Before I ask the question here is a little background.
I have been road biking for about a year now and am 40. I use to mtn bike on and off maybe 3 hours a week since I was about 20. In the past year I have ridden about 7-10 hours per week, climbing about 10,000 feet a week. When I started I had a FTP of about 180, now its about 260, and a long ride for me was 15 miles, now its 60.
So here is the question.
I have noticed some peaks and valleys in my performance, but I always hear that the longer you ride (in number of years) the stronger you tend to get. I have some friends that I ride with that use to race in college, and even if they are not riding as much as I am, they typically don't have an issue keeping up on a 3-4 hour weekend ride, even if they are only riding once or twice per week.
So, how does the progression work? What happens to your body over they years, and how come it takes so long? How can my buddy that raced in college only ride once or twice a week stay with me, on a 4 hour ride, while if I tried that two years ago I would have never made it? In that same vane, why do pros typically have theri peak performance in their late 20's and early 30s?
The [font="]curiosity[/font] is killing me
I have been road biking for about a year now and am 40. I use to mtn bike on and off maybe 3 hours a week since I was about 20. In the past year I have ridden about 7-10 hours per week, climbing about 10,000 feet a week. When I started I had a FTP of about 180, now its about 260, and a long ride for me was 15 miles, now its 60.
So here is the question.
I have noticed some peaks and valleys in my performance, but I always hear that the longer you ride (in number of years) the stronger you tend to get. I have some friends that I ride with that use to race in college, and even if they are not riding as much as I am, they typically don't have an issue keeping up on a 3-4 hour weekend ride, even if they are only riding once or twice per week.
So, how does the progression work? What happens to your body over they years, and how come it takes so long? How can my buddy that raced in college only ride once or twice a week stay with me, on a 4 hour ride, while if I tried that two years ago I would have never made it? In that same vane, why do pros typically have theri peak performance in their late 20's and early 30s?
The [font="]curiosity[/font] is killing me