mandeed10

I don't know if this goes here or under another forum, but I ride a road bike so I figured I'd ask here

As my status states, I am a newbie on here and to the road cycling world. I got my Lexa SLX 3 months ago and just put 250 miles on it. I've been athletic my whole life (I'm 22), except for in college, I went to the gym to make up for not playing sports as much anymore. I played a bunch of different sports: softball, volleyball, soccer, basketball. But I realize I never played an endurance sport, and I know recovery time is probably a little different.

My questions are: how long should my muscles be aching before they finally strengthen enough to where they don't hurt anymore? What should I do in the mean time while they do hurt? Is there any type of supplement or should I be taking extra protein to build muscle up in my legs?

Every time I get on my bike, my legs hurt the first couple miles and I feel like I have to push a little harder to get going, but after awhile my legs feel fine. And then, when I'm done with the ride, they're of course sore again.

Any answers and suggestions to my questions are greatly appreciated!! Thank you!

99Klein 

I would say you need to ride more. That's not many miles in three months. More time in the saddle should help.

Element GT

Like anything else it just depends on how far/hard your ride was compared to your riding level and how much you pushed yourself on the bike. Assuming you want to continue improving you will never reach a point where you are strong enough to not be sore anymore

You could always do an occasional ride at a lower intensity to prevent soreness, still get saddle time, and help stretch out.

As far as supplements I just drink a glass of chocolate milk after a ride.

dusty01

Thats not alot of miles, ride a couple days and then when you are sore take you a day to heal up. The main thing in my experience with athletics and limited knowledge cycling is listen to your body. Your body knows when its tired and sore and it needs a break, can always ride a little slower and not push so much to keep everything loose.

Looigi

This is pretty much it. You improve by stressing your system beyond what it is accustomed to, and this can cause fatigue and soreness. This means to continue to improve, you must continue to increase the work load as your system adapts, and as a result you'll feel tired/sore to a degree from your workouts. It's only when you ride within or close to your current level that you won't feel the aftereffects.

Gatorfreak

You'll always get sore if you push yourself hard enough. I'm somewhat of a newbie too. Started riding about a year ago. I stopped getting sore after rides several months ago. Then two weeks ago I tried my first ride with the A group which just about killed me. I was sore the next day.

For the miles you're doing, I'd say a normal healthy diet is fine. When you start doing 1,000 miles/month then you'll probably need to adjust your diet. I ride about 400 miles/month and just eat like normal.