I would post a thread asking for people's favorite cycling books. I have a book called "Base Building for Cyclists" that is really good. Here's a link to it on Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/Base-Building-.../dp/193138293X

I believe there is great benefit to "just tooling along sometimes". Riding a bike should be FUN!!! If you are always pushing, pushing, pushing ... you'll probably get burned out eventually. You need those "tooling along" rides just to get out and enjoy yourself or you might find yourself getting tired of riding all together. Also, the "tooling along" rides are very helpful the day or two after a hard ride when you need to recover your muscles.

Good luck and HAVE FUN!!!!