Forum menu
As above really. I am getting fed up of planning an evening road excursion & then getting back from work too late to be bothered or the weather conspiring against me etc.
Coupled with the fact that I am no longer a member of a gym, I have splashed out on a Tacx trainer (£125 from CRC) and am picking a set of wheels up tomorrow from my LBS. I have some slick tyres (albeit with slight grooves - Schwalbe city jet, I think) to whack on the new wheels.
Is there any set-up tips that will stop me making a fool of myself?
Any suggestions of training runs on it would be very gratefully received. I am interested in improving overall endurance, as well as my ability to recover after short, sharp bursts so imagine some intervals would be handy. I'd also like to be able to go up hills faster.
I should be able to nab the girlfriends basic heart rate monitor if that'll help.
#pulls up a chair#
If you can set it up in front of a telly/portable DVD player, I'd recommend getting the Climbing 1 & 2 DVDs from here:
http://www.trainright.com/folders.asp?uid=19
Just [s]get out[/s] stay in and ride 😕
Might get a bit hot at the moment. You will need a fan even in winter.
Intervals and threshold training are a must to avoid boredom, just sitting and spinning will be tedious and not produce much in the way of results in comparison.
BTW you will end up http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/sweating-like
Did you get one of [url= http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=15807 ]these[/url] too? Found it necessary to keep the saddle level.
I just use a book instead of a wheel rest thing. V.A. Naipaul's "India" is exactly the right thickness. Tried a Harry Potter one, but it was just too thick.
turbo training tips - put it in the attic 'til October at the earliest 😉
Like running on the spot, its going nowhere.
Plenty of good stuff on line, and the sufferfest podcasts are a great starting point.
Using mine in the garden in this weather. Lovely.
Local yellow pages works well under front wheel I find 😀
Towel over the top tube and within easy reach as you will be dripping in no time.
Get a spray oil to cover your bike and put grease over cables, bolts, front mechs, handlebar furniture and especially round bolt holes otherwise parts of your bike will become furry with corrosion.
Oh and some plastic sheeting such as a couple of bin liners underneath the bike to catch the drips.
I used to use one, but found it painfully boring, never sweated so much in my life. Put an old towell down on the floor under the bike to catch the sweat, then use it to wipe the bike down afterwards.
wifes old bathing costume makes a good sweat catcher 😉 il let you decide how to use it so ....
Anything you should know? You'll use it about twice and then hate it 🙂
once you get past the second use/hate thing, you start to love it. The more you use it, the more fun it gets.
The more you use it, the more fun it gets
Maybe with some things but not a turbo.
I've used a turbo for years regularly during the winter and it never got to be fun. Last winter I didn't use the turbo once- I'd now rather suffer any amount of cold and wet outside rather than turbo.
If you must use one then go for threshold/interval training then you can at least limitthe amount of time you spend on it.
Using mine in the garden in this weather. Lovely
Why do you have a bike in that case?
[i]Why do you have a bike in that case? [/i]
??
I have a bike, well, several bikes, because I like cycling.
Cool, thanks for all the comments. I will have a look through all your links this evening.
I expected quite a few 'it's so boring' comments, which is fair enough.
But, I have been out of a job for 6 months and have just started at a place that is a 60 mile drive away. It's not too bad as it's straight up & down the A1 but I am already finding that I am sometimes back too late to be bothered to get out on the road. I do intend at some point to park the car up about 15 miles from work (to start with) and cycle the rest of the way, but haven't got round to trying that yet.
I used to do Spinn classes quite a lot & could manage them without too much boredom & used to do up to an hour on the exercise bikes at the gym if it was chucking it down outside.
I think I will be using a towel - or possibly making myself one those turbo trainer thong things that bridge the seat post & handlebars to catch sweat. I can't believe that you sweat anymore than a Spinn class in a stifling hot gym!
I am intending on using a phone book to level the bike off. We had a new Yellow Pages this week, so that was handy!!
I have a bike, well, several bikes, because I like cycling.
In your back garden?
Not everyone has the time to get their stuff together & then to get out on the bike.Family stuff takes a lot of my free time,so having the turbo set-up for a 60 minute blast whenever I get the chance helps.....
& I like riding it too....
steady state is counter productive. intervals only.
a friend of mine who is an expert level racer, should be elite next year, when asked about turbo sesions, said " i ride as f*cking hard as i can for an hour, then spin to cool down" does that twice a week apparently.
intervals do work, if you can be bothered, but i quite like the above method, it worked for Graeme Obree.........
LOL
I guess if it rains it could be useful...
Get out and ride!!!
[i]steady state is counter productive.[/i]
no it isn't.
[i] uponthedowns - Member
I have a bike, well, several bikes, because I like cycling.
In your back garden? [/i]
In my back garden, in my conservatory, in my garage. In the Alps, in the Pyrenees, in the Cascades. On the track. In woods. On moors. On the L1015. On the J2/1. On the A62. etc. Anything involving a bike really.
Fair enough.
My thoughts on turbo-training; I hated every second of it.
That's real, visceral, hatred.
I appreciate the need when time is short, having 3 kids, full time job etc., but I absolutely hated it.
To me it was like taking everything that was attractive about cycling, throwing it away, and doing the bits that I hated.
I'd rather spend the money on a good waterproof and lights and ride around a local circuit than spend 20 minutes sweating and getting nowhere.
Even running was better.
I've just borrowed one as wrist is broke, so interesting thread. Cheers.
Well, it's built & sitting in the shed. I go to the LBS (Terry Wrights in Mkt Deeping) tomorrow to pick up some new wheels, attach slicks & have ago on said turbo trainer.
Strangely looking forward to it. Got the Thetford Summer Series 2 coming up in a couple of weeks (4hr) and then the 24/12 the weekend after that.
This is going to sound pretty sad...
I thought about buying a helmet camera this summer and recording a few short local loops in the sunshine. Then, playing them back over the winter while I was on the turbo and still sprinting for the same signs, hill tempos on the same hills and recovery spins on the downs - just like a normal ride.
I've never spent more than 60 minutes on a turbo and think 45-60 minutes of a hard mixed workout is enough to keep you topped up over winter weekdays - with one or two longer rides on a weekend.
Those masochists (you know who you are) who can do up to three hours on one really get my respect/revulsion.
Get a big fan.
[i]Those masochists (you know who you are) who can do up to three hours on one really get my respect/revulsion. [/i]
haha. what about those who can do up do 6 hours? 😉
crikey - Member
My thoughts on turbo-training; I hated every second of it.
That's real, visceral, hatred.I appreciate the need when time is short, having 3 kids, full time job etc., but I absolutely hated it.
To me it was like taking everything that was attractive about cycling, throwing it away, and doing the bits that I hated.
I'd rather spend the money on a good waterproof and lights and ride around a local circuit than spend 20 minutes sweating and getting nowhere.
Even running was better.
Sums up my thoughts exactly.
If you can spare 30 minutes or an hour to do intervals on a turbo then you can spare 30/60 minutes to do intervals in the real world.
The single advantage of a turbo trainer is that you don't have to go outside in the biting cold/wind/rain etc in the worst of the winter.
God knows the state of mind of someone who puts a turbo trainer in the garden in the middle of summer. The definition of a masochist?
[i]The single advantage of a turbo trainer is that you don't have to go outside in the biting cold/wind/rain etc in the worst of the winter.[/i]
I really worry about people like that. They obviously don't enjoy cycling. Why on earth would a bit of weather stop you riding?
There are lots of advantages to a turbo trainer. One of which being that you can control much more closely the training that you're doing. If you're just into arsing around on a bike, I can see why people might not see the appeal.