Originally Posted by
Greg_R
I am not in great shape and can encounter similar muscle pain issues. Some things that _really_ help me a lot:
1) Gradual warm up (5+ minutes), THEN stretch thoroughly (min 30 sec per muscle). A lot of people hop on their bike and go.
Stretching does two things:
1. It allows more range of motion - the benefit being long term, as for lifting
2. It messes up the proprioceptors that signal damage
Now, 2 is obviously bad - but why do you think that the benefits of 1. require stretching just before riding? People have confused warm up before activity and stretching for years - they should be separate. Warm up, cycle. Warm up, stretch - but apart.
See Kurz's book!