400 a month is what i comute. Miles alone is not an accurate training yard stick. I am 50 something and started riding a bit over 1 year ago so take what I say with grain of salt.

Get a watt meter ant start training with power. You cant hide behind a paceline with a meter. You are putting out good watts or you are not. Power takes wind, hills and most aspects of being faster, strips away doubt and ego and distills it into a number. Gather the numbers up and make a graph to see if you are improving or just getting better at group riding.


I love hills. I go looking for them. Climbing is you, mass, power and gravity. You make the best of what power you have to get up the hill. Matching bar tape and sharp looking kit is nice but power and proper application is what gets you up a hill.