what kind of intervals for bike speed increase (Page 2)

Depends on what it is you are trying to accomplish.

Because if someone is trying to tell me that when pro teams get together for their camps and ride day in and day out at below leisurely stroll pace (we are talking 17 - 18 mph here) that they aren't getting better, then they are foolish.  They will go two or three weeks riding like that between 4 - 6 hours a day.

Granted, unless someone is independently wealthy and doesn't have to work, there is no way in hell a normal athlete will be able to do this.  But the mantra "ride lots" is more than applicable in the long term.  I would put more money on the abilities of someone who just gets out and rides 1 - 2 hours a day 5 - 7 times a week over the uber-athlete who only gets in 3 sessions a week but does intervals and tempo sessions.  Yeah, the second person may get faster SOONER.  But the other athlete will have a longer career and better gains over the life of their sport.  IN MY OPINION.

Would I be faster if I had a more structured workout plan when it comes to different effort levels with cycling?  Sure!  But the reason I can go out on almost no training and STILL rip out a top 10% ride is because of years of slower and longer stuff.

And the reason I got burned out and stopped riding all together back in the late 90's when I was road racing only?  Because the intensities of racing every week and doing tempo and interval work in the other parts of the week wore me down to the bone.

The best idea is maximizing your time to get the most value for your exercise effort.  But you cannot get ANYWHERE in the long term without having the base to work from.  And that base takes YEARS to develop.  I love cycling.  But I am not at all a fan of overly structured workouts week in and week out.  I've seen far too many people wear their bodies down and lose interest when they have that sort of structure.  There is a really good reason that professional athletes (endurance ones included) only last into their mid-late 30's before retiring.

Edited by Daremo 2009-08-20 1:54 PM

man.. sounds like I need to HTFU to maintain that pace for an hour.. hehe

That's what a 40kmITT is for

Shane