What i dont really understand is how to prepare myself for long, hard, hilly races (70+ miles) without riding long, hilly distances hard? I generally think of endurance base as long, slower winter miles, which i fully understand, but i dont see how that prepares me for intense long races. I just dont see how doing intervals as part of a 2 hr. ride will help my speed after 60 miles!

Onto another question. The other day i tried doing one of these long, hard rides i was talking about, and i was destroyed afterwards, super sore legs for the next 2 days. This is something i dont experience often just doing high intensity intervals on shorter rides!

Btw, im just asking these questions now in order to figure out a good plan for next year, so i dont waste any time figuring out the training basics.