LadyofAxe said:
I usually eat a light breakfast, like oatmeal or some fruit, before my ride. When I get back from my ride I usually drink a "protein" shake. I'm pretty skinny and I have difficulty gaining muscle mass so my hope is that a high protein meal after my ride will help me keep and build muscle. I might not be drinking your typical protein shake though, since I drink a vegan and organic protein shake. I don't think it has as much protein as some of the one sold in supplement stores.
You don't need muscle mass to ride fast.
Winning the Tour, climbing at insane speeds and Time Trialing on the flat at equally mind bending speed doesn't require muscle. It doesn't take much force to press a pedal hard enough a few times to generate 400 watts. What does take a lot to develop is everything that allows you to do that aerobically and continue doing it for a long time - say more than 4 minutes.
Keep the diet balanced and stress about other things - like eating good tasting food and how to ride fast. Life is too short to eat blended goop that tastes like ass. While getting enough protein is important, carbs will help training progress faster. Ask anyone that bonked during a ride about inadequate carb intake... You'll never ever hear anyone say "man, at the end of that ride I had a protein flat. My energy just disappeared completely!"
If you're regularly doing ultra endurance events of 6 hours or more or very intense events that require true maximal effort for less than a minute then more protein may be required but for the rest of us that grind out anywhere between 8 and 20 hours a week on the bike, a typical balanced diet with sufficient calorie intake is all that's really required. Carb up
immediately after the ride.
Michael Phelps has the aerobic system of two horses and a whale and has muscles. His diet - not protein enriched.
Just get enough calories and eat good, tasty stuff.