Originally Posted by
Alias530
Hardly ever... all my friends are either cat1 and WAY faster than me or brand new and I'm WAY faster than. The one or two that are at about my level either want to do like 8 hour rides (I get bored before then) or their schedule totally conflicts with mine or they have annoying cycling habits (waiting until trailside to see if their bike is in working order and half the time it isn't so the ride is ruined).
You seem to have a ton of excuses for not wanting to do group rides and take the next step in training. It seems very odd that riders are either Cat 1's or newbies. Most areas have a variety of riders and groups to choose from if put some effort into it. Faster groups will make you stronger and improve your riding skill.
As mentioned earlier getting a coach would be your best approach to increasing your power and learning how to do intervals. You can read and attempt this on your own, but a coach can guide you, review your data and answer many of the questions that most have as they begin to train with power. I did this last year and stayed with the coach for about 8 months. He gave me a schedule of intervals to do during the week, along with group rides on the weekends. I had to stop due to a busy travel schedule. Since I have months of these weekly training schedules, I've been doing it on my own now, not at the same intensity. Coaching doesn't have to be too expensive, you just have to look around. If you approach this with a mediocre attitude and effort, you won't be happy with your results.