and the night before, how much sleep you got and, of course, if you simply need a rest.