i have not tried a lifetime bike but I have done this on just about every variation of a "spin" bike. I would either find a hotel with spin bikes or local gym as normally they have a small fee to enter.

Another thing to do as rent from a local bike shop as each time i have done that I have never regretted it.

I've done it with powertap pedals. It's better than nothing (by a long shot) but the issue is that the standard gym pedals use a variety of different Allen key sizes (or sometimes proprietary tools) to attach.

TSA has never said a word about my cycling shoes, pedals, and allen keys.

Do you feel this is possibly a permanent change in your life? If so, I'd grab a "gold" level membership to some kind of gym with nationwide locations and bikes with pedals you could make work. Or rent from an LBS. Or google a local "spin bar".

If not, I'd say it isn't worth it as the positions on those bikes are crap compared to a real bike.

I'm not a tri guy, I'm a bike racer. I loathe running. But for any trip shorter than a week I pack my running shoes and suck it up and grit my teeth and go pound out an hour of running.

I'm such a stereotypical bike racer that I'd let the lion eat me instead of run from it.......but I've found myself in a snow storm in NY running laps around the parking lot at tempo just to do a little "weight management".

If you're a tri person and not a pure cyclist, even more reason to run instead.

Good points. I’ve been traveling for years, and actually started running about a decade ago so I wouldn’t have to rely on crappy hotel equipment. Last few years I’ve gotten back into cycling and dabbled in tri, and want to PR a fondo I’ve got this summer so trying to stay a bit consistent on the bike when I’m traveling rather than just running.

I dislike the additional administrative overhead of finding a gym but will give the local YMCA a try since that seems to be the most prevalent option. I’m usually in different locations (sometimes 2-3/week) so it’s a bit more complex than just finding “the spot” in an alternate city. I’ve done occasional soul cycle where I could find it, but wasn’t down with the candles and “channeling my inner chakras” crap.

I do agree positioning on the lifecycle sucks. Was doing some standing drills and it was “special” to constantly jam my knees into the non-adjustable bars.

Which fondo? I'm happy with my power, just keeping my weight down now to maximize the w/kg for Mt. Mitchell fondo and the Boone fondo in August.

I tried this after checking with the hotel and confirming that the pedal uses a 8mm key to remove. Once I got to the bike, there was so much sweat and corrosion that the pedals were seized in place...no way I could remove them.

I was so hopeful for a decent ride on a crappy hotel spinner!

There is no way that you could have an easy and consistently reliable way to get the pedals off the various old spin bikes at various hotels due to the rust, and or corrosion, and or unknown levels of torque used to install said pedals (unless you are going repeatedly to the same hotel).

But l had the same issue as you, l just solved it by carrying an extra set of the wide rubber spin bike pedal straps. That worked great.

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Honestly, from a fair amount of experience, I'd say forget bringing pedals, and just do the bike workout on the strapless platforms in running shoes.

Trust me - you will still be able to bury yourself if you choose to, and sure, the position's far from a racing bike TT position but you're not there for that anyway - you're there to pound out the watts, which definitely can be done on a Lifecycle bike in running shoes.

I do this 1-3x/wk at noon on YMCA lifecycle gym bikes if I'm in racing season to supplement my at-home-on-racingbike training rides, and I'm not ashamed to admit that often the quality of that noon workout on the platforms exceeds what I put out at home on my properly positioned racing bike.

Don't worry about the gear - you're not doing all your training on the gym bike, just a portion of it. You'll get plenty enough real training time on your real bike and you won't miss much from not having clip in pedals or even if you're near-stock upright on the Lifecycle. Just go hard and you'll benefit.

If all else fails i used to stickytape my phone to the gym bike display and do a Sufferfest workout (by RPE). I'd end up literally dripping wet with about a liter of sweat on the floor but the look of confused disgust i'd get from other gym users made the whole thing worth it.

I just slum it up with the running shoes and flat pedals on the hotel bike. My only rule is to bring cycling pants on the trip - doing spin workouts in running shorts causes major chafing for me.

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Next races on the schedule: none at the moment

x2 !

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