I don't have any specific advice; I just thought I'd share what I've done over the last year--and what seems to have worked so far. I would note that I live in a generally flat area, ride a steel road bike and do almost all of my riding out in the country.

I don't have a formal training program. When I started riding last year, I concentrated more on bike handling and getting used to riding on the road. Increasing the average distance of my rides ended up being more important than speed. When I first started riding, my average speed seemed to be around 15-16. As the summer and fall wore on, that increased to between 16-17, at least for rides where I was consciously pushing myself. My average average speed, however, was closer to 16 than 17.

I continued to ride until the weather took a turn for the worse at the very end of December. Beginning in September, I supplemented my outdoor rides with about two spinning classes a week and continued to do that through the winter and early spring. I decided in December to get an HRM and to work on building a better aerobic base because when I first started to ride, I hadn't been exercising regularly for a while. So, for about six weeks, I kept my heartrate at or around 75% max. Once the six weeks were over, I increased my intensity and found myself getting more and more comfortable getting my heart rate up for longer and longer stretches. In addition to spinning, I took a lot of intensive yoga classes (which worked any number of things, including deep breathing) and did some light and somewhat sporadic weight lifting.

When I hit the road in March after the weather finally turned, I saw some degree of improvement, but it still kind of depended on the temperature and wind. We had a really windy spring, so I tried to embrace the wind as a "training partner," and specifically went out on days when it was pretty darn gusty. Those rides kind of sucked, but they really helped my strength and endurance. Beginning in mid April, I started riding a lot more and have since averaged about 175 miles a week. I also started going fairly regularly to a local training ride with a posted average speed for their B group of 18mph. I got dropped at first but started to hang on pretty regularly by mid-May. So far this year, I've also done a number of what I would consider (for this part of the country) hilly rides, including a century in Kentucky.

All those things put together have helped me increase my average speed. I wouldn't say dramatically, but an increase all the same. Our training ride averages--and we're working in a paceline on these--are now at the 20 mph mark. If I'm riding more loosely with a group, I'm averaging between between 18 and 19 mph and I've done a few solo rides recently where I've gotten over the 18 mph mark. I ride with a number of people who were stronger/faster than me when the year started but haven't been able to ride as much this year as I have. I'm starting to notice some differences in how long and how fast each of us can go now so I feel like my weekly mileage is starting to have a training effect, too. Hills were my nemesis last year and the biggest reason that I focused on building a better aerobic base over the winter. I noticed that my heartrate would just skyrocket on the steep climbs that we have in southern Indiana. From a strength perspective, I can get up the steeper stuff with less difficulty. I still blow up here and there, but I'm getting better at pacing myself.

I have to admit that I'm really pleased so far with how the year is going. It's fun to go faster, but speed in and of itself wasn't my goal. My primary motivation was to keep up with more and more of my friends at more and more rides. Many of them had been riding for a long time and I had no expectation that they'd slow down for me--at least not by much. I'm accomplishing that for the most part, and it's fun to feel more confident getting in with faster packs at club rides and staying there. I also like the feeling of going to the front of a paceline and holding my own. There is a downside to it though in that getting fixated on speed can take the fun out of it sometimes. I've learned to better ignore my speed on days when I just want to have fun or when I'm dealing with high wind, hills or cold temps. Same holds true on recovery days or days when I just feel kind of sluggish. I like pushing myself, but when it starts to take the joy out of riding--making me not want to ride--I try to take a deep breath and step away from the speedmeter.

Good luck.

K-