Originally Posted by ericm979

Training by riding as hard as you can every ride is not only overly stressful, it's not effective training. You need some intensity, some endurance work and some easy recovery rides. The mix changes depending on where you are in your season and what your riding goals are. You also need some rest days. When I was 28 I could handle riding 6 days a week and spending two hours in the gym on my "rest" day but at 48 I can't do that. I need at least one real rest day a week, and a rest week every 3-4 weeks.