Originally Posted by hawkijohn
The thought of riding another 50 miles to make a century and a half was extremely daunting, but maybe after further conditioning. What really bothered me most was quads that felt like rubber. I was tired all over but those quads were getting close to shutting down on me it seemed. Evidence I'm still quite a ways from reaching really good condition. I put some sports creme on them and applied a heating pad on high. Felt much better a little later. Best news is, I'm feeling like another ride today! I think I now need to start looking at goals that extend two or three days, like consecutive metrics and then a century followed by a metric etc. I'm sure I could settle into just going out for a nice slow pace ride, but so much of the pleasure for me, comes in pushing myself to a higher level.
First of all Well done to the pair of you.
The quad muscles will need some work on them but what they need right now is rest. There are few of us here that would attempt two big rides consecutively. At least not until we ensured that the first ride was not a stressfull one on the muscles, and we still felt fit the second day. I don't do big consecutive rides bit that is through butt ache on the second day so not quite the same problem.
There are exercises that will build the Quads and I do them occasionally but the best way is to work them. Find a good hill that is not too long and two ways of exercising- Take the hill at a good pace and without changing down to increase cadence- sprint the last 200 yards. Builds the quads and cardio vascular. Other way is to load the quads by taking slopes in too high a gear. Don't do too many- say 3 in a 30 mile ride, and if you have done it correctly- you will feel stiff the next morning. Other than that- Down the gym and work those quads. It will pay off.