Did a hard, hilly 12-mile ride on Thursday and paid for it in hip discomfort on Friday. Both hips, not just the one that's been giving me problems for 2 months.
So, Friday evening I just went to the gym and lifted weights (no lower body lifts) and stretched. Sometimes I also walk for 30 or 45 min. on lift days, but I didn't do that Friday.
I started thinking about why this rehab is taking so long, and I am trying out a new theory that my mattress is too hard. I've been complaining about the mattress for months now, and eventually bought a thin memory foam mattress to soften it up. That has worked well, but lately I've noticed that laying flat on my back on it was pressuring my hips, and I was waking up in the morning with sore hip muscles.
So, last night I slept on a softer mattress, and this morning I got up with much better-feeling hip muscles. Of course, I don't know if that's because of the mattress or because I avoided working those muscles for a day. I'll do it again tonight and see how I feel on Sunday morning.
Today I resolved not to choose a hilly course, so I went to the flat and friendly English Landing Park to start my ride. It was already close to 90 and humid. My 18-mile route had a segment on the park trail, where there were a lot of walkers and runners; on Highway 9 to Horizon's Parkway, on the levee for a couple miles, and then back again. There were a couple short side trips in there, but no hard hills or other challenges. My goal was to maintain a constant pedal, which I did for the most part. Average speed was 12.3 (I hope you're not reading this, Lance), and my fastest was 20.4
I came off the ride with my hip muscles no worse for the wear.