1) you dont want to push yourself too hard. Just work with whats best for you, try some different types of training rides, and yes i think gradually adding on miles will build up fitness. Also if your getting bored, stick the bike on a car and drive somewhere different, if you have mountains or hills around, go there. I must admit i do get bored riding in the same place all the time, but i like a variety. You should consider joining a riding club or somesort is you already havn't. They travell around a lot, and group riding is really fun . With the training thing, my opinion is to go for a shorter ride each day, but then say on a weekend have saturday off, and go for your main ride sunday (look for different places to go). When training, its not how much you do, its how often you do. Hope this helps, i'm a bit the same, addicted to riding...fun isn't it