Originally Posted by Richard Cranium
I don't see how it can work out. I know you can't "try" very hard on the long rides if you are going to do all you can to develop 18k speed. Brevet distances and training distances for a 20-30 min effort simply are not compatible.
Of course if you have all the time, then ride the brevets easy and maintain your intensity- training.
I think they're compatible, but it depends on what you're looking for our of randonneuring. Want to finish the rides feeling good? No problem. Want to "win" (word does irk me when speaking of randonneuring) a long brevet that Ken Bonner and some other studs are also riding? You can probably do that too, but the toll from such a hard effort over such a long time will really cook you. You'll feel it for weeks. There's the trade-off with racing TTs and RRs -- if you're also "racing" long distances, you're only going to be at peak for a very few events all season.
If your rando goals are less competitive -- i.e., you're taking it easy on the long rides -- then you'll still be able to keep a full race calendar. And you'll be able to really put the beat-down on the guys in your club on distances that they consider "long" but at which you're just getting warmed up!