Originally Posted by
Terry66
Yeah, the but the cool thing is that we all ride for different reasons. I have a friend who is a total gear head. Has every monitor and electronic device known to man. He analyzes his ride data, his heart rate, etc. I say whatever keeps you pedaling is a good thing right?
I don't want to over-simplify things, but the key is just HTFU. I mean push yourself on a regular basis. Ride with people who are faster than you and fight to stay with them. Don't avoid the hills. Ride every day. Don't give up. I can tell you it isn't the faster rider who wins the race, it is the ride who can endure the most pain. Harden up, pedal faster, ride till your legs ache and you want to throw up and then stand up and go a little faster. Trust me, I am not trying to sound like a tough guy here, but I think you would be surprised at what you are capable of if you're willing to push yourself.
Yup, I agree. HTFU.
Still, at some point when you're giving it your all, it's helpful to get feedback on how you're doing. Objective numbers.
Trainers are the extreme but perfect example of this. You can HTFU all you want and more on those things, but there's a world of difference keeping motivated to done Zone5 work when you know that your power numbers are increasing, versus trying to keep at it for weeks, if not months at a time, with zero feedback on how much power or improvement you're actually doing. (I don't think it's even mentally possible to keep it up for more than a few weeks at max intensity sessions without some sort of feedback.)
Even group rides are an example of this - by riding with stronger riders, you're getting feedback on the kind of power to put up to stay in a range of improvement. It's really very similar to training with a powermeter, just with a human in place to push you (which is usually better, I agree.) Those who just say 'screw the technology just HTFU and ride with faster riders" are actually espousing the same exact principles the techie guys are advocating.