Quads and brevet training

[KnottedYet]

In my humble opinion, stretching is highly over-rated.

Sometimes short muscles are exactly what give us power or quickness. If you need power at a particular angle of the joints, the body will change the muscle to give you exactly that power at that position.

If I've got a soccer player who is powerful and lightning-quick, but his hammies are testing out at 60 degrees, I could completely destroy him by forcing him to stretch until he tests out at 90 degrees (the "standard"). He'll have slack and sloppy muscles right at the position where he needs firm and powerful ones.

Quad and knee problems while on the bike are not due to tightness. The quad and hip flexors are actually on a slack in biking position. (which is why the body shortens the muscles for optimal performance in biking position)

If you were having problems off the bike, I wouldn't scoff at stretching.

(and of course 75 miles were troublesome, she had just yanked the ever-lovin'-f*ck out of your finely tuned muscles! Please find a trainer/massage therapist who knows what the heck she's doing!)