Originally Posted by dirtyphotons
i had a similar dilemma till a roadie turned me on to 1 minute intervals. dead sprint as fast as i can go for a minute. if you're doing it right you'll feel like puking by the end of that minute. then 4+ minutes of rest, then one minute on again. a few of those a day or two a week will go a long way.
this isn't really applicable for the commute, but can be done before or after. it doesn't take much time and doesn't require a huge amount of space or a long path, just a relatively uninterrupted loop.
edit: oh yeah, joe friel's book "the cyclist's training bible" has a lot of good info too. kinda sucks the fun out of riding if you think about it too much though...
hmm.
maybe i'll take my return commute through central park and do this.
my 18mi round trip commute has become routine and so i ride more steadily and smoothely than fast and sprinty - i think. i'm not sure.
i'm thinking it's important to test your limits by doing lots of different riding - long rides, rides with rolling hills, climbs, long flats when you can spin really high for a while - to see where you're at and to constantly improve.
commuting december, january, and february is not ideal for that, i am realizing.