I've been road cycling 3 or so years now. Until very recently, I've mainly been riding alone, for general fitness, about 3 X per week, about 2-2.5 hours per ride, totaling about 75-100 miles per week. Recently, I've started group riding and I am very interested in being able to keep up with the A group. With my current plan, (basically just 3 rides) allows me to almost keep up, but I need to improve to really hang with them. I realize that I need more of a training plan than just 3 "whatever" rides per week. So, here is my situation:

My goal: Hang with the ~35 mile A ride every weekend.
My time availability: 2 or 3 rides of up to 2.5 hours (on top of weekend ride). I'm definitely OK with a shorter ride (intervals?) mixed in there.
My equipment: I have a HRM and will soon have an indoor trainer. My area is hilly, but no true climbs.
Other: I know my HR zones. I can cross train maybe once per week. I have basically no nutrition plan. I wonder if there are any "drills" I should be doing to build technique.

I'd love to hear any specific advice on plans or workouts or any suggestions on books, websites, other threads, etc.

Thanks!

When you say your current plan allows you to almost keep up, does that mean you've gone out with the A group and have gotten dropped? You may already have the fitness, but not the group riding skills. There's a minimum fitness "buy-in" of course, but fitness isn't the entire equation. There are old racers on my local group rides who might show up 20 pounds heavy and 50 watts light, but they never ever get dropped because they know when to hide and when to burn a match. Is there a particular place on the route where you usually get dropped, like say a particular hill or a prevailing crosswind?

Yes, I have been with the A group and been dropped the first time and ran out of gas (twice) a second time. I have not yet figured out how to manage my efforts. Once the pace picks on the A ride up I was burning matches left and right to hang on. But I have done maybe a dozen "B" rides over a similar course and I am solid in that group. So, I agree that I still need to get better with group riding skills but it is also that my fitness/match management could be better. I really want to know if I can do something better with my ~8 hours of training per week other than just "riding". Can I do something more specific with this training time to get better results?

Thanks!

A little structured training with intervals plus improved group riding skills should help. You can buy and read Friel's training bible or Carmichael's 'Time crunched cyclist' or other cycling books. Alternatively, have a look in the racing subgroup and read: https://www.bikeforums.net/33-road-bi...cipe-book.html

The basic intervals to improve FTP are 2x20 intervals somewhere around 90-100% of FTP. I like 6x5x1 @ 106-108% of FTP. That's 6 intervals of 5 min duration with 1 min rest between intervals. You need a powermeter for those whereas the 2x20s can be done based on HR.

For higher intensity efforts which are important for group riding you need a mix of 1 and 5 min intervals. Ideally, you'd find a hill of suitable length and do repeats on the hill. Better yet, practice on the route the A group rides on specifically where you are getting dropped. Lots of examples in the workout recipe link above.

As far as group riding skills, newer riders are often uncomfortable 'sticking' to a wheel and end up letting gaps open up which causes you to do more work than necessary. Keep at it with the A group and you'll figure out where the hard parts of the ride are and be prepared to do whatever is necessary to stay within 12" of the wheel in front of you.

Good luck!

I think Greg is spot on. Longer intervals to boost ftp, shorter intervals to boost 1 and 5 min power, and continue to do the A ride.

Yep, Debbie Downer here, but keep in mind that there is always a possibility that no matter what one tries to accomplish, the end result might not be the one hoped for. Everyone has a limit and getting to that limit requires an effort that could hurt both body and soul. Give it a try following the great advice given above and maybe, just maybe you will be able to never get dropped.

Good luck and above all, keep things fun so you don't burn out and get injured.

I too agree with Greg. The only thing I'd add is that I'd give more emphasis to the shorter, more intense intervals to boost 1 and 5 minute power. In my experience it is rarely the sustained efforts close to threshold that drop the newbie (especially if they know how to draft), it's more their inability to hang in on the hills, or to make the repeated hard effort accelerating away from junctions etc. Being able to hang tough for a very few minutes at a time, and then recover as the pace eases slightly, makes all the difference.

I'm a diehard dedicated unabashed wheel sucker. Drafting can be huge. I try to stay toward the front where it's easier to draft because there's less rubber-banding and other deviations so it's easier to stay in tight in the draft. Draft a bit to the left or right as dictated by crosswinds. You can feel when you're in the draft because you'll feel equal buffeting on your left and right sides. Do pulls, but don't overdo it. Try to time it so you pull up hills but draft on the flats and descents where drafting is more beneficial. Also, on the flats you get significantly more benefit drafting when you're in the drops so get accustomed to riding longer in the drops.

Thanks very much, everyone. This is all great advice that I plan to put into practice. It looks like one of my next steps is doing some field testing to determine my zones, FTP, and so on. And to keep on the wheel in front of me!

I've never trained formally, but I've noticed that I seem to "earn" more matches to burn on future rides by burning matches during commutes and group rides. Sprinting through yellow lights, starting aggressively from stops, and tackling small hills out of the saddle rather than shifting down as much really help.

There's lots of good advice here and I'd just like to add one thing. A lot of people are physically strong enough to hang on when the pace goes up but they give up mentally because it seems too hard.

Keep doing the group rides and when you feel like you are dying grit your teeth and hang on for as much longer as you can. You may find that the pace eases pretty quickly or that after a minute or two it doesn't seem that bad any more. Either way it'll make you stronger, physically and mentally, and if you keep going back and doing this eventually you probably won't get dropped.

Good advice so far.
Also be patience, don't get frustrated when you do all these things and get dropped. Remember in cycling, you can't buy miles but earn them.

I think you can hang with the group if you really learn how to draft, corner, etc. The intervals listed above would be good, but you need some easier recovery days too. Just ride as much as you can. The more miles you have under your belt the faster you will be able to recover from hard efforts in the ride.

The biggest difference between riding solo as a beginner and the group rides is that your solo rides are most likely steady efforts, while keeping up with the fast group rides require you to go into the red zone for a few minutes and then recover again quickly for the next big effort.

That's why the suggested intervals will be excellent to prepare you for these rides.