I've only been cycling for about two weeks now. I intitally started as a way to keep some weight off. I have a broken vertebrae and can't run or lift because of the impact of the activities. Well, after my first ride I was hooked.
The problem I am having is that I can't seem to shake the extreme soreness in my quads. I've been a runner etc for a while and have never had soreness stick around like this. Here is my situation and ride schedule so far.
I live in a very hilly area so probably have to climb more then I should be just starting out, that and I climb as fast as I can. I'm 6'/205/26 yrs old, I can cruise on the flats at around 24mph for as long as it's flat never more then 3 miles before a hill, for the most part my hills are under 2 miles varrying from 5% to 8% just guessing, I can generally climb them around 10 mph. I ordered a HRM so I should have that piece in place shortly although i don't know that it will help explain my soreness.
Day 1 - 30mi@ 14 mph avg
Day 2 - 23mi@ 15 mph avg
Day 3 - off
Day 4 - 14mi@ 16.6 mph avg
Day 5 - 13mi@ 15 mph avg
Day 6 - 11.5mi@ 17 mph avg
Day 7 off
Day 8 off
Day 9 - 15mi@ 17.5 mph avg
Day 10 - off
Day 11 - 18 mi@ 17 mph avg
I feel like I've given myself adequate rest. When I'm out on the bike for an 45-hour rides I pretty much blast away as fast as I can, since I have a max of about 6 hours a week to ride. My times are improving but the severe burn and soreness remain. I've stretched/not stretched...I warm up for a mile before hammering it out, I've trained for several other sports withough ever having a problem past a week. If I flex my quad now I will get a burn and soreness for about 15-30 seconds until it goes away.
What am I doing wrong? I am not really doing recovery rides, but I am resting. The funny thing is that I didn't really get this bad until this week, my first week I had soreness that would subside after the first 2 miles or so, now it sticks with me in a big way. If I stand on the pedals I get about 2-3 rotations in before I need to sit again. I don't seem to have the same problem while sitting and spinning to climb.
Any help would be greatly appreciated. I'd like to try some races next year, for this year and the winter I'm just looking to log some miles and improve as much as is feasible.
Thanks,
BEN