Originally Posted by badhat

i dont know what you thought would be offensive there, but no offense taken.

i'm a 4 and my longest race this year is 2.5 hours

this particular ride is a 4 hour hammerfest controlled by mostly 1s an 2s

i understand you point but what i want to get out of that particular training ride is anarobic work, tempo changes, responding to attacks, rotations, etc...

i think i get a better workout for my needs putting in a couple of hard efforts with these guys for a couple of hours, chasing a little, getting in the rotation a little then getting dropped and soloing at tempo than i would just pushing a steadier tempo in the back of the pack.

i get stronger every week, and i get further in the ride every week, but even if i didnt get much further than 2.5 hours, it doesnt matter to me cuz thats the target. next year i'll worry about finishing with those guys. for now i'm happy to get in a good hard 1-2 hours and then do my own thing.

fits my plan.

train agressively, race conservatively, all that