Originally Posted by
TheKillerPenguin
Due to lack of coin, i am skipping GMSR. Sucks, as it was THE goal of my year, especially given my early season knee injury. Bah.
That said, went for a group ride last night. One of the riders has been kicking my ass for years, and last night I rode him off my wheel at will while doing tempo. Between that, my experiences in the few races I've done while fit this year, and timing myself up climbs, it's safe to say that I am miles ahead of where I've ever been before.
I've only ridden 5.5 of the last 12 months...The goal at this point is to actually ride through the fall for once, and keep my fitness (and snap) through base, so I can go forth and murder in the spring. I basically start every year back at square one; my first ride of 2011 was 1.5hrs @ 17mph on flat ground, and I felt like I was going to die. Having never ridden a year without taking at least a few months off (seriously, never), it'll be interesting to see how much the consistency in training benefits the next year's fitness.
Care to pin it on what you believe has pushed you over that edge? I'm sure it's buried somewhere in the last 300-400 pages of this thread but I only just started following this one a bit. Something like 'The Next Level' training - where did I see that? Here or the wattage group I'll bet. I'm looking for stuff to try since I'm now forced off the coach due to - you guessed it - lack of coin.