I started riding for a specific reason and that was to loose weight and get off my meds. During the process, I became addicted to just riding, regardless of the benefits. In the three years I have been riding, I have lost 35 pounds, have been taken off of all my meds and I'm still addicted to just riding for the sake of riding. I never had a training plan or read any books about this vs that type of training, I just got on the bike and rode. I have found that for every study that says one thing, there is another study that says something else. Who do you believe? I tend not to read any of them and just ride.