Training & Nutrition - What Does Peaking Feel Like?

I'm following the Friel book this year and I'm finishing my first "peak". I thought I would feel as if I were bursting with energy, as I have at several other periods this season. Instead I feel just kind of mellow, like I could just sleep all day but don't have to. I'll see what it's like tomorrow, when I shoot for a new PR, but I'm curious to know what others have experienced.

I don't feel any different, I just ride a little bit better.

I don't know that one person's experience is the same as another's, but I did work through a few training-to-peak cycles back in the 80's when I was racing. Peaking to me was bringing my body-fat levels down below the comfort level - so there was a backdrop of strung-out hunger - while at the same time working the muscular and cardio parts steadily harder to keep the body overcompensating over about a 6 week build-up. So the feeling was of always being in "recovery" mode, but never really resting until a couple of days before the race. And then there would just be a sense of extra power and energy, like having that extra kick to lead up a long climb fast, or to hammer through the last 20 miles of an exhausting day at race-pace.

Peaking like that has its cost, of course, both mental and physical, and it always got me to a point where I didn't even want to look at the bike for a month by the end of the season. I'm more interested in sustainable fitness at this point, even if I never get into "race shape" again - I ride every day, and its always the best part of the day.