I appreciate all your comments.
I work from home as a web designer and had some contracts fall through so I'm super broke right now, so the trip to the doctor is out until the cash flow comes back.

I was riding at 48x17 and have since gone to 48x18, though, I'm not riding, haven't been riding, and won't be riding for a few weeks.
Yesterday, I took my brother and his wife to the LBS to get a bike for my sister in law, one of those Raleigh 3 speed beach cruiser jobs with the automatic gear switching. I was really curious about how the auto switching worked and took it for a very short spin, about a quarter of a block and back, and my knees ached....shouldn't have done it, but curiosity got the best of me.

I'm thinking my seat was probably too high considering the tightness in the hamstrings.

I feel like a gimp.
My fiance is out riding her bike right now. It's sunny out and about 73 degrees.
This sucks.

Has anyone noticed there knees getting sore going from clipless to toe clips and straps?
I pretty much got into clipless right off the bat with some used SPD's, and would try going back to toe clips and straps every now and again out of curiosity and for the convenience of being able to wear any kind of shoes, but never much cared for them until I got some nice leather straps. I still didn't like that I lost the bottom of the stroke, but felt it was a minor trade off for short rides and errands. I'd crank the straps pretty tight and feel secure but the trade off was no float, which I think forced the Iliotibial band to rub harder on the outside of my knee with the increase in lateral movement.
I'd like to be able to ride with clips and straps for the aforementioned convenience, of it, but feel I might never be able to considering the condition of my knees and the bowed shape of my legs.
Has anyone tried using varus/valgus wedges in their street shoes to get proper alignment?

A