Went on a short ride up in the High Country. (Mountains.) Legs are so sore I wonder how I'm going to ride to work. Came across this for sore legs. https://www.amazon.com/The-Stick-HD-...p?ie=UTF8&th=1 Anyone use it? Does it help with really sore legs?

Well, this Amazon comment alone would make me wondering if it's a good purchase...

This might be something I'd like to try, but $40+ for a stick with big beads on it? Really?

I'm not convinced there is anything to get rid of the pain short of heavy narcotics to either put you to sleep or make you not care anymore. Of course training and conditioning will help for future rides.

Have a massage if you wish. There is nothing on your legs that you can't reach with your own hands for a self-massage, or perhaps get one from an acquaintance.

I've got plenty of trees in the back yard that I could cut a stick off of for FREE if I wished.

10 Minute soak in Hot soapy Water

For that price I'd rather have a heavy duty vibrating massage wand, one of those things with a big mushroom head that's suitable for use with massage oils, creams or topical analgesics. Mine finally wore out after umpteen years and I need to replace it.

I mostly use topical analgesic creams with salicylates, menthol, camphor, all the usual stuff. Maybe it's just the massage itself that does the work, but I'd like to believe the topical stuff works. And it's cheap from the dollar store, works just as well as the more expensive stuff.

And soaking in a hot bath with Epsom salts helps too. Again, it may just be the hot water, but I sure feel like I feel better with the salts.

That's basically a variation on a foam roller, which does help.

There's a couple things that can dramatically decrease soreness. Foam roller or massage following a hard ride. Riding lightly the next day (~45min no effort spin. Think riding to the neighborhood coffee shop in your lowest gear). The idea is to work the latic acid out of your muscles.

I don't know how long the commute is, but if you never had problems doing it, the odds are that your legs recover enough on their own to be fine.

Otherwise, a long slow walk to help stimulate circulation, or some massage, or a warm bath, or a bit of all three.

You might also take a hint from pro and amateur racers and ride off the pain by getting back on the bike and riding at low effort to keep everything moving but not adding to the tiredness. For future reference, you might try to incorporate a cool down ride into t6he ends of your long hard rides. Either slow down and take it easy for the last few miles, or tack on extra cool down miles onto the end of your ride.

Don't overdoes on salicylates (some have) and be aware of rhabdomyolysis if soreness lasts too long.

Ditto, the cool down ride immediately at the end of a hard ride, and easy ride the next day. The past few weeks I've been concentrating on high intensity interval training, usually only an hour of hill climb repeats. The first week I was too Strava-conscious and didn't cool down properly. So I'd just stop recording data, then ride another easy 15 minutes to cool down properly. Problem solved.

And after a mid-ride bout with stomach cramps last month I added electrolytes to water for really brutally hot rides. Big help.

This evening is supposed to be an easy ride. I'll have to remind myself of that in case the legs feel spunky and want to go harder than I intend.

Good point. Some folks who are sensitive to salicylates have died from applying the topical ointments before, during or immediately after a hard workout, including a local high school cheerleader a few summers ago. I usually don't apply the stuff until bedtime if the usual massage and hot bath in Epsom salts don't work.