I have also been wondering about some of these same questions myself. I currently ride maybe 3 times a week outdoors depending on the weather, which lately hasn't been too good! So it seems like I get in one really hard ride a week 40-60+ miles with 2000+ feet of climbing. Then, I'll do what I call my recovery ride, which is about 22 miles on flat, and I'll go at whatever pace feels comfortable to me, without pushing myself. Of course, I have no idea if this is correct or not. Somewhere in between I'll do a moderate ride of maybe 32 miles rolling hills. I've also wondered how soon before and after a difficult ride can I do my recovery ride? My last ride that was 63 miles, I did the 22 mile flat ride two days before. It seemed to work out just fine. This week I plan to do it the day before my 65 mile ride. I don't know if that's a bad idea though.