As mentioned elswhere I broke my leg back in Jan. Been in an external fixator frame since then.
I've been doing 1 or 2 stints on the turbo each week since then - 15-30 mins, just turning the legs over watching old concert videos on Youtube mostly.
Over the last month or so I've been able to get out for some gentle traffic free, flat rides (with the X-fix on) which has been ****in' amazing.
I'm having the frame removed on Thursday and as the leg will be, again, very fragile for another month - 6 weeks, its back on the turbo. But as I'd like to be able to hit the ground running once that's up and try and salvage whats left of the summer, I could do with it being a little more progressive and focused than just churning away in zone 2.
Now in general I HATE turbos. Riding bikes is about being out in great wide world, experiencing nature in its full glory, sun, wind, rain, sleet, whatever. Its not about being a hamster in a wheel staring at another bloody screen and doing what I'm told when I'm told by some inane voice. I ride bikes to get away from all that. (Equally this attitude is a large part of the reason I have a broken leg in the first place <<sigh>>)
But needs must.
I have an old, basic, dumb turbo and a bike on it. I have an ipad I can stick on the bars. What can I get that will make pedalling on it for an hour+ a few times a week a) bearable, which probably implies some kind of interaction and b) sufficiently progressive that I can actually perform usefully once I'm allowed to ride for real? Years ago I had a couple of Sufferfests, which were amusing enough the first couple of times, but then got boring when you knew what was coming. (and they're also on a now extinct laptop)
To add to that, I have a general loathing of software thats subscription/rental based. I want to buy something once and own it for as long as I choose to.
(I'm not totally averse to an upgrade to the Turbo - my local Evans is closing and they have some very cheap deals on Wahoo Turbos, if they're any good - but equally I'm using an old standards QR/rim brake bike, so it'll need to be compatible with that. I certainly WON'T be buying big TVs or weird rise & fall front wheel holders etc)
Thoughts and ideas please? And yes, I'm aware that I'm probably in Moon-On-stick territory
Pickup a smart turbo - secondhand would do - Wahoo Kickr or something like that. I think MyWhoosh is still free - try that?
My turbo-ing is pretty basic smart turbo + TrainerDay + Netflix
Trainer Day is great, runs on your phone, controls the trainer, loads of workouts on there, you can build a plan if you want, LOADS cheaper than Zwift et al.
I pick a workout that's the length of the episodes I want to watch and, voila, 45/60/90 minutes later I've watched something interesting and done some exercise.
As far as I know you’ll be out of luck if you want to buy software to keep. @joebristol might have the best option for you.
From what I can tell here:
MYWHOOSH.COM you’ll need a smart turbo to use their service but others might let you get away with ‘smart power’ estimating your output from a speed sensor.
Another option would be to find an HR based training plan and try following that while watching low grade tv on the iPad. I tend to watch superhero stuff on the turbo because it’s no big deal if you miss a bit if you’re deep in an interval.
You really need a smart trainer of some sort to make it vaguely interesting
I find Zwift really dull where as Rouvy is real roads
My setup is Rouvy via my phone linked to a 32” tv I got free off facebook. I watch iplayer or YouTube in the corner of the screen with Rouvy full screen
Tried MyWhoosh last week for first time since Xmas, they've added new routes, virtual gearing and virtual wind.
If you don't want to buy a trainer, you can borrow my Wahoo Snap that I bought when I broke my wrist last year and haven't used since.
I think you're local ish, I'm in Dronfield Woodhouse.
I still only have rollers at the minute but I find they keep you engaged enough to stop you getting too complacent. Probably not a great idea with a recovering injury though... I tend to just follow GCN Training videos on YouTube which I find entertaining enough with their presenters. Problem is I've kinda run out of sessions now and I pretty much know all the routines, wish they'd start doing regular new ones again!
My clubmate does three hours a day on netflix and Zwift. He’s the fastest 53 year old in the country.
I find Zwift worth the money but like to watch a cycling race on the TV sited above my iPad. I don’t do anything more than Z2 though, as harder efforts are from racing.
I use zwift on a tablet with a smart trainer and netflix or youtube on a tv i got off marketplace for 20 quid . I pick a workout for normally 45 mins to an hour and use ERG mode as it just takes the thinking out of it . Im not sure you could ever make it fun , I can't understand how people can do it for 3 hours without going mad .
For me the motivation comes from feeling the benefit when I get out on the bike at the weekend. Two proper workout sessions a week has definitely helped improve my riding fitness.
I was going to change to mywhoosh when my zwift trial ran out but I feel like I use it enough to make it worthwhile. I have a garmin 540 and you can use the garmin app to make or give you workouts which I assume you just follow on your garmin head unit . I think you can set it up for heartrate or power depending on what sensors you've got . Good luck with your recovery
I set up the cheapest smart Tacx trainer I could find in the spare room with a TV that was doing nothing and used the freebie Garmin app and maps to cycle the world over winter. It was good enough that I bought a subscription to Garmin purely for the new maps/films.
When it is dark at 1500 and only really light at 0900, being able to spend an hour in the sun on Corsica after work is a huge bonus.
My turbo-ing is pretty basic smart turbo + TrainerDay + Netflix
Trainer Day is great, runs on your phone, controls the trainer, loads of workouts on there, you can build a plan if you want, LOADS cheaper than Zwift et al.
I pick a workout that's the length of the episodes I want to watch and, voila, 45/60/90 minutes later I've watched something interesting and done some exercise.
This x2. No subs for trainerday. And the sessions are varied enough to keep it interesting... Basically my setup too.
