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Nothing wrong with a bit of AeroCoaching ;)
Personally I've gone well off fewer hours than most for 10-50 mile TTs, down to 4-5hrs per week in years past. I'm about double that now as I've managed to mitigate some of the horrific saddle issues I'm prone to, I train at Newport 1-3x week and keeping the short work in year round does pay dividends. There's a tendency for people to only do sweetspot (I hate that term! Makes it sound magic) training and nothing else for TTs which is wrong: if you don't know how to train then fill your boots and just ride at 86.2% FTP all day or whatever, but you'll hit a plateau and then go nowhere after that.
Incorporating short stuff will STILL target the right energy systems for TTs and efforts 1-3hrs in length, even when the power is mad high and you're only doing 20-40sec. People make the mistake of just looking at power output during a session and saying "oh that's way higher than my 10 mile TT pace so it's not helping my 10 mile TTs". I just did 3 flying 500s yesterday afternoon at the track, and today I'm going to do 4x2km as long as my leg holds up. Targets for next year are 10-50 mile TTs as well as track, it all helps.
Clients of mine occasionally raise an eyebrow when they have 40sec repeats in the depths of winter but when they emerge and have +10-25w on their FTP for the following year it makes it worth it, you just have to manage it effectively. Being a drone on the turbo definitely a bad idea as you've noted!
xavierdisley-
I hear you Xavier.
Not poo-pooing anything you do as it clearly works but I often see lads spending a fortune on kit and little else.
I think the point I was trying to make was that equipment alone isn't the answer. Good solid training costs little and often reaps higher rewards than just spending cash on kit, certainly at club level anyway.Getting to your point about hitting some high end stuff in the winter, I've started adding short 30 second, flat out sprints to the end of my sweet spot intervals on the turbo, just to hurt my legs a little. Hopefully it'll keep me a sharper.
SQT's at Derby when I can and some MTB'ing without looking at my data until after the ride also helps as pace is often dictated by faster riders which is always good IMO.
BeaconJon
Spot on. You wouldn't believe the levels some of the lads in our club go to both financially and time wise just to compete at club level. Aero coaching, fitness coaching it all adds up.
I'm kind of old school and was brought up in and around watching my dad at cat 1 years ago. The old adage remains, just train hard son of you want to go faster.
He'd ride 1000 miles a month through the winter, always hard and fast. I can only give 6-7 hours a week so my fitness is a little fragile if you know what I mean.
Mixing it up keeps me sane but ultimately I know on top of base and sweet spot the only way to really get that top end is to destroy yourself now and again and recover well.