I live in NYC and my options are 1) ride on my trainer (the OG Kickr), 2) ride a 3 mile loop with some hills over and over again a few blocks from home, or 3) drive an hour each way to get to some great riding on 9W in NJ/NY by west of the Hudson river. There is a 4th option which would be to ride from my house up to 9W and back, but that’s a lot of junk miles with stop lights, it’s almost all flat along the Hudson in Manhattan except for the bridges. Question to the group, putting yourself in my shoes, is how long would you be able to ride on the trainer without any PTSD instead of getting out on the road (either the nearby park for lap after lap after lap, 2 hrs of driving to ideal conditions, or riding lots of junk miles.) This is my first Ironman. I’ve done 4 x 70.3s at this point and am used to 2-2.5 hrs riding on the trainer. Would you do a 4 hour ride on the trainer? 5 hour ride? I know I’ll want to have some time on the road before race day and I’ll get that when I head out of the city for a weeks, but while I’m in the city, trainer, park loop, or long drive for the 3-5.5 hr rides? The ones with the drives would be dreamy in isolation but I have to also factor time away from family and that’s an extra few hours each time so there’s a price to that.
If it were up to me, I’d ride outside at least once a week. I used to live in a smaller city, and needed to ride about 30 min to get to any sort of flowing roads. I’d always treat stoplights/ stop signs as their own workout. Not full on sprint, but strong, hard acceleration for 10-15 pedal strokes out of every stop. It’s not much, but do that 30 times at the start and end of the ride and you’ll get a workout not easily replicated on the trainer.
It all depends on how far out the race is. If the race is a ways off, I would do the trainer on bad weather days and loops when the weather is mild. With a family I’m not inclined to disappear one day a week for 30 consecutive weeks. 1hr out + 4 + 1 back + 1 (park shower recovery out bike away = basically the whole day and some likely resentment. Get an hour to two in on the trainer before the house wakes up and a three hour ride is done as the family finished breakfast = nbd.
I don’t mean to sound rude, but this has worked for me in the balance department and I’m just trying to share my positive experience.
What you are really asking about is optimizing your time. Personally, I HATE riding the trainer and get outside whenever I can (mountain bike in bad weather). I always ride straight from home . . . I just don’t have the time to pack up and drive somewhere. Regarding stop lights, I use those for sprints and feel it has been helpful (although in a tiny city). How far are you from the 9W? Our daughter is in school in NYC and rides up, across the GW bridge, and to the 9W. She sends photos and it looks fabulous . . . I’m kinda jealous of her although not sure I could look down biking the GW!!
3 mile loop in NYC - Prospect Park? If so, you could see if any of the BTC folks are planning on doing the Prospect Park 200 again this year for some company.
I’d probably do a combo of the 1,2 & 4, but when I was in NYC we didn’t have a car so 3 wasn’t an option. The Prospect Park loop isn’t terrible to a point, but not sure I’d do 4 hours of it (the nearly 12 David did for the full 200 is quite the exercise in staying focused).
Depending how far out from race, I’d save any +4-5 hour rides on trainer till well into prep. Consistent 3 hour rides + the odd double trainer day 3+1 has worked for me.
In last 5-7 weeks- I’d be driving and getting your long ride in on at least 2-3 times and add a single 5 hour trainer session.
I have found whilst 5 hour trainer sessions doable - I cannot back them up week after week as they do mentally destroy me.
I also run off the bike each trainer session to extend sessions with my run mainly outside.
I used to have 4h as my upper limit on the trainer. But what I have found is that if I delete social media and dont watch TV the day before (maybe even 2) the long ride, and even meditate and focus on getting a lot of sleep in the night leading up to the big day, 5h on the trainer is quite ok. I do it as:
2h easy
6 x (20min @ LT1 - 10min easy).
TV/YouTube is ok for the first 2h. Then I switch to podcasts for the next 90-120min. The last hour is music/whatever is needed.
Oh: and fuel properly both before and during the sash. There is no way back from bonking on the trainer in my experience
Everyone has their limits. I start itching to get off the bike at 45 minutes, but my wife has done week, after week of 4+ hours, with some over 5+. Zwift.
I used to have 4h as my upper limit on the trainer. But what I have found is that if I delete social media and dont watch TV the day before (maybe even 2) the long ride, and even meditate and focus on getting a lot of sleep in the night leading up to the big day, 5h on the trainer is quite ok. I do it as:
2h easy
6 x (20min @ LT1 - 10min easy).
TV/YouTube is ok for the first 2h. Then I switch to podcasts for the next 90-120min. The last hour is music/whatever is needed.
Oh: and fuel properly both before and during the sash. There is no way back from bonking on the trainer in my experience
I see so much conflicting advice
How do you determine LT1
And what do you race at on the bike for FIM compared to LT1?
I’ve got a couple rides between 5 and 6 hours on the tri bike. I had a separate screen for movies or videos while I rode. I wasn’t able to read anything because it was just a little too much movement. I did need to take brief breaks every 2-3 hours simply to stretch out and move. Without the normal variation the road provides, I didn’t shift enough on the trainer. Breaks were basically long enough to refill a bottle, take a leak, and get back on.
FFS, I thought I was a stud for clocking 2.5 or 3 hours on the trainer. And I do use all kinds of aids, from Zwift to YouTube to HBO and Netflix, and also eat a ton (because I can - and because research shows stuffing your mouth with carbs reduces RPE, even if you were to spit them out). But it’s a challenge every time, even at 2 hours.
I feel like this is a question that only you can answer. I do 5 hour rides on the trainer, no problem. Some of my riding buddies would rather die than do that. But some of them will ride outdoors when its in the low teens and water bottles freeze, which to me is the definition of insanity. Everyone is different.
I live in a place where I can’t ride outside until April, so ling trainer rides are common. I enjoy Zwift, I like music but audiobooks are also a good distraction. 5-6 hours takes its toll on your nether regions, so think about swapping shorts, taking 2-3 minutes to stretch and go to the bathroom. Long trainer rides do make it easier to figure out a nutrition schedule. Basically only you can figure out if you have the mental wherewithal to handle it.
In my last IM build I did a 5 hour trainer ride and quite a few 3-4 hour rides on the trainer. Rides over 3.5 hours I would typically get off for a quick bathroom break. It’s definitely a mental challenge, but so is riding 180km.
My tolerance for long trainer rides has changed over time, from 2 to 3 to 4. I’ve done 5 once, but more typically when I get over four I consider weird stuff like 2.5hr x 2 (am/pm), switching bikes from Tri to road, splitting the ride indoors/outdoors, setting the ride time around a sporting event I want to watch, etc.
One thing I’ve considered but never tried … anyone do audio books on the trainer? Can they hold your attention like a show?
In my last IM build I did a 5 hour trainer ride and quite a few 3-4 hour rides on the trainer. Rides over 3.5 hours I would typically get off for a quick bathroom break. It’s definitely a mental challenge, but so is riding 180km.
I did the same. I also find a 5 hour ride on the trainer is pretty solid training. Minimize breaks and stick to a plan feels more productive than a ride outside with stop signs, coasting, etc. also a great chance to catch up on my television stories
I’d go for trainer for most but not all my rides. Last IM I trained for I did ALL my riding indoors. Rides up to 5 hours. It hurt me race day because I was used to just pushing 180 watts for 5 hours and not having to deal with surges uphills, etc. I can get lost watching tv for 5 hours but a 3 mile loop sounds like torture to me.