In my way of thinking, the best type of training is the one that can be maintained so it seems to me your schedule and responsibilities have you doing what is optimal for your situation. It is usually recommended the training proceed from long slow rides to build up a foundation level of fitness to more intense efforts later on. That foundation builds bone and ligaments as well as mitochondria to power up the new muscle. This all takes a while so doing too much too soon is not recommended. The risk is over training or injury.