Originally Posted by
Dan333SP
That said, just riding hard all the time will get you to a point where you plateau or realize you aren't getting better at certain specific types of riding.
This may very well be the case, but I have yet to hit this plateau. This may be the reason I'm skeptical of all of the people who swear by strict, albeit different and often conflicting methods.
Originally Posted by
Dan333SP
When you go out and ride hard, are you ever doing above-threshold intervals, or are you just riding at the fastest steady pace you can manage for your intended distance?
Both. My time to ride is limited, so I join groups who average speeds that put me on the rev limiter. I blow myself up pulling, and recover on the rear. The time I need to recover is getting noticeably shorter.
Originally Posted by
Dan333SP
It's also important to remember that everyone has different goals. If you want to just ride a lot and get gradually faster, don't change a thing. If you want to enter races and eventually move up the category ladder, you absolutely can't just ride around like that and expect to hang on.
My goal is eventually racing but I'm not jumping into it until I am able to hang on to our local "smash-fest" rides that are lead by solid racers.
I'm getting closer to this goal doing what I'm doing. The reason I am questioning the training methods I'm reading is because they all have different ideas on how I can get faster, as do these forums.
So far, all I seem to "need "is riding with guys who push my limits, and it's working rather well.