How to pick up the pace?

[shadon]

Shadon,
...
From your post, it sounds like you ride with a bunch. Are you sure the bunch is the right pace for you in the first place? There's nothing more demotivating than trying to keep up with a group who are just gonna burn you out. Has your performance plateau-ed, or dropped? How do you feel after your rides - is the pace comfortable or do you feel over-stretched?

I just have to take a chance to RAVE about the group of women that I ride with. We are a training/fundraisng team for ALC of all varying abilities. I'm the least experienced of any of us, yet they have been so very good to me. One woman in particular always sweeps behind me, coaches me, encourages me up the Sausalito hill, etc, etc. The others are there at the top of the hill cheeering me on, and giving me advice about riding down the others side.

They are an amazing group. I'm pushing myself, but always feel good at the end. I think that the craving sleep thing is something else, hormones, I suspect.

[KSH]

Given that I signifigantly upped my physical activity in June, seems to me that I should have started sleeping better, but that has not been the case.

"They" always say that exercises energizes you.

I know the more I exercise... the less sleep I need at night. Now, I get tired around 10:30 at night... but then my body wants to get up at 5:30 AM... and it can sleep until 7:00 AM!

[Geonz]

I spent years being a solid 12 mph rider on my trusty hybrid. One night on the Tuesday ride a guy asked the leader, "am I fast enough for the Monday ride?" The answer was, not really, but "the only way to get faster is to go out and ride with faster people" (and expect to be dropped, and deal with it until you can keep up). It's how most of the folks in our club get faster.
It tripped my rebellious psyche, though, and I decided to try to prove that I *could* get faster without anybody else. (This also meant I didn't have to publicly find out that I couldn't get much faster... I spent many many years trying to get faster swimming and was always at the back of the pack - perfect form, faster than people who didn't train, but SLOW for a swimmer.)
So I'd go out in the morning to my little loop with a four mile square in the middle. One loop: 9 miles, 2: 13, etc. Goal: average 15 mph. for the whole way around: 16 minutes. INTERVALS - all those swimming years served me well. Cycling is SO MUCH EASIER - I didn't have a computer for those laps . I got to know how long each mile took (one had a hill, and of course the wind was a huge factor).
Some mornings I'd just go out and go around, and do something like try to stay over 16mph for X pedal strokes. The best ones were when I'd try for a good four mile time... and then match it the second time around. Third???
The next time I was on that Tuesday ride with that leader, I had to ride my friend's Western Flyer Repro because I'd gotten too strong for it otherwise. Only pretty good riders came (weather was iffy) and the leader says, "It's drop Sue night, is it?" I thought he was teasing, even when he said, "are your tires pumped up?"
Then we approached the overpass that's what we call a hill, and I realized I'd started getting ahead of people. I touched the brakes and with utter, total leader-to-a-novice seriousness he says to me, "Now is *not* the time to use your brakes!" I thought about how many weeks since he'd seen me last and realized this was my MOMENT. I hit the gas and charged up the hill. As we crested the top, he said, "Somebody got fast!"
"How fast were we going? This thing doesn't have a speedometer."
"16-five... at the top of the hill. Now it's 18. How much does that thing weigh???"
We let the rest catch up and cruised to the Rising Grain Elevator and The Mystery (Wo)Mannequin, where he entertained us with stories of his trip west, including a quiz. "And just what temperature do you think the telescopes were?" [silence... he's going to answer himself, he doesn't really expect any of us to spew our geeky knowledge...] "Come on now, what do you think?" [Well, if he's *asking*...] "About two degrees Kelvin?"
[Brief silence] "Four degrees Kelvin."
[other cyclists cheer. "She knows stuff, too!"]
We take off again ... "How fast can we go?" He's calling out the numbers: "15.... 16.... 17... ... 22.... 23mph!" Gosh darn, we gotta let people catch up... Then it's the last little hill on the return trip, and we sprint to the top, and as I come up just behind him, he's holding out his water bottle (that repro doesn't have a place to hang one)... we're almost sharing spit! It's like being kissed!

... a day like that can last a long time!

... it made me realize that if I could make a student feel anything *like* that kind of power and confidence and achievement, *that* would be what kept them plugging away and coming back... but also that I had to take the risks to get the reward, and the confidence not to think it was still, just the "easy" ride and not a "real" achievement to savor. It's real if I say it's real :-0

[shadon]

"They" always say that exercises energizes you.

I know the more I exercise... the less sleep I need at night. Now, I get tired around 10:30 at night... but then my body wants to get up at 5:30 AM... and it can sleep until 7:00 AM!

That's the rub...I'm *really* tired. I *need* to be able to sleep better! MD apt on Thursday to see if there's an organic cause for this.

I'm avoiding naps too...which is a real fight right now

[Triskeliongirl]

It takes time to get faster. I have improved my speed considerably over the last several years due to many factors including riding more, getting a better fitting lighter bike, and riding lots of hills, and riding with people better than me. What I found, is that by trying to ride with people faster than me, even if I can't keep up the whole ride, is a great interval training exercise. For example, we have a very large club, so the pack breaks into many smaller groups. I'll try going out with the fast group, hang on as long as I can for dear life, get dropped, recover, then jump on the back of the next fastest group when they pass, etc. Or sometimes, I'll go out a bit before everyone to warm up, and again, jump on the back of the fastest group, see how long I can sit in, move to the next group, etc. What I have found over time is that I can stay with faster groups for longer periods of time. I also learned a lot of bike handling skills by riding with better people, just imitating their style, when they climb out of the saddle, etc. Learning better gear management for optimum speed. Like, I used to shift down as I'd crest a steep hill, now I just jump out of my saddle. Riding very hilly and windy courses are another way to crank up the intensity.

[RoadRaven]

Time... yes...

Intervals... yes...

The other thing I would recommend is pace-line training. Its kinda what happens when you go out in the bunch and spend your time making enough effort to hang on to the tail...

Get yourself 1-2 people from the bunch you know are faster with you and plan to go out on a recovery ride with them.

Ask them to ride a few kms faster than you would normally do on your own and to keep that pace steady (if you normally avergae 27km/hour ask them to ride at a constant 30km/hour). This will be a recovery ride for them after a race or a long ride the day or two before your ride with them, so psychologically you will feel ok because you are not "slowing them down".

This will be a good training ride for you, because your job is to hang on to the back, not lead at all and if you feel like you are pushing pushing yourself ask them to lift it by a km or two and see how you feel.

You can also do it with someone who has a scooter or a car, and they can drive at 30km per hour and you have to stay with them.

Its a good way of lifting both speed and endurance.

[shadon]

Thank you so much! I even have some team mates that would do this with me. This and intervals (and time), are what I need to do.

Now if it would just warm up. I'm *so* sick of being cold (by Northern California standards).

[uk elephant]

I was reading this tread before heading home from work actually learned something. I have no idea about cycling technique, only that it involves pushing pedals around to propel myself forward. So on my way home from work I thought I'd try your suggestions of moving to an easier gear and increasing my cadence (a new word I have just learned). It totally worked! I was flying home! Next thing will be seeing how long I can keep it up for. My commute only involves a 2.5mile ride to the train station.