This year, I am wanting to work on getting faster. Not necessairly racing speeds, but just faster, like the average person who bikes can do...15 MPH I think is good to aim for. But that would just about double what I do now. I've already decided I need to get a lighter bike to help with that (mine is 40 lbs). I'm too slow to keep up with even the slow people so before I join a group ride, I want to improve my time. So after getting a lighter bike, what would the next step be?

My bike was broken for 3 months and I just started biking again 3 weeks ago. I've only been able to go on 2 rides. One was 40, one was 50 miles. Should I cut down on the miles and instead concentrate on doing shorter rides where I try to kill myself in that shorter time or should I log more base miles before I try to work on anything? Should I be trying to get more rides in during the week or is one ride a week ok while I'm rebuilding my endurance?

log more base miles

if you do short intervals you will be faster but you will peak faster and it will last less time

the wider your base the higher your peak will be and the longer it should last

think pyramid... very wide base to support the peak

Eventually you're going to want to develop some more steady power, which means threshold workouts. Not sure what kind of equipment you're using, but if you don't have any instrumentation on your bike, just know this: "Threshold" refers to that point just before your legs start burning, and spending time in this zone is where it's at as far as endurance riding is concerned.

Since you're able to do 40-50 miles without problem, I think you can start putting some of these workouts into your rides. Try this: On your next ride, spend 15 solid minutes at the threshold point. Spend some time (2 min) working up to the point where your legs start to burn, and then back off ever so slightly and hold it right there. After the 15 minutes, spend 15 minutes riding easy. If you feel good after the break, do another 15 minutes at threshold.

The goal is steady progression, and to not overload yourself. Try 15-15-15 for one week, 17-17-17 for the next week, 19-19-19. Then a rest week, 14-14-14. After that, maybe try 17-17-17-17. Etc. Before you know it, you'll be killin' it on your group ride.

That'd be a good start.

That's what she's hoping.

I've added very little to this discussion.

One ride a week is WAY too little, you won't build much endurance or anything else with that. Yes, you need a lighter bike, but you need to train. You're "kill yourself" idea is basically on the right track, you'll need to do some intervals, but you probably need to build a base of steady moderate-effort several-days-a-week riding first.

I found this book helpful:
https://www.amazon.com/Lance-Armstron...6841071&sr=8-1

If you can, get a heart rate monitor, if not, just use Perceived Exertion, start with the beginner-level training program - you're going to ride about 5-6 days a week - and follow the plan. You'll see improvement.

Intervals are definitely the way to get faster.

However, at the point you're at, you just need to ride consistently. Try to get on the bike 5 times a week, even if its for a short time. If that's undoable, you really need to do at least 3 rides a week to see much improvement.

After you've been riding 3-5 times a week for a month, and can do an hour or two comfortably, then you want to start thinking about doing some intervals.

Right now you'll improve dramatically just by riding more often.

I disagree

As a non-serious trainer, just someone wanting to get in shape, here is my experience.

I started in July and rode the bike path (about 10 miles) almost every day. Initially, it took me over 50 minutes to do this ride with the few traffic lights, slowing on the sharp corners and avoiding the people who like to use the whole width of the path. Within about 3 months my average time was down to 35-36 mins on the same trail and same obstacles. I never rode all out or anything but at a good clip and keeping my HR up above 140 (I'm 43).

What I take from that is that frequent, aerobic rides - even moderately short ones - really helps. I also lost 20 lbs doing that. I eventually got to the point that that bike path ride wasn't sufficient for a work out. It got too easy. I was doing that on my mtn bike so I bought a road bike and now do 25 mile rides in about 90 mins or so. My one minute HR recovery is 35-40 bpm and my resting HR is down to 55. I'm very happy with the progress I've made.

I think you should focus on 5-6 45min rides a week. Within a few months you will probably notice some big improvements. At that point, either just keep it up or increase your riding time or focus on a more specific type of training. When out of shape, you don't need anything fancy - just time in the seat and moderate effort.

Ride down a hill.

Thinking back to when I started out, my big improvement came when I did the following:

1. 1 3hr, preferably 4hr, ride on the weekend.

2. At least 2, preferably 3, 1hr rides during the week.

If you can do a second ride on the weekend of any length that's a bonus. If you can do the weekday rides with some intensity that will also help a lot (e.g., doing two or three 10-15 minute segments above your comfort zone).

If I had to choose, I'd say a 4hr weekend ride and 2 weekday rides is more valuable than a 3hr weekend ride and 3 weekday rides.

Even 20 pounds makes a negligible difference on flat ground.

Assuming you weigh 160 pounds and average 17.4 MPH on flat ground with a 40 pound bike you might get 17.6 MPH with a 20 pound bike. Up a 3% grade at the same power you'd go from 7.0 to 7.6 MPH, and on a 6% climb 3.9 to 4.3.

The percentage gain will be lower if you weigh more or are faster.

Aerodynamics help a lot. Rolling resistance helps some. For group rides you need to be on a road bike riding on the hoods.

Gearing choices appropriate for your weight, strength, and physiology can help with endurance.

You need to work on the engine. You need some science and structure applied to your training. You can get a lot of benefit from shorter efforts at higher exertion. Feedback from a heart rate monitor or power meter can help a lot like pacing so you hold back when you're fresh (and can keep going hard longer) and dig deeper when it feels hard but you still have it in you. Keeping a log will let you identify where you're peaking/over-training and need recovery plus interesting things (although I'd prefer to pedal 80-90 RPM, I can spend a lot more time past 90% of my one hour power if I increase that to 90-100 RPM).

Get some base miles in. Maybe 500 easy miles.

Ride hard. Ride intervals where there are lots of opinions on what works. Ride often. Take rest days at an active recovery pace or off the bike so you can sustain that. Slow down when the chronic load gets too great and your performance decreases. Repeat 2-3X a year. Pace off heart rate or power.

_The Time-Crunched Cyclist: Fit, Fast, and Powerful in 6 Hour a Week_ covers the fundamentals, is tailored to normal people who can't live in the saddle, and is one example plan that might work.

I like sweet spot training. At low speeds you can ride for a long time without much benefit. High power has good training effects but your time there is limited. The sweet spot is a balance between riding long and riding hard; where going at perhaps 85-95% of your one hour power (90-100% of lactate threshold heart rate) is enough to be effective and lets you ride for a lot longer (in a day or week) than at higher power. It does nothing to improve your anaerobic fitness and sprinting ability, but does boost power at your lactate threshold and let you go longer at lower intensities. At some point you also run into a ceiling and need to ride harder intervals.

Get more easy base miles. The rides can be short but more numerous. Then ride harder shorter. At least 4-5 days a week. Twice a day for 45 minutes can feel great. A rest day or two off the bike is good.

Aaayy, getting faster!

How old be you? ...did I miss that?

It's important to keep getting out there, move forward, not backward, meaning, only add a bit more than what you know you can do, then see how you feel tomorrow, then how you feel the next day (if'n you're over 40-45...). If you overdo, the recovery period cuts into training, big time.

Steady progression.

Young people recover faster, but injury is never fun, at any age.

If you add one minute/day, in two months your training sessions are up to two hours/day! That rate of increase is probably too much too fast, right? You get the idea.

Build your mileage; your body will adapt.

As your rides get longer, and AND it takes two or three days of long rides to break yourself down, then THEN start pushing a bit here and there - mark your time from waypoint to waypoint. Remember, you add just a smidge of effort OR time, then see how you cope with that.

Start with time.

I'm 53.

Over five years ago (and some 75 lbs of faaat ago), I rode five minutes, around the block, the seven minutes the next day... when I was SURE that 20 moderate minutes would not injure my decrepid body, I went bike shopping...

...just three years ago, 14 mph on flat ground on a road bike was about my sustainable limit. I started time trialing between waypoints on my training routes. The next year I discovered the local practice racing series. Now I'm quite a bit faster!

Uhm, I can't say, as "we" rowdies don't talk in "average" speeds, ahem.

I have a very good idea what I can do without putting myself in a hole.

Two days ago I did some "exhaustion training," just for fun. Heh, what a f up!

By the way, I trained swimmers for over 20 years, and ran extremely successful programs. The kids progress over time; there's no shortcuts.

It's supposed to be FUN.

Everyone starts with the basics. The basics are taxing, at first.

If you are less than 35 years old, you'll likely "kill yourself" anyway.

That is all, for now.

Thanks guys. As always, I've gotten a lot of info and now need to figure out the best way to put it into action. I think what I'll do is take the next few weeks, while it's still cold anyway, and do 5-6 rides during the day on the trainer. They'll be short and with more intensity than I do now so that when I do go back out on the road, I am a bit faster. Hopefully fast enough to keep up on a group ride since that is my goal. If not, at least I'll be able to keep up for a few minutes, then a few minutes more, then a few more. I know riding with others brings out my competitive spirit and really pushes me.

Easy base miles and work on your cadence, then once you're ready get into the more specific training that people are talking about