When I lift, I typically experience heavy Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS) for at least 2 days, tapering off to little or nothing on the third. That's for hard workouts, where I push myself to failure. If I'm not pushing myself, I'll feel good on the 2nd day.
It gets to the point where I feel as if I've torn my chest muscles if I sneeze hard.
Getting enough protien goes a long way in reducing the pain. If I'm late eating a meal or don't eat enough protein with my meal, the soreness and pain is very much noticably worse. Chug a big protein shake and the pain is reduced within a half hour of consumption. It helps improve recovery time too and accelerates your gains.
I'd give it more than a day of rest. I try not to do lifts that emphasize that muscle group again until my muscles feel 100% better, which can take the larger part of a week - 4-6 days. Remember that your body gets stronger while you rest, not while you're in the gym. The gym breaks down and damages your muscles. If you don't get your rest, all you are doing is damaging your muscles more and more while not gaining or even getting weaker over time.
If you want to read more on this, T-Nation.com is a good bodybuilding site. Now, if you are a serious cyclist, you will realize that your gains will come more slowly because of all the cardio work you do, but lifting is still a very worthwhile endeavor for functional strength both on and off the bike.
Last edited by Mach42; 04-23-07 at 11:41 PM.