So this week i've done a hard group ride at 80-90% of my max hr for an hour and a half on monday, a nice 3 hour road ride with a couple climbs on tuesday, and an hour of hill intervals today. Should I take a rest day tommorrow or on friday? My legs aren't really sore, is it still ok to just pedal around on a rest day?

Better to pedal around on your rest day than not, especially after what sounds like a hard past few days.

Others may have their own philosophies, but I personally ride VERY slow on recovery rides (avg 12-14 mph), on flat, flat, flat, and maintain a cadence of 90-100. Softpedal, meaning pretend there are eggshells in your shoes that you don't want to crack with your pedal strokes. The point is not to stress the musculoskeletal and/or cardiovascular systems, but to flush waste products from your muscles. My recovery rides last about 45 minutes to an hour and are based on time, not distance.

Taking a full day off the bike after your recovery ride day is optional, but may be wise if you feel that you've been going too hard for too long.

I agree. I've found that even if I just go downstairs to my spinning bike and sit and spin for 30 min or so after a couple of days of hard riding that my legs feels so much better the next day (as opposed to not doing anything.)

My recovery rides are with the kids. 9 and 11 yrs. Last night we did about 10 miles at 8-10 mph, lots of stops to wade in the creek etc.

That's what mine often are. Sometimes on the crosser at a local state park. Passer-byes still don't know WTF it is.....

For the most part it is better to do a recovery ride and pedal around a bit helps to increase your blood and lymph flow and decrease the healing time.

I agree that in general my legs feel better after a light spin. I think if you have unlimited time that recovery rides can be usefull. One problem is that most people have a very hard time riding easy eneough. In the last couple months I sometimes just taken the day off and really tried to maximize the time I have to be on the bike. Getting in the time for training is a juggling act with a Wife, Kid, and a full time job.

Hence the riding with the kids @ the park recovery ride. It's all about "time management".:)