When I ride an 'actual' course on the computrainer, I try to keep in mind the fact that I can't work the bike on the computrainer. Sure, you can stand while on the computrainer, but your bike is going to remain fixed, and you are unable to 'throw it around' like you can in real life. I'm not saying that throwing your bike from side to side while climbing is a good thing, but I think that you can make the correlation.

Anyone else?

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Brandon Marsh - Website | @BrandonMarshTX | RokaSports | 1stEndurance | ATC Bikeshop |

A friend from the flat Midwest was unpleasantly surprised riding the real thing after riding the WF LC on the computertrainer last winter. Since I don't have a CT and can ride the real thing any time, I can't personally comment.

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clm
Nashville, TN
https://twitter.com/ironclm | http://ironclm.typepad.com

I have done Wildflower LC twice and both times used the 2D CT Wildflower course. I found the real course to be much easier then the Computrainer version. My wife also found it quite a bit easier.

If he rode the CT last winter... the simulated course would not have been De Lorme created... If my memory is correct, the GPS mapping course version wasn't available until recently.

I have ridden an older version of the CT Wildflower and it is much easier than the De Lorme simulation model. Thanks for the reference. It seems that the true course is somewhere between the older simulation course and the newer "De Lorme" CT simulation course.

I hope so. The De Lorme course seems very difficult. Perhaps, the main difference in difficulty between and actual course and the simulated course is that you can't coast on the CT. So, it would seem that hills would make a bigger difference than a flat course (actual vs. simulated comparison). That's my guess, perhaps someone can verify my speculation.

Joe Moya

I just got the CT (pro 3d) for christmas (2002) and did the WF bike course. Is this one the de lorme version that is supposedly harder?

Interesting post. I often wonder if alot of the ct courses are harder than the real thing. A 7% grade on the ct feels like the alps. Anyone else have the same feeling?

hello there. No the DeLorme version is not on the CT CD. I got mine December 15th.

I found the 'new one' online and it's labelled Wildflower55M ... [reply]It has grades over 30% ... way too much for me...

I was about to order the DeLorme software today - so, is it working correctly or is there a bug and is not creating the course correctly. Or is it that it is just harder on a trainer?

We've all known that trainer workouts are harder than on the road - no stop signs, no coasting, always looking at the numbers therefore always pushing hard, etc. Are these problems more of the same or is DeLorme just off?

Well, you beat me to the punch... I had plan on posting a review of the software in about a month or so (it's difficult to make comparisons to actual courses and simulated during the winter months) but I'll give my first insights about the software.

1) It's not a bug... rather, it seems the Topo software does not smooth the course properly. Instead, it takes the elevation changes more litterly. Most roads cut through passes (some or alot - depending on the highway) or they will smooth out deep dips in the road. The De Lorme Topo Software seems to no take into considerations of realistic road construction elevation changes. The software does provide a smoothing algorithm that you can adjust from 1 to 10 (10 being the smoothest - If my memory is correct). But, even with the smoothing (i.e., coming closer to road design simularity) the elevation changes are still too dramatic. Do me a favor, download the Topo created Wildflower55 file at the Michigan Outlaws Sight and you tell me if that isn't a major butt kicking course. Then, compare it to the one provided by CT. There is a big difference - even the profile indicates this.

http://www.michiganoutlaws.com/

Click on Computrainer Information... then, download Wildflower55 file.

2) A few more side note, The data provide by De Lorme CD is at least 10 yrs. old... In the area where I live they don't have many major roads that have been buildt for at least 10+ yrs. Simply put, The CD's provided by De Lorme are not current (it seems they are quite old).

3) The wind option seems to be an afterthough and hasn't been truly incorporated into easy to use methods during the downloading process or course creation.

There are things that are good about the software... but, I think it will take a lot of data manipulation to get a course right. The new software will require more work than you might anticipate when creating an ACCURATE course.

So far, that's my take on the Topo software... but bear in mind, I am not saying it's bad or buggy (yet) just my complete review of the software is incomplete (and, many things about the software also seems to be incomplete).

FWIW Joe Moya

BTW, there does seem to be bug... it will blank out your screen (for some unknown reason), but it may my system. It has problems with some monitor drivers (so it seems)... I just found this out yesterday... could be something I'm doing or the software may have a bug specific to my system (which, is a pretty powerful Laptop - I might add).