Originally Posted by
12strings
I like it because I can fit it into my schedule. I try to do it once or twice a week, and get in one 20 mile group ride that keeps a brisk pace and includes one significant climb. Doing that last rising season allowed me to keep pace with some riders who rode 4-5K miles last year but didn't do intervals....I rode about 1,000, and on group rides, we were about even.
That's called a bit of talent.
I experienced the same when I first started riding. A month or two after riding as fast as I could on every ride, I could drop every guy on the race group ride. It was awesome. I just started doing 1-2 min hill repeats as often as I could because I kept getting faster. But 6 months later though and I was sooo fried. I had to make a lot of adjustments. At some point the gains will slow down or cease entirely. That's when you've got to start trying something else. And again, that's when the longer intervals might start helping quite a bit more.