I am new to the forum. I am 55 yrs old weigh 160 pounds and just got back into cycling after a 20 yr layoff. I started cycling again last August. This past winter I worked on my base mileage. I averaged about 250 miles a month from Dec to March. Since then I average about 170 miles a week. I usually ride with a group of faster riders two to three times a week.; Sometimes I can hang with them, sometimes not. Early in the season, I wasn't having alot of problems with recovery from one hard ride to another. The rides have been getting faster as everyone improves. Over the last three of weeks I have been getting sore legs after hard rides. If I have a good ride on Tues, the thurs and sat group rides are horrible because of the soreness in my legs The problem is that the soreness lingers to the point that it is taking three or four days to recover. I rode 72 miles on Monday. I changed up my schedule this week and road easy Tues - Thursday. Today (Friday) my plan was to put in a 50 mile ride, which I do weekly with the group. My legs were still sore from Monday's ride, which forced me to stop after 14 miles. My question is, what can I do to help my sore legs and speed recovery.

thanks for the responses
Richard Morris