Hi Nate,

I had tried my P1's when I first got them and they seemed to work and now after reading this I just went to double check. They seem to work fine. I felt like a mini-DCRM as I connected Edge 500, iPhone 5S and PC with Ant adapter and numbers appeared very similar across all 3 devices. I only rode for about 2 minutes but all seemed to check out.

Hey guys,

Thanks for the great program.

Have been looking at the plans you have and was wondering, for someone who isn't planning on racing this either this year or next and don't necessarily need to peak, what sort of progression would you recommend (assume all high volume, traditional build, sustained power, and full iron distance)?

For instance:
Base --> Build --> Specialty (repeat)
Base --> Build (")
Base --> Build --> Build (")
Base --> Build --> Specialty --> Build --> Specialty (")
Skip base block entirely?
Etc.

Thanks again

Ok. Please keep us posted. I went ahead and bought them and they arrived yesterday. If I can get my DCRainmaker Fu going on I'll get them paired up and ride with my existing powertap hub as well to check things out.....but probably not until the weekend.
Jamie

After deciding against the Cycleops Silencer, I am giving a very hard look at the Tacx Vortex or Bushido smart (big change in direction from direct drive to tire driven motor controlled, I know).

I do not own any ANT+ devices (no Garmin, no power meter, no ANT+ anything), but I won a lot of apple devices. Any word on when you might be developing a protocol for Bluetooth control of the smart trainers? FE-C is a great step for most, but I would be very excited about being able to control the trainer from my iOS devices without having to get a dongle and an adaptor.

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__________________________________________________
The plural of anecdote is not data. :-)
- Andrew Coggan

I think I might be really confused. I emailed Saris and they told me the P1s should just work. I might be mixing company discussions that I had at interbike.

Sorry for making an issue out of nothing!

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CEO at TrainerRoad
Co-host of the Ask a Cycling Coach Podcast

I talked to Saris, I believe the P1s should just work. :-D

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CEO at TrainerRoad
Co-host of the Ask a Cycling Coach Podcast

That's a great question for Coach Chad. Could we answer it on our semi-weekly podcast? I'll have Chad come in here and answer it too.

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CEO at TrainerRoad
Co-host of the Ask a Cycling Coach Podcast

I've had to be quiet on this one for a while because of confidentiality agreements but I just read about it on the DC Rainmaker blog so it's OK to talk about now. Tacx has developed a "FE-C over BT" format.

Tacx is still working to get it into some of their trainers. We're hoping to get early firmware access to test against.

We REALLY hope that all the other manufacturers just follow suite and this becomes the standard for controlling trainers. It pretty much just piggy backs on ANT FE-C and let's software companies share a ton of code.

As a side note, we're a consumer of manufacturer's APIs. We just have to wait until more companies develop BT trainer control.

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CEO at TrainerRoad
Co-host of the Ask a Cycling Coach Podcast

Hi John,

I'm guessing your an ultra-distance triathlete but correct me if I'm wrong. Based on that assumption though, I definitely wouldn't recommend skipping your base training considering that you could complete a 140.6 with little outside of it; in fact, you could actually schedule a half or full at the end of your base phases.

Here's what I'd recommend to fill up an entire 52-week season:

• Traditional Base I, II & III each with their 2-week extensions (explained here under Duration Extensions: http://support.trainerroad.com/...574-Base-Traditional) ==> 18 weeks
• Sustained Power Build ==> 8 weeks
• Full-Distance Triathlon Specialty ==> 8 weeks
• Traditional Base III (+ 2-week extension) or Sweet Spot Base II ==> 6 weeks
• Sustained Power Re-Build (latter 4 weeks of Sustained Power Build) ==> 4 weeks
• Full-Distance Triathlon or any other interesting Specialty plan ==> up to 8 weeks

Plenty of flexibility here too. So if at any point you want some downtime or you want a transition phase at the end of the season, don't hesitate to add it in place of the Trad Base III/SST Base II revisit.

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Head Coach at TrainerRoad
Co-host of the Ask a Cycling Coach Podcast

Thanks. I'm still working with my PT hub and comparing to P1 watts before I paid the P1 to TR.

Wasn't sure if you were asking for permission, but definitely.

As for the response posted, thanks. Some fodder for thought, and will give it a try and report back intermittently.

Pass along my thanks to Coach Chad (if he doesn't check these threads)

Thank you. I am not so tech savvy (I just had to look up what API meant to fully comprehend your response) so I think I used the term "protocol" incorrectly. I really just meant to ask - will Trainer Road support controlling Tacx smart trainers via Bluetooth? Since it sounds like that is in development, the next question is: do you have a ballpark of the timeline?

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__________________________________________________
The plural of anecdote is not data. :-)
- Andrew Coggan

Thanks! I sent this message to Chad and it's now logged for the podcast :).

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CEO at TrainerRoad
Co-host of the Ask a Cycling Coach Podcast

Nate; about to get delivery of Tacx Neo; can i confirm with you before signing up for the service:

1. at the moment only FEC available for control (as Tacx working on fec over ble?)
2. i can still choose to control nea through my quarq
3. will Garmin ANT+ (XT310) dongle work for it (I seem to remember Wahoo required different dongle)
4. few user mentioned slow response over the short intervals - has it been fixed?
5. any other issues NEO users should be aware

thanks so much.

PS. BTW i find your presence in the forum and responsiveness to queries as one of the biggest advantages TR has over competition. Please keep it up

Does anyone know of a video-player for windows that will allow me to play the film at the top of the screen, while still using the whole width of the screen? By the top of the screen I mean vertically, not depth-wise. With most films there will be black, unused space both above and below the film, and even when using TR in horizontal, TR will hide some of the film. Would be nice to just move that film upwards and be able to see everything. Note, I currently use VLC to watch movies, but haven't found a setting to do what I want.

1. Correct
2. Correct
3. Yes, if you're on a mac or PC and ANT+ dongle will work. If you're on iOS you'll need a wahoo dongle.
4. Slow response is specific to each trainer, so if the neo takes a while to change power (which I don't think it does) then it could take a while to go in/out of short intervals. Power beam pro is the worst offender.
5. We have never tried the NEO. Tacx is sending them out to customers before we get one. We haven't had a customer use one yet either. If you end up with a problem, we'll of course refund your money and work on fixing it :).

Thanks for the kind words! :)

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CEO at TrainerRoad
Co-host of the Ask a Cycling Coach Podcast

Hi Nate,

A couple of questions regarding the podcast.

When does it go live?

Is there a link or do I need special software to listen and ask a question?

By the way, I've been trying to get into the blog page (http://blog.trainerroad.com/) but it keeps timing out. Here's the message I keep getting. I'm on Chrome if that makes a difference.
This webpage has a redirect loop
ERR_TOO_MANY_REDIRECTS

Thanks,

Here's a link to the podcast. We're doing one every other week right now and the podcast will go up within one week of recording.


https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/ask-cycling-coach-trainerroad/id1035433041?mt=2

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CEO at TrainerRoad
Co-host of the Ask a Cycling Coach Podcast

I'm really enjoying the podcasts, I was just listening to the TT one with Justin Rossi earlier today. It's always cool to listen to people talk about stuff that they're genuinely passionate about, so thanks!

And to anyone who might wish to offer some advice:

I'm a complete TrainerRoad newbie, just done my first 8-min FTP test and scored an FTP of 243W at 3.8 W per kg, which I'm reasonably happy with. I thought I paced it pretty well, but now that I'm sitting on my ass on the couch I'm thinking that probably means that I didn't push it quite hard enough.

https://www.trainerroad.com/cycling/rides/2427930

What do you guys with more experienced eyes for these things think of my effort? Any advice is very much appreciated!

First time never get it's right, you need more experience to do the right pacing. So take another test in 1 or 2 weeks time. It took me approx 3-4 times, it is all about experience and mental toughness.

Podcasts are awesome.

I've been listening directly from the blog page but I'll try itunes as well.

My main question is that I heard Jonathan instructing people to type their questions so Chad and yourself can answer them. It sounds like these podcasts are being recorded live with some sort of chat option which allows listeners to submit questions. Am I wrong or is there a way to listen and type questions in live?

Ah, we have a gotomeeting where people can ask questions. You can also send in a question to support@trainerroad.com and we'll add it to the list. We'll be more clear on that. I pinged Jonathan to have him come in here and put in a link to our next podcast.

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CEO at TrainerRoad
Co-host of the Ask a Cycling Coach Podcast

Hi Nate,

The instructions for the Time Crunch Low Volume plan suggest : "both the warmups & cooldowns can be extended based on time availability - extending your warmup is our recommendation if you have a little time to spare..."

How does one go about extending the warm up & cool downs? Is there a way to keep a workout from saving at the end to extend the cool down? Or, do you have to open another workout as the cool down?

Thanks for a great service!