Originally Posted by
69chevy
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.
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.
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.
Got it. You're right where a lot of people are when they start getting interested in racing.
We all have our own anecdotal evidence, but I'll say that when I started racing, I was doing the same thing. Just riding a lot and trying to hang on in fast groups.
When I began entering races, I was able to hang in the pack just like group rides, and I wasn't getting dropped, but I was also not able to attack and get into breaks or ride solo off the pack for extended periods, and my sprint was basically just enough to hold my position across the line rather than blowing by the others like some riders are capable of doing at the end.
That's where you start working on the marginal gains through structured workouts. It's to get to that next level where you're not just riding around in the group, you're able to control the race.
Everyone is starting from a different base ability when they race, so there's always someone who will win Cat 4/5 races who just rides without a thought towards a plan, but they'll eventually hit a wall where they can't beat the people around them unless they start to train effectively.
It's also worth pointing out that you can quantify all of this with power. If you have a power meter, I can all but guarantee that you'd see a bigger increase in your FTP by doing a targeted FTP builder program with a coach or even just from an online workout guide that incorporates intervals and recovery than by just doing lots of group rides.