VS1 said:
Thanks Urkiola2, Piotr,
yes I've been thinking on additional ways to riding, that might help to improve; always good to learn which ones does and which doesn't..
Sorry if some of the folks here were a little short with you. Any talk of lifting weights is
verboten here amongst the Cogganites. You know what would really help your LT is a nice set of Powercranks.
Forget about that...inside joke.
They're right, though, about weights an LT. Get on a good bike training schedule to improve that. You mentioned you have a bad back, though, and that is reason enough to do some weight work....CAREFULLY. I'd ditch the squats, but there are several static or isometric exercises that work pretty well on your core. I'm going to assume that your back trouble is not seriously structural, but is muscular. I've had back trouble in the past, too, but I've felt great this year after starting gyming again.
There are three pilates-style exercises I do: the Plank, the Boat Pose, and the Superman. you'll find a couple of them here:
http://www.performancebike.com/content/core_muscles.cfm
I also start with ab work, which consists of leg raises while holding myself in an incline position on an ab board. You might want to start out with just extending your legs so they're suspended and parallel to the floor, and then bringing your knees to your chest. I find the lower section of the abdominals and hip flexors this exercise seems to target are the group that is most relevent for lower back stability and cycling strength.
I also like to perform deadlifts on a Smith Machine. I do higher rep sets of about 30 and keep my knees bent a little more than a typical deadlift. I do them fast, but fluid, and keep my back straight.
As for the LT, as others said, ride; and get a training program that includes some sort of structured and progressive interval routine that targets your aerobic metabolism.
good luck and best wishes.