Wow, I don't know where to start.
The OP described the following:
- In an hour effort he can produce 220 watts
- Weighs 74.84 kg, so thats 2.94 w/kg.
- When fresh he said he can beat some riders up climbs but recovers poorly.
- Lives around Cat 3/4 hills
- Resides in So-Cal
So a few things can be said:
- He falls under a cat 5 racer according to Coggan's power profile
- He has a decent zone 5/VO2 max given he can beat some climbers fresh on climbs and hills are cat 3/4, so the duration of these are such that they are usually done in the zone 4-6 range depending on the speed but mostly zone 5 (3-8 minutes).
- His inability to recover from the efforts described above says that his threshold power is lacking.
- Although he falls under cat 5, the quality of riders in so-cal are actually quite higher than average so his threshold is quite low compared to his local peers.
That said, the obvious issue is his functional threshold power and contrary to what has been suggested, increasing one's threshold has little to almost nothing to do with "adding muscle". Cycling is predominantly aerobic sport. While cycling at ones threshold does incorporate the riders anaerobic system, it still is mostly dependent on one's aerobic system and capacity. So the best workouts that can be done to increase one's ftp are those done in the zone 2, sweet-spot (high zone 3, and zone 4 range. All aerobic dominant zones. Also, aerobic power is not of importance, rather anaerobic endurance. In steady TT efforts and group rides, the ability to tap into your anaerobic system multiple times (matches and match book) during accelerating out of corners, over climbs, matching rider accelerations, etc, is very much different than pure anaerobic strength. Cycling is a sport very much dependent on specificity, so the best way to get better is to RIDE A BIKE in a manner that stimulates an increase in the aforementioned systems.
As far as gym work, I assume that weight lifting (squats, dead lifts, etc.) is what is being referred to. Lifting weights is such an archaic method and old-school philosophy to gaining strength on the bike for road riding. The motion of lifting weights is quite different than that of the motion that the human bodies' lower exterminates experience while cycling. Heavy weight lifting is purely anaerobic and only benefits a cyclist during very short sprints and low weight high repetition lifting is simply a terrible substitute for simply riding your bike. The actual forces applied to the pedal are extremely low compared to heavy lifting. That is why cyclists can pedal for hours at over 90 rpms at a relatively high effort for long periods of time. The only time I would recommend someone to do any weight lifting would be for rehabbing, large strength imbalances and discrepancies, and for some trackies. Good aerobic capacity has to do with cardiovascular strength and efficiency and muscle efficiency not muscular strength. The "muscle strength" that is needed to pedal your bike even at a hard and fast rated during the majority of road riding is so small. Think of stick figure juniors who can compete on the professional level who have never lifted a single weight in their life.
Here's a couple great articles from training peaks:
Link 1Link 2
