the 1 gear dividend

Still not on any set training plan, just some rides here/there. Longest ride in a while has been about 2 hrs. Even though I'm not on any sort of schedule or periodized plan, I can feel the ebbs and flow in my riding. My personal cycles seem to work on an 11-14 day pattern.

On a good day, on a given hill I can pedal one gear higher at the same cadence, with lower percieved exertion. The good days only last about 2 days then it's back to normal till the next cycle. Creating these good days is a function of some hard riding combined with lots of rest. Too much mid intensity riding spread throughout doesn't seem to do much except stagnate the legs and create cummulative fatigue.

Instead I've been just riding but trying to get out of the saddle more and give it some pop while on a hill. And when the 1 gear dividend pays out, to try an take it and go to even one more gear harder to make it feel like it does when tired.

The limiting factor is not VO2 max or threshold power or anything like that. The limiting factor is how much discomfort can you put yourself into. For now, my discomfort threshold is just a little bit beyond a smile and into that slight grimace territory. It seems to be enough to maintain some semblance of fitness