Training Advice

for example: some people may commute for 100 miles a week, but always at a pace they feel comfortable with, and with lots of stopping. it's essentially "trash" mileage. Far better to do two hard 50 mile club rides.

I thought you didn't believe in junk miles?

Now I'm no expert and I'm certainly not fast on a bike but I read a lot and am very good at repeating what others say.

So the most important thing in training is rest, you can train your ass off and if you don't rest you will not get fitter.

Fitness is never a static state, you are either getting fitter or getting out of shape.

There are three main aspects to cycling fitness. endurance, force and speed skill. You should train your endurance first by doing steady rides for a long time, even for track that is important as you see some quick guys who are toast in an 8 lap scratch race. Speed skill should come quite easily if you ride fixed on the road, jsut lay off the brake. Force comes from either gym work (squats, deadlifts, step ups and leg presses) or seated climbing.

There is a superb bok by Joe Friel called :the Cyclists Training Bible" which will help you come up with a training plan based on the 3 skills mentioned above and helps you identify what are your weaknesses through testing.

It's a serious undertaking and if it all sounds too much then jsut riding your bike really is the answer.