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trainer time vs. road time
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jen jen
Sep 28, 07 8:46
Post #1 of 46 (2237 views)
trainer time vs. road time
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Have a 112 ride tomorrow which should normally takes 6 hours. Would 5 hours on the trainer be a comparable workout?
Tom Demerly
Sep 28, 07 8:50
Post #2 of 46 (2223 views)
Re: trainer time vs. road time [jen jen]
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I absolutely think it would. I guesstomate trainer to road ratio is about 1 trainer hour = 1 hour 10 minutes on the road. You simpy never stop working on the trainer. There is no coasting, no stopping. It is a steady-state effort.
Good luck on your ride.
Tom Demerly
TriSports.com
www.trisports.com
sentania
Sep 28, 07 9:03
Post #3 of 46 (2187 views)
Re: trainer time vs. road time [jen jen]
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While some purport a some formular for making trainer = to road time. I personally go 1:1. My aerobic system needs to work for six hours, so I'm goign to make it work for six hours.
Actually thinking about it - I really enjoyed doing my long rides on the trainer leading up to AZ.
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Done
Sep 28, 07 9:32
Post #4 of 46 (2125 views)
Re: trainer time vs. road time [jen jen]
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When I ride long out doors, at the end of the ride, my AVG Cadence is always around 67.
Let's say I was just on the saddle for 6 hours. That's 24,120 or so revolutions.
When I have ridden "long" indoors (greater then 3 hours) my average cadence is ussually around 85. 5 hours = 25,500 revolutions... IMO, the steady firing of muscles is worth something over the "interval" efforts of riding & coasting.
IMO, I always feel my longer indoor rides have been more productive then my outdoor rides where there is traffic, stops, coasting at least in terms of building shear endurance.
However, a 5 hour indoor ride is mentally challenging and when I need to ride or run long it's my personal preference to get as far away from home as possible as not to have a mental breakdown and take a "shortcut" home... So for a 6 hour ride, I'm going 3 hours straight and turning around to be forced to go 3+ back.
Good luck if you go indoors... Best be mentally prepared the night before.
Rahzel
Sep 28, 07 9:42
Post #5 of 46 (2103 views)
Re: trainer time vs. road time [TGL]
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In Reply To:
When I ride long out doors, at the end of the ride, my AVG Cadence is always around 67.
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When I have ridden "long" indoors (greater then 3 hours) my average cadence is usually around 85.
Though my computer doesn't calculate average cadence, I've suspected that something like this be true for a long time now. On my indoor rides, there's simply no coasting or stopping, so I feel like a 1hr ride is way more productive than a 1hr road ride.
Though, as you said, the mental challenge of a long trainer ride is many times higher than a long road ride. Like running on a treadmill, it's just so easy to get bored/tired and stop.
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docfuel
Sep 28, 07 9:46
Post #6 of 46 (2094 views)
Re: trainer time vs. road time [jen jen]
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I hope you have some strippers or other entertainment to keep you from going stark-raving-mad.
I went 2:45 on mine last week, right after I was driven indoors by a cold rain/hail storm after 1:20. that was brutal, especially on my taint. I felt like I'd ridden 5+ even though my total was only 4.
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jen jen
Sep 28, 07 9:49
Post #7 of 46 (2080 views)
Re: trainer time vs. road time [docfuel]
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If there are any male ST strippers willing to volunteer, I'd welcome the entertainment.
Macho Grande
Sep 28, 07 9:56
Post #8 of 46 (2064 views)
Re: trainer time vs. road time [jen jen]
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I think Paulo is you man to handle this one.
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bikesportgirl
Sep 28, 07 10:01
Post #9 of 46 (2044 views)
Re: trainer time vs. road time [jen jen]
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Definitely. Another great feature of riding the trainer is that every time I do it, I notice considerable gains in power and strength out on the road and it takes a little less time indoors.
I am getting ready for IM right now, as I presume that you probably are too. I have some of those long trainer days coming up myself....best advice I can give is have as much visual and audio stimuli as possible! It isn't uncommon for me to have a movie on, my IPod going and the visual telemetry on another screen. It helps with the monotony of being inside.
Good luck and have a great ride!
"It is not the great things we do in life that really matter, it's the small things we do with a great heart..."-Mother Theresa
Lavery
Sep 28, 07 10:44
Post #10 of 46 (1970 views)
Re: trainer time vs. road time [sentania]
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I am with you on that one. I have always gone with 1:1. Of course there are some people here that have derived complex formulas that say otherwise. I think its all just an excuse to ride the trainer less.
tury
Sep 28, 07 10:48
Post #11 of 46 (1954 views)
Re: trainer time vs. road time [jen jen]
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I have never ridden anywhere near that on a trainer. But I will state this 1 hour on the trainer feels a lot harder than one hour on the road. And I have a PowerTap on it so i can compare Watts. i think the fact that you never stop peddling is huge. As you don't really want to stop peddaling in a race. I may try a long bike on trainer so how long I can last.
Like T says, "Remember it is all about the Bike because it is all about the Run!"
jar1635
Sep 28, 07 11:00
Post #12 of 46 (1920 views)
Re: trainer time vs. road time [Lavery]
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I'll third that opinion.
I'm an avid trainer rider...even when it's nice outside. I just like the fact that you do nothing but ride, no stoplights, no coasting - just straight pedaling.
To the OP, if you have planned on riding 6 hours - then ride 6 hours on the trainer and be better for it. More is more right? so, if people want to say the ratio is 1:1.x then you'll only be doing yourself a favor by going the full six.
I've done a large number of six hour rides on my CT (and even twice on a spin bike) - sure there are more pleasurable things, like riding outside, but pound for pound it's just too good of a workout when compared to a six hour ride outside.
sentania
Sep 28, 07 11:07
Post #13 of 46 (1896 views)
Re: trainer time vs. road time [jar1635]
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man all this trainer talk is getting me hot and bothered to ride my trainer for 4 hours on Sunday rather then go outside!
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fred_h
Sep 28, 07 11:08
Post #14 of 46 (1892 views)
Re: trainer time vs. road time [Tom Demerly]
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I agree there is no stopping, no coasting (however you can significantly slow down :)) and therefore your legs end up working more for the same amount of time.
Your brain also ends up working more... Even though with a solo 6H ride outside you will have to deal with boredom as well.
However, on a trainer, I would suspect your core work less since a) no need to main equilibrium and b) no need to deal with the mind.
That being said, leaving in Ottawa, I will enjoy as much as possible of outdoor riding before I even consider hitting the trainer!!
Fred.
jar1635
Sep 28, 07 13:16
Post #15 of 46 (1769 views)
Re: trainer time vs. road time [sentania]
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considering where you'll be riding in two weeks...yeah, maybe you should. It can't be anymore boring than staring at lava fields, right?? :-)
Andrew Coggan
Sep 28, 07 13:17
Post #16 of 46 (1762 views)
Re: trainer time vs. road time
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Normalized power, anyone? ;-)
sentania
Sep 28, 07 13:23
Post #17 of 46 (1740 views)
Re: trainer time vs. road time [jar1635]
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maybe I could convince my wife to close the windows and crank the heat!
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sandiegopj
Sep 28, 07 13:43
Post #18 of 46 (1696 views)
Re: trainer time vs. road time [Tom Demerly]
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I have a question then. I have been doing my 5 and 5+ hr rides on an island with a continuous 4.2 mile loop. There is vehicular traffic on the island but it never causes me to stop maybe only slow down very rarely. Now, not only am I riding non-stop but there is also considerable winds and (well the first time anyway) heat to deal with. Does this make the ride equivalent to something longer than 5 hours? Is this nonstop riding less significant then a 5 hr trainer ride?
And when we say a 5 hr ride is that 5 hrs of riding time or 5 hrs fromt he time you start til you finish? I always assume 5 riding hours.
Just curious cuz this is my first IM coming up too and interested to see what people think about these longer rides.
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Dig It Tri
Sep 28, 07 13:57
Post #19 of 46 (1666 views)
Re: trainer time vs. road time [tury]
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As was mentioned above by Andrew Coggan, if you're got a PT, you know the answer already or can find it out real fast. More watts are more work, indoors or out. Personally, I always find indoors much harder but when I look at the power data, I've done less work no matter the ride duration This comes from several different factors including poor cooling indoors, boredom on the trainer and the fact that I don't have much traffic or stops on my main outdoor riding courses.
Jason
Dig It Triathlon and Multisport
www.digittri.com
sentania
Sep 28, 07 14:14
Post #20 of 46 (1639 views)
Re: trainer time vs. road time [Dig It Tri]
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No power meter here.
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"no matt...your FTP is never high enough, there is always room for improvement." - jonnyo
00
Sep 28, 07 14:16
Post #21 of 46 (1634 views)
Re: trainer time vs. road time [Andrew Coggan]
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Quote:
Normalized power, anyone? ;-)
I was going to say... all this talk about "feels harder" etc is all subjective.
I sit on the trainer when I'm forced to. It is pure hell to ride HARD on a trainer for any period of time. A 1 hr workout with IF around 0.93 on a trainer is extremely difficult mentally. I just did an outdoor group ride and at the 1 hr point my IF was 0.99 and the mental cost of this was pretty low.
For those counting, that's about 80 TSS in one hour on the trainer and right at 100 TSS in one hour on the road. The same applies, probably more so, for longer rides.
So it appears this whole "trainer to road" conversion might be just a bit too personal to come up with any guideline.
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Note to self: increase training load.
Lavery
Sep 28, 07 14:29
Post #22 of 46 (1614 views)
Re: trainer time vs. road time [jar1635]
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People give me shit when I say its 1:1, they say, " you dont HAVE to ride that long", but I say, why not, its only going to make me stronger.
Dig It Tri
Sep 28, 07 14:33
Post #23 of 46 (1600 views)
Re: trainer time vs. road time [sentania]
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Fair enough. As Signal Strength mentions, since the ratio of work indoors versus outside is fairly variable, I'd say it best for folks to keep it a simple 1:1 ratio indoors versus out. In my case, trainer time would be less work than outside but getting myself on the trainer is punishment enough, I'm not going to penalize myself more by discounting the time as well.
Jason
Dig It Triathlon and Multisport
www.digittri.com
jar1635
Sep 28, 07 15:31
Post #24 of 46 (1546 views)
Re: trainer time vs. road time [Dig It Tri]
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what about when you use a computrainer in ergo mode? If I set the load at 225, doesn't that equal 225 (give or take) watts on the road? I would assume that would negate the environmental factors that you mention.
Forsler
Sep 28, 07 16:08
Post #25 of 46 (1504 views)
Re: trainer time vs. road time [sandiegopj]
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For me, a six hour ride means six hours of wheel turning time, which means more than six hours away from home when you add in the inevitable stoppage time. As well, if I spend the same number of hours on the trainer as I spend with my wheels turning outdoors, I still feel I have pedalled more on the trainer due to the usual coasting time outdoors. The difference may be less for someone who has the discipline not to coast when the opportunity presents itself.
Grant
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