I'm an amateur distance cyclist. I'm not competing or anything - but I do ride anywhere from 10-40 miles 5-6 days a week. Muscle pain is normal - but here's what I do to keep myself in tune.
1) Drink water, get some calories in me. I'm looking for lots of protein, lots of vitamins, plenty of energy. Other than energy bars, I try to prefer whole foods - not processed. Skip the spaghetti - grab some chicken and veggies. Mushrooms, black olives, spinach, peppers...
2) Stretch before I go out, and stretch at intervals while I'm out. This means stretching in the middle of my 4 mile warmup if I'm feeling too tight. After that it's every 15 miles, or 45 minutes, whichever comes first.
3) Eat snacks and drink while I'm working out. I don't know what your work-out looks like - but (i think) I burn slightly more than 1000 cal/hour, and sweat out vitamins and nutrients the entire time. This means I need to eat something high in energy and high in protein (8+ grams). Plenty of options for energy bars out there - generally they all work for me, so I think you can be as selective as you like while comparing ingredients/nutrients. Still - keeping your body fueled WHILE it's working, is key.
So there you have it - proper nutrition, proper hydration, stretch often (but don't overstretch). Seems to work for me.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/27/2012 11:13AM by Splntrd.