Great thread! I increased my time with the weights again around August and have really noticed the results. I actually notice it most on steady, moderately hard efforts, such as a long tempo effort into the wind. But I also notice it when I stand and sprint. That was certainly a weakness and is starting to develop into a strength, even though I'm spending less hours on the bike. In addition to the usual leg exercises, I have also been doing a more well-rounded core routine via Tom Danielson's book.

My continuing issue with all of this lower body weight training centers on recovery. I had always been told that one should rest for 24-48hours the muscles that you just weight trained. This is the excuse many of my cycling friends use for not weight training, reasoning that it causes you to miss too much riding time. One sollution might be to lower the weight so that you're not taxing the muscles quite as much. That's what I have been doing, but I'm not sure it's the best answer. Any advice/experience on this?

P.S.: Just noticed rkwaki's post about squatting 785 for reps, so I guess he won't be in the "less weight" crowd.