I have read recently the Andy Potts and Meredith Kessler do the majority of there bike work outs on their trainers. Due to where I do my long rides, I often need to stop at cross streets (every mile) which makes it difficult to hit certain goals with power. I was considering using my computrainer for my upcoming bike sessions. Just wanted to ask fellow Slow Twitch forum members on their opinion. I am training for IM Tahoe currently. I have rode outside on several 80 mile rides but last weekend I instead rode a 3:02 hour ride due to the weather. At that point I had mental fatique and called it a day. Thanks in advance.
The trainer will be more specific in some ways (constant effort no stopping) which is important.
Outside will be important in other ways (knowing that your position is comfortable, different inertial loading and heat that you need to be adapted to)
As the race draws close it would probably be worth the effort to drive somewhere that you can do an outdoors race pace training ride a couple times, to be sure you can stay aero, and learn how to eat/drink.
Agreed, a mix makes sense. In addition to the physiology training you don’t really improve bike riding skills indoors on the trainer. If you’re not confident and comfortable racing in the rain, cornering in your aerobars, descending in twisty technical terrain or just riding a smooth straight line at race pace you won’t improve those things indoors on the trainer.
Your title also mentioned ‘long rides’ a 2x20 or 3x20 SST/L4 set indoors may make a lot of sense for the reasons you listed like difficulty finding uninterrupted training routes but those aren’t really long rides. It’s hard for many folks to tolerate a 3 to 4 hour ride on the indoor trainer but not nearly so hard to do that kind of work outdoors. Sure things like Computrainers can help as can a good set of e-motion rollers which are my go to for longer indoor sessions. But for longer rides I’d much prefer to be outside and actually riding a bike. Sure you’ll get broken sections but that’s less critical in a long ride than it would be in a focused interval session.
But as Jack said, there’s room for both and either indoors or out can make sense depending on your training goals and local riding terrain and weather.
I really enjoy the trainer because my workouts are very constant. However, mentally I really like getting outside for my long rides or even longer interval rides on the back roads. I’m trying to make the most of the outdoor riding this summer because I know it’ll be back to the pain cave come October
I nearly always am on the trainer during the week. It allows for more focused, consistent work and therefor more TSS/quality. (This is for me specifically living in NYC but can also apply to others as well.)
But as Jack mentioned above, outdoors rides still have their place. So I ride outdoors on the weekend when I’m going long. While my rides will still have quality and getting that quality is important, you also have a bit more flexibility if you’re riding long outdoors about how/where you fit the quality in within the ride. It also allows you to test nutrition, work on bike handling and adapt to conditions that might be associated with your race.
Potts and other pros can get away with doing more focused indoor work because they’ve got a handle on all of what I just detailed above.
I enjoy riding outside, so that’s what I do. Living in FL makes that pretty easy to do year-round. The only exception is for inclement weather, i.e., lightning & thunderstorms.
trainer for traiing volume as needed, but I don;t find it all that much fun. The trainer is an obligation, I enjoy cycling outdoors. So I ride outside as much as I can. But you have to keep sight of your goals and training plan too and that nessistates the trainer.
I do 90% of my training on a Computrainer. There are other variables, but my cycling ability really took off once focusing on the trainer. My rationale is that the constant force required makes me a better cyclist. There’s no coasting down hills, no drafting, and little fluctuation from the wattage I’ve input into my computer. From a time trial perspective, I’ve improved dramatically.
I find that the time flies by when I listen to podcasts or catch up on tv series (Netflix). The only negative consequence is that I occassionally zone out on the show when doing intervals, but I would much rather zone out on the show than on the bike effort.
Just to add to the chorus… training for Canada. I do two dedicated computrainer sessions a week with a mix of threshold, sweet spot, 2 x 20s, 5 x 5s, 4 x 10s, even a 1 x 40 today :^
For my weekend longer rides, I usually get it broken down into something like :30 w/u at X watts, climb for :40 at x watts, 2 hours at X watts… I choose to drive about 45 minutes away to a location with few lights and long roads so I can get these done easily. No way I could format something similar close to home without lights etc.
I have hit a bit of a lull with training, no scheduled races and a big move. Came upon a coach who swore by the trainer. I hated it until I met him. I still hate it, but my gains from training on there, versus being outside can’t compare.
I think there is a bit of mental training there dealing with it.
You save a lot of time, and much more efficient getting stuff done.
Key is to have it set up so no excuses but just to do it.
I do all my watt-specific workouts on the CompuTrainer during the week and my long rides outdoors on the weekends. The CompuTrainer is great if you have a narrow window of time for training during the week.
Read the article from February issue of Inside Triathlon by Tim DeBoom on the drought of American wins in Kona. His thoughts on this issue are quite interesting, specifically in regards to Potts. Sorry I don’t have a link.
Weekly power-guided indoor trainer sessions from 45-90 mins. Sufferfest rocks if you can handle it.-=
Weekend long outdoor ride, 2-4 hrs depending on your race.
I’m pretty die-hard about my indoor bike training, but honestly, even I can’t last longer than 90+minute QUALITY workout. I do all my indoor rides with a powermeter + Trainerroad, and with the power based intervals, there’s no slacking, so it’s always a good workout (even if I can’t complete some of them.)
I’ve tried doing 2-3 hours of aerobic paced riding indoors, but what inevitably happens is that I start slacking and start taking progressively longer breaks after 90 minutes, and it’s just not high ROI for me compared to a 90 minute hammerfest based on power.
“Andy needs to get out of his basement, literally and figuratively. He does much of his training indoors, and he needs to battle the elements, build some strength mentally and physically, and put in some big days outside that will mimic the race.” Tim DeBoom 2/13 article quote from Inside Triathlon.
Thanks for pointing out that article. Very interesting.
“Andy needs to get out of his basement, literally and figuratively. He does much of his training indoors, and he needs to battle the elements, build some strength mentally and physically, and put in some big days outside that will mimic the race.” Tim DeBoom 2/13 article quote from Inside Triathlon.
Thanks for pointing out that article. Very interesting.
I do all of my workouts inside. It just fits my schedule better. Mentally, I have no problems sitting on the trainer for hours during IM training just staring at my PT LYC and listening to my iPod.
Andy and Meredith do this for a living. I assume this is your hobby. Do what you enjoy the most. If you enjoy riding outside, do that. You may not get the perfect 20 minutes of effort, but you’ll have fun. I love riding outside, and can’t imagine exclusively or primarily riding a trainer indoors for my hobby.
part of what the long ride does is get you used to banging around for hours in your aero position and holding your head up, coping with the wind and rain all that stuff. I’d be inclined to use the indoor sessions to do longer sessions of 2 hours that work on your upper aerobic with long intervals and tempo, and get the time in outside. Use the crossroads to get better at accelerating and getting into the aero bars quickly, for example, just get the time in outside so if it rains on race day you won’t be all mortified
