good grief. the health food lady sounds clueless. menopause has nothing to do with your heavy legs.
Beer has alcohol in it, so it tends to dehydrate you. Make sure you're eating and drinking enough after a ride. Salad? yeah, if all you had was salad and beer, i'm not surprised you didn't recover. Recovery drinks will probably help more than rosemary oil, but be sure to eat a balanced diet too. If you're not eating right, you won't build muscle by exercising, you'll tear yourself down.

I am not a health professional, this is just my opinion.