Originally Posted by
rench123
Of course, the bike you ride matters- roadies are faster than mountain bikes, slicks are faster than knobbies, and cruisers and folders are generally slow. And the bike has to fit.
However, you maybe overthinking this. The more you ride, the faster you get.
That's only true to a point, at least for me. Going longer distances won't make me any faster at the shorter distances I'm already accustomed to, especially if I find it necessary to ride at a slower pace in order to be able to deal with the longer distance.
Knowing when to go hard and that I have to allow time for recovery is something I didn't take too seriously until recently. Late last summer I was wondering why my speed and endurance seemed to be dropping even though I was working so hard. It was because I wasn't allowing my body to recover.
Then there's the whole nutrition thing that I have yet to really take a look at.