I'm a dude, but I've been complimented many times on my lovely woman-legs (having even been told if there were a way to steal mine after murdering me, they would). That being said, my opinion, like all others on the internet, should be taken with an enormous grain of salt.
I find that when I first start training my legs tend to get slightly larger - I notice it in a pair of skinny Nudies jeans I have. This seems to corresponds with me eating everything in the house, so I don't know if it's just that or if being early in the season my muscles sort of overcompensate.
As soon as I get into higher mileage, however, things slim back down and end up being muscular but slim. I tend to spin pretty quickly, so the loads are low, and I also seem to run a caloric deficit over the season in that I tend to lose a kilo or two per month. So for me, the answer seems to be spin faster, ride more, and run at a caloric deficit. Whether that's the best answer, I don't know. More seems to come down to genetics.
One thing to consider about lifting is that, as a lady, you shouldn't worry about bulking too much if you lift. My sister has a book from Amazon called something like 'Lift like a man, Look like a goddess' and she says it should be canon for all women because of the results. Anyway, just my two cents. Hopefully someone more helpful will come in with something good to say.
