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One Year Anniversary of Only Riding Indoors
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One year ago yesterday was the last time I rode my bike outside, excluding triathlons. Yeah its safe, but the convenience of being able to ride anytime day or night regardless of weather, is amazing. Couple that with the structured workouts of TrainerRoad and I dont see why anyone would ride outside.

Its funny, I originally got into cycling (3 years ago after a running injury) so that I could enjoy being outside for long periods of time. Now, I get up at 3am and ride in the sunroom in total darkness and silence, with only the TR graph in front of me.
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Re: One Year Anniversary of Only Riding Indoors [Spartan420] [ In reply to ]
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That’s awesome!

What’s your set up and longest indoor ride?
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Re: One Year Anniversary of Only Riding Indoors [Spartan420] [ In reply to ]
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Welcome to the indoor club!

Make Inside Out Sports your next online tri shop! http://www.insideoutsports.com/
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Re: One Year Anniversary of Only Riding Indoors [Spartan420] [ In reply to ]
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That is very impressive. I enjoy the productivity of indoor riding but do not think I could ever give up on the enjoyment of riding outside. 7 hour days in the Vermont/ New Hampshire hills is my favorite part of summer.

Curious though if you have felt a decline in skill and technique when you do ride outside for races. After a winter of indoor training I usually need a few rides before I feel comfortable again, especially on a TT bike.
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Re: One Year Anniversary of Only Riding Indoors [Spartan420] [ In reply to ]
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You make me sad.
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Re: One Year Anniversary of Only Riding Indoors [trail] [ In reply to ]
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trail wrote:
You make me sad.

THIS.

I get that some people's situations may push them in this direction.
And that's very sad.

But - I have personally made decisions re: work and home, that ensure that I can ride outside if and when I want to.
And I pretty much always want to.


float , hammer , and jog

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Re: One Year Anniversary of Only Riding Indoors [Spartan420] [ In reply to ]
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A full year indoors! I'm amazed, but I'm not sure that I'm envious. Granted that I race ultra-distance gravel races, but I would have two concerns . . . (1) lack of bike handling practice, and (2) lack of exposure to the elements. I'm not sure how well I would perform in races if all my practice were indoors.

But I'm curious . . . what is your equipment setup? How long are your long rides?
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Re: One Year Anniversary of Only Riding Indoors [Spartan420] [ In reply to ]
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I did 2 indoor rides last week. I do it because I have to.

I tried the Zwift free trial thing, but I can't say that I enjoy it.

I'm planning on heading out on the mountain bike this weekend, pulling the kids in a trailer. That'll be fun.

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Re: One Year Anniversary of Only Riding Indoors [Timk] [ In reply to ]
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Timk wrote:
That’s awesome!

What’s your set up and longest indoor ride?

Setup is a dumb trainer - Kinetic. My longest ride is 6 hours.
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Re: One Year Anniversary of Only Riding Indoors [Spartan420] [ In reply to ]
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connorK wrote:
Curious though if you have felt a decline in skill and technique when you do ride outside for races. After a winter of indoor training I usually need a few rides before I feel comfortable again, especially on a TT bike.

I feel I have more skill. I have a plan and structured workouts that keep my fitness improving all the time.


FlashBazbo wrote:
A full year indoors! I'm amazed, but I'm not sure that I'm envious. Granted that I race ultra-distance gravel races, but I would have two concerns . . . (1) lack of bike handling practice, and (2) lack of exposure to the elements. I'm not sure how well I would perform in races if all my practice were indoors.

But I'm curious . . . what is your equipment setup? How long are your long rides?

As far as the elements - I ride in a non-temp controlled sun room with the outside door open. So, I am always training in the elements - only without a comforting wind :)

Setup is a Dumb Trainer. Longest ride is 6 hours, but I do a 3-4 hour ride every Sunday.
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Re: One Year Anniversary of Only Riding Indoors [trail] [ In reply to ]
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trail wrote:
You make me sad.

Are you sad my road bike is set up with manual shifting and I can't experience the "thrill" of an electronic shift? ;-)

It's not a "sad" or "glad" situation. It's just a different way to pedal.



"Good genes are not a requirement, just the obsession to beat ones brains out daily"...the Griz
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Re: One Year Anniversary of Only Riding Indoors [Spartan420] [ In reply to ]
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Your subject line is misleading since you did ride outside in triathlons. Just sayin'
Last edited by: Mark Lemmon: Oct 1, 19 7:53
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Re: One Year Anniversary of Only Riding Indoors [Spartan420] [ In reply to ]
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Spartan420 wrote:
One year ago yesterday was the last time I rode my bike outside, excluding triathlons. Yeah its safe, but the convenience of being able to ride anytime day or night regardless of weather, is amazing. Couple that with the structured workouts of TrainerRoad and I dont see why anyone would ride outside.


Do you live somewhere that really sucks to ride outdoors like some suburban sprawl car dependent hot polluted place with lots of intersections and red lights and strip malls? That is about the only kind of environment where I would choose to ride indoors exclusively. I would move if I lived somewhere like that....
Last edited by: endosch2: Oct 1, 19 8:01
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Re: One Year Anniversary of Only Riding Indoors [stringcheese] [ In reply to ]
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stringcheese wrote:

It's not a "sad" or "glad" situation. It's just a different way to pedal.



I didn't mean it as an aspersion. I get the new reality. I have a smart trainer, I do the indoor. I think it helps me, and I appreciate the convenience.

But I would be very, very sad if I, for whatever reason, had to stop riding outdoors regularly. That's what I was thinking of. For me competing and training is essentially just an excuse to get myself outdoors. And it's about 90% of my social life. Without a doubt, I would go through some very hard times if that were taken away from me.
Last edited by: trail: Oct 1, 19 7:57
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Re: One Year Anniversary of Only Riding Indoors [endosch2] [ In reply to ]
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endosch2 wrote:

Do you live somewhere that really sucks to ride outdoors like some suburban sprawl car dependent hot polluted place with lots of intersections and red lights and strip malls? That is about the only kind of environment where I would choose to ride indoors exclusively. I would move if I lived somewhere like that....

I live in an area with lots of rolling country roads that are not all that busy. But, there have been a couple of car/bike incidents near me in the past 3 years - one fatal 3 miles from my house on a road a once cycled. Its just not worth the risk since I can get a better workout on the trainer. It would be a different story if I didnt have a trainer.
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Re: One Year Anniversary of Only Riding Indoors [Spartan420] [ In reply to ]
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I have gone to about 75% indoors and wishing like hell I would have just gone with only indoor riding. Went down Saturday broke my clavicle, surgery Thursday and no Kona in 2 weeks.

Joe Klinedinst - JK Endurance
http://www.JKENDURANCE.net
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Re: One Year Anniversary of Only Riding Indoors [klinejoe] [ In reply to ]
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klinejoe wrote:
I have gone to about 75% indoors and wishing like hell I would have just gone with only indoor riding. Went down Saturday broke my clavicle, surgery Thursday and no Kona in 2 weeks.

Nooo!!!! That sucks. Wishing you a speedy recovery and stronger performances next season.
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Re: One Year Anniversary of Only Riding Indoors [klinejoe] [ In reply to ]
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Must admit, as I went crashing to the ground on a run this week (total klutz move) my only thought was, don't screw up Kona.
That and being in kona "shape" there's no cushion left to land on.
It's all tone and bone.

My sympathies.
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Re: One Year Anniversary of Only Riding Indoors [Murphy'sLaw] [ In reply to ]
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Murphy'sLaw wrote:
trail wrote:
You make me sad.

THIS.

I get that some people's situations may push them in this direction.
And that's very sad.

But - I have personally made decisions re: work and home, that ensure that I can ride outside if and when I want to.
And I pretty much always want to.

It is sad.

13 months ago I was laying on my couch unable to move and in excruciating pain. The hospital released me the day before, i had been brought in by a helicopter after a car hit me from behind at 55mph+.

I’ve done a couple sprints outside this year and the last 2 months I’ve done 3-4hr outside rides on saturdays with friends. But after each Saturday ride, I look at the bike camera footage and shake my head. The last incident was a big Dodge Ram that wouldn’t move over (with no oncoming traffic, so it’s not like he didn’t have a chance to), and his pit bull hanging out the window barking at me and coming pretty close to biting me.

10 days ago another friend was hit and airlifted with broken ribs, pelvis, and 4 fractured vertebra, around the same area. I’m going to cut back on outside rides. A lot. it’s just too much of a gamble. And yes, it is sad.
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Re: One Year Anniversary of Only Riding Indoors [trail] [ In reply to ]
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trail wrote:
You make me sad.


its sad because by the ops own words... he does not know why anybody would ride outside..

that is kinda absurd
Last edited by: spntrxi: Oct 1, 19 9:04
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Re: One Year Anniversary of Only Riding Indoors [Spartan420] [ In reply to ]
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I don't think I could totally give up outdoor riding. However, I frequently prefer to ride inside vs outdoors. There are upsides of riding in both places and I don't think I would ever completely give up one or the other. I would probably choose indoor riding ~75% of the time though.

Pros of indoor riding for me
1.) Safety
2.) Convenience (jump on trainer before work no overhead time to prepared)
3.) Efficient (no coasting/stopping for traffic, structured interval)
4.) Racing on zwift can provide extra motivation
5.) Better for family schedule (I can get my ride in while my wife is out and the youngest is napping)

Pros of riding outdoors
1.) Going with friends/wife
2.) Exploring new places
3.) Pushing for strava segments
4.) Riding with zero agenda just to get the wind in my face

https://www.strava.com/athletes/23685202
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Re: One Year Anniversary of Only Riding Indoors [Spartan420] [ In reply to ]
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I'm pretty much at the point where if I'm at home I'm almost always on the trainer. It's a lot quicker to be up and jump on the trainer than get gear for outside, plus a lot safer - lots of friends have been hit, so far none fatally. The only real time I ride outside is if I'm away from home and need to ride. I'd say that this year over 90% of my biking time has been on the trainer - I just don't want to risk some accident outside, and I've had a few close calls with wildlife as well as vehicles. Kona (and a couple days riding there) will be my second time riding outside since a tri I did in mid August.

Blog: http://262toboylstonstreet.blogspot.com/
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Re: One Year Anniversary of Only Riding Indoors [Spartan420] [ In reply to ]
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Spartan420 wrote:
endosch2 wrote:


Do you live somewhere that really sucks to ride outdoors like some suburban sprawl car dependent hot polluted place with lots of intersections and red lights and strip malls? That is about the only kind of environment where I would choose to ride indoors exclusively. I would move if I lived somewhere like that....


I live in an area with lots of rolling country roads that are not all that busy. But, there have been a couple of car/bike incidents near me in the past 3 years - one fatal 3 miles from my house on a road a once cycled. Its just not worth the risk since I can get a better workout on the trainer. It would be a different story if I didnt have a trainer.

I live in a rural mountainous area. I ride outside about 150 times a year. Yesterday I rode outside for probably the 6000th time without incident or fear. There is always risk, but I don't want to live in fear.
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Re: One Year Anniversary of Only Riding Indoors [JasoninHalifax] [ In reply to ]
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JasoninHalifax wrote:
I did 2 indoor rides last week. I do it because I have to.

I tried the Zwift free trial thing, but I can't say that I enjoy it.

I'm planning on heading out on the mountain bike this weekend, pulling the kids in a trailer. That'll be fun.

You need a better Zwift setup, seriously!

While it never equals the fun of outdoor riding on a lovely day on a car-free road, riding on Zwift with a Kickr or similar is as close to it as I've ever gotten indoors. I love my 50" TV + Macbook pro Zwift setup, and have been relying on it completely for training.

I mainly just ride the routes on the map, I've been doing almost no Zwift events since I've been using a Matt Dixon training program so I follow his structure.

I rode outdoors this past weekend with my updated TT bike and new wheels just to make sure everything works. I rode a lovely low-traffic canyon road in Norcal, but even then, the leadup to it was freaking annoying with a fair amount of cars buzzing by - I'm very glad to be able to do my hammerfest work on Zwift now!

I used Trainerroad for awhile and it has its place, but I got a bad feeling about it after it burned me out hard on its Oly plans (seems like it burns almost everyone out on the Oly plans, less so or HIM/IM plans.) That and 'erg-mode all the time' is a setup for overtraining, especially if you're like me and like to train hard. I've had a much better go of it this time on the erg-free Dixon plan, where I literally have never used erg mode once, but do try and chase rough power targets. Still love having the Kickr control the hills!
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Re: One Year Anniversary of Only Riding Indoors [endosch2] [ In reply to ]
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endosch2 wrote:
I live in a rural mountainous area. I ride outside about 150 times a year. Yesterday I rode outside for probably the 6000th time without incident or fear. There is always risk, but I don't want to live in fear.


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