Training Question.

A good training plan would have started 16 weeks ago, involved periodization, would have built a good cardiac base during the first few periods followed buy periods to build speed/power.

You can't really train in a week. Go out and ride early in the week, some good hard rides on Monday and Wednesday, do a recovery ride on Thursday., rest Friday.

Also, make sure you warm up. I do a lot of time trials and they are only 12 to 14 miles long... My warm up ride is about 22 miles. You should be doing the same thing for a 17 mile race. It's important to get the legs and heart prepared for the effort.

Why did you get dropped? Did the pace slowly increase until you could no longer hold on? Did the group hit it hard at the start and you fought to get on for the first few minutes and never made it? Or did you try to lead the group?

Smart riding will help. I don't believe in warm ups, but a few miles to make sure your clothes feel right and your bike is working is always good.

As for training. I would go out everyday and get my heart rate up and keep it up. You will not build much strength in a week, but you can get used to your heart trying.

I whole-heartedly disagree in respect for warm-ups. I poo-poo'd them for a long time, as far back as my military days. I thought people who went out and ran a mile BEFORE their two mile run test were ridiculous.

EVERY best time I have had in both cycling and running events have been when I have been able to do a proper warm up routine. I use a specific heart rate based program for cycling and a looser distance based warm up for running events. I'm running about 2 1/2 miles when all is said and done before a 5k or 10k. Historically it's been the difference of about 3:45 for a 10K.

Warm ups prepare your cardiac system for the hard effort or a race. Otherwise, unless you are sandbagging (racing a lower class just so you can win) the effort will be too much too soon and 10 minutes into a Cat 5 race you pop off the back.

I see this all the time even on the shop group rides. I ride the 10 miles to the shop (often even farther) before the ride and the people who roll up in their cars and start cold ALWAYS struggle those first couple miles, especially up the first two small climbs. This is a core group of people, most that I've known and ridden with for years who are good riders. But those extra miles where I have prepared my body for the activity make the difference between riding those first few miles in the font while holding a conversation, and staying in the back out of breath.

It is going to be difficult to get your performance that much better than it is right now in just a week or two. You are going to have to take a long term view. It seems to me that your problem could be endurance and strength. So you should focus on that. Also do you have a race strategy? Notice what worked and what didn;t every time you race.