Ride recovery question

[gingerale]

Hello, all. I'm another one of those new riders. I began riding a couple of months ago but not anything major. I ride 10-16 miles about 6 days a week, mostly to help with weight loss and cardio activity. I did the RAGBRAI ride in Iowa last week. It was my first ride of anything over 16 miles at a time. I only rode 4 days, but I rode all of those 4 days. I rode lots of hills which is something I haven't done before since we just don't have many around here where I live. My problem is that my thigh muscles are sore, but not the a-typical kind of sore. Not like how they feel when you work a new muscle and it hurts from that. It feels like they're tired...sluggish. It's been a week since I did the ride and I would think they'd be better now. But they're not. I can still ride and all, but they just feel very worn out and once I hit 8 or 10 miles I feel so worn out.

Any suggestions on what I can do to get them back to normal? I thought a couple of days of rest would help, but that hasn't. I would appreciate any ideas on what I can do to fix them and get back to my pre-ragbrai shape. Thanks for any ideas!

[makbike]

See a massage therapist. I am always amazed at how much better my legs feel afterward.

[Tuckervill]

You can roll them with a rolling pin, too. It helps. Warm them up by doing a few jumping jacks or a brisk walk, then do some stretching, then press that rolling pin as hard as you can while you roll it on the sore parts.

Karen

[SouthernBelle]

ditto the rolling pin.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Ditto the brisk walking.

[gingerale]

That massage sounds great! I will try that and the walking and go from there. I was worried I'd done something wrong in the way I rode or worked the muscles. Thanks.

[makbike]

Check your yellow pages and see if there is a local school that teaches massage therapy. Chances are good that they have a student clinic and offer massages at a very reasonable price. Our local student clinic offers one hour massages for $35. The students do an outstanding job.