Just to refresh, long ago, I was an avid mountain biker, 30-40 miles a day was nothing back in the day.
I moved to Scotland from Wales in 2005 and for some reason that I still can't fathom, I lost interest in biking. Then I passed my test for the motorised variety, currently a 600CC CBR and the MTB gathered even more dust.
It's strange though. Recently I have been feeling the urge again to go for a proper cycle. Also, I was aware that my cardio hasn't been great since a bout of pnuemonia at the end of 2018. I've also become far too sedentary. I've put a little weight on, not a huge amount but maybe a little too much.
Anyway, I managed a ride yesterday, small by my old standards a 13 miler, round trip, staying withing Covid restrictions. Most of this ride is flat, with the occasional uphill stretch but nothing thigh melting, or at least shouldn't be.
I'm not going to lie, it half killed me, I wasn't too bad on the way out but almost as soon as I turned for home, my thighs started giving me grief. At one point, I stopped, put my legs down but they were like jelly, I almost toppled over. The last 2 miles were torture, even walking was difficult.
I'm not as sore as I expected today though. I'm going to recover for a few days then do the same ride again, as it's when your body heals that it gets stronger, not from the actual exercise directly.
It was torture, but I loved it.
This bike is 20 years old and still looks great, well worth the extra money at the time. It did well, which is more than can be said for me.