Training adivice/suggestions

This weekend I went on my first "no drop" 20 mile ride and I can't say it was a success. I had "trained" for it by riding a local bike path to make sure I could do 20 miles at an average of 12 mph, which was/is the requirement for this particular ride. I was comfortably doing between 12 and 14 mph.

To make a long story short it was a miserable experience. The temps dropped into the 40s, where they had been 60s or even 70s and the wind was vicious. My max speed was 18 mph and the slowest was 10 mph, when I had the head on wind. I found the group didn't have a consistent speed, which I understood because everyone was/is at different levels.

Despite the name "no drop" I was dropped because I was the slowest and they went through a light on the feeder road and I got stuck on red. I got to watch them go down the feeder and turn and leave me behind. Yes, I'm still a little bitter because my partner was one of those people leaving me behind.

So, I said all that to say I need/want to learn to improve both my speed and distance. I won't go back to that ride until I have. I read the article here: http://www.teamestrogen.com/content/asa_century which has some great advice. I had some specific questions though. It says each week should consist of several short rides followed by one long ride. The long ride is easy enough, I can do that on the weekend and I would start out with 20 miles. During the week I can ride 3 or 4 days depending on the week. How long is a "short" ride? is it 5 miles, 10 miles, 15?

My next question is regarding speed. Should I work on endurance and building up miles before I work on speed? Also, if I do 20 miles I usually stop once in the middle for a couple minutes to recoup and eat trail mix or something. They also do this on the ride. I assume that's okay during training? I usually have to stop to drink as well as I haven't gotten the hang of getting the bottle out and drinking while pedaling. I'm just not that coordinated.

I appreciate any and all advise.

I do not know much about cycling I just bought my bike a few months ago but I can tell you the more you ride , the better you will get. At first when I started riding my new road bike I was a bit dissapointed with the speed but it is more than just pedaling it takes also to know your bike , learn how to shift and which gears to use on the flats vs climbs, winds etc etc. I am still learning but now after a couple of months I am riding an average maybe 3-4 miles faster than when I first rode my new bike. On the flats I am better though. But like yesterday I hit on the flats 20mph at some point when there was no wind. So I know I am getting better.

Just keep riding.

nothing replaces time in the saddle.......also, while bike paths are usually stress free and good scenery, they are often flat.....hill repeats and intervals increase staying power like nothing else :) sorry you had a bad experience, hang in there, next ride will be better (:

Miles. Just get in the miles. Don't put too much stock in group rides. Even the recreational "no drop" rides have some sort of competitive spirit... it's the nature of the sport. If you feel discouraged with them, don't do them. Short ride? Too subjective.

This sounds wimpy, but I'm building myself up as well. My "short rides" have simply been when I can get away during the day, and I give myself 30ish minutes to get as much as I can in. There's a loop in my neighborhood where I don't have any stop signs, so I can just keep going on that.

You can be a strong rider able to hold high speeds or ride long distances, but there are specific skills necessary to ride in a group. I could probably fill a page with tips, but I would suggest a couple of things. Find a good group that's no drop and rides at a doable speed. Keep yourself near the front and following the group's accelerations. Look up the road, anticipating changes in speeds or upcoming traffic light. Above all else, ask questions and try to keep yourself from being discouraged. Good luck and don't be afraid to get out there. The more you show up, the better group rider will you become.