I live towards a city center and it is fairly dangerous to ride outside. I could drive out to some better paths but it adds a lot of time. So, indoor rides for the short rides, indoor rides for the long rides.

Being outside feels amazing when you get to races.

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I set up a trainer instead of being gone on bike rides and ended up getting WAY faster than ever before.

+1

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I was looking through the plans last night and see they have you 3-4 days per week

The Sufferfest training plan is 6 days a week. And coincidentally how I wound up getting WAY faster. ;-)

I can go significantly harder on short efforts indoors with Sufferfest. Especially for stuff like Revolver, 16 x 1' at 135% FTP - that's always a killer!

For long rides of 2+hrs, I much prefer to do them outdoors, and I get higher overall numbers outdoors, probably because it's simply more fun to hammer on the hills than on the trainer.

I am consistently surprised how many people on this forum ride bikes indoors all year round.

I live in a climate where the winters are -30C and there is consistently 10ft of snow so I am forced onto a trainer, however I can't imagine actually choosing it.

It is strange to be doing a sport that involves bicycling and yet evidently not enjoying bicycling itself.

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Run PR's: 18:05 - 36:58 - 1:22:59 - 3:07

...Just out of curiosity, when was the last time you were in Issaquah? I left there a year ago because I had a close-call on just about every single ride in which I wasn't on the trail.

Strongly agree, but I get that some guys are really time limited by family or other obligations and it's just the only way they can make it work on their schedule without giving up the sport entirely.

There are a few others that cite safety as the reason to not ride outside of race day. I'm not so sure that's such a safe decision, vis-a-vis bike handling.

Not so surprising.

If you ride only for enjoyment, yes, that's surprising.

But if you're looking for a time-efficient, targeted workout, like a 2 x 20' @ FTP or similar structured workout, it's far easier logistically to get it done (and quickly!) on a trainer than to find accomodating roads and time of day to do it.

I would be surprised, however, if the majority of Trainerroad users were choosing to ride TR indoors for 2+hrs when they could otherwise go outdoors in reasonable riding conditions.

I'm actually impressed with anyone who is doing targeted FTP-based workouts (like 2 x 20') outdoors at all, since it's logistically such a pain in the rear between the cars, lights, etc.

I ride indoors year round, even in the spring/summer/fall when the weather permits here in Chicago. During the week I ride early in the morning using TrainerRoad exclusively and watching movies. I have it hooked up to a Computrainer and its pretty sweet. I'll also add some additional rides on my rollers to change things up or if I want to do more of a recovery ride. On weekends I do 2-3 hour rides. As somebody else said, you get used to it mentally.

When weather is good, I stay indoors but go outside on the weekends for my long rides. I join a very fast group that makes me suffer the whole 3-4 hours we're out there and I'm barely hanging on even when drafting.

It depends what my coach tells me what to do....but it usually has some tempo in it or SST and zone 2 work...not just spinning.

I ride indoors year round, and bike commute year round. There are pros and cons to both, but I think I prefer the trainer right now.

My coach knows my commute is about 50 minutes each way, so that gets scheduled into my Training as Zone 1 or Zone 2 rides. I do individual TrainerRoad sessions, but haven't done a TrainerRoad training plan, so I'm not sure how much zone 1 or 2 time there is that is easy to do on the Road (I find structured intervals easier to execute well on the trainer, but that's me).

When I first started using a trainer I couldn't imagine preferring it to riding outside. But since I upgraded to a Kickr, and started using Zwift, and TrainerRoad, and Veloreality, I've become one of those guys who prefers the trainer, especially for structured intervals and workouts.

For those in climate with snow; I trade the bike for cross country skate skis. The best cross training I know.

Do interval work on trainer and aerobic rides outside. For outside work use the theme of the TR ride to dictate pace

OK, I just did the 20 min FTP test and I can see how it won't be as bad as I thought.

I liked following the program and watching my line move along during the session. I can see how it will be much more effective than riding around outside for multiple hours. Get in, spend the hour training, be done.

I'm looking forward to seeing improvement!

Thanks for the input guys!

PNW here. I train year-round but not indoors. I run outside nearly every day regardless of weather. I ride outside when it's dry, or wet and warm. Wet and cold sucks. When weather is like that then I ride in the garage. Maybe twice a week for an hour on the trainer? I can do the rest outside.

yeah you get used to it. I actually enjoy it as you can have a very controlled and efficient ride on the trainer. I have done 3-4 trainer rides a week during a few off seasons and come out in the spring a much better biker. Plus its college basketball season so if I need just a long endurance ride I put on the badger game and just ride.

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"Before you make it to the finish, You have to make it to the start."

I live in Georgia weather is usually pretty good here and I hardly ever ride outside. Takes to much time to and the workout is not as effective as using my trainer, too many people seem to be getting hit or crashing also

Only down side you get from months on trainer is back/shoulders are not used to road pounding. Did 70.3Fl this yr after like 5-6 months all on trainer my legs were good but my upper body fell apart in that race.

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2024: Bevoman, Galveston, Alcatraz, Marble Falls, Santa Cruz

For me it's safety, ride quality, weather, and time constraints (I live in middle of NYC).

This might be blasphemy, but I'm going to go ahead and say it... I don't enjoy casual bike rides all that much. None of my close friends ride for fun (hell I don't think any of them own bikes), so riding is not a social activity for me. I enjoy racing and biking hard, and I want to train to optimize that racing in the most efficient way possible, which just happens to make the trainer an ideal solution (given the other constraints I mentioned above). The statement that all triathletes should always pick riding outdoors rather than indoors if those constraints didn't exist seems to be accepted as sort of a de facto truth on this board that I don't necessarily buy into.

I only accept the bike handling argument to a certain extent; however, I rode so much outdoors when I started that I don't think I ever lost much of that skill (maybe a little bit but I'm probably just a little clumsy on the bike period). Plus, I do enough "C" and "B" races during the year to refresh the outdoor riding skills a bit.

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Strava

Can someone suggest a good show?

I was watching GofT while riding my trainer, all of sudden that a$$hole burned his own daughter alive!
It was like hit by a car. I had to stop riding coz I was in so much shock and disgust.

It's getting dark now so rides after work are limited.

I like the social part of riding. Anyone else group ride - any road cyclists out there?

anyways if i only had a tri bike i can see how riding on the trainer indoors would be best.

Some great options....most have multiple seasons so can easily get through many weeks of training....

The Wire
The Shield
Breaking Bad
Mad Men
Justified

Hell, some of those series are so good, you'll want to hit the trainer just to get a couple of episodes in. (pink-ish)

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Chicago Cubs - 2016 WORLD SERIES Champions!!!!

"If ever the time should come, when vain and aspiring men shall possess the highest seats in government, our country will stand in need of its experienced patriots to prevent its ruin." - Samuel Adams

I see much less of my CompuTrainer now that I have a CX bike, proper clothing and a really good bike light.

The trainer has been the single most important tool in my progression on the bike. If I could stay motivated to be on it during the summer in Boulder, I would do it more often. Hit that trainer hard.

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New Training/Racing Log - http://www.earthdaykid.com/blog --- Old Training/Racing Log - http://colinlaughery.blogspot.com

Jack - I've followed your progress a bit and noticed you're a very strong rider. Care to share a basic layout for a training week on the bike? We're about the same age and I can't afford a coach. I do almost all of my riding on the trainer. 2x90 minute rides with intervals, 1x2 hour long ride with tempo and big gear work. Curious how you structure a winter week geared towards getting fast on the bike. Thanks!

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"Don't you have to go be stupid somewhere else?"..."Not until 4!"

Yep, been training on the bike 7 days a week on the indoor trainer for years.

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Dave Campbell | Facebook | @DaveECampbell | h2ofun@h2ofun.net

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