Recently moved from The Woodlands to central Houston (TMC area) and am getting frustrated with the drive out of town to do long rides on the weekend. (Northwest Houston, Woodlands, Montgomery/Magnolia, etc.) This is adding 2+ hours to every long ride, and will quickly become sub-optimal for the family as IM training ramps up. I just can’t see this as being sustainable. I use a fluid 2 trainer for weekday rides, but can’t bear the thought of doing my 4, 5+ hr rides that way. I’m thinking a lot about a Kickr. Thinking is that I could find some course videos, or just do TV/movies with erg mode keeping me from soft-pedaling. Then I could start early and not have my whole day shot on those really long rides. But it is obviously a lot of money.
Wondering if anyone knows where or how I could try out a Kickr before committing? I’d like to see how it works, try out the erg mode, maybe a course video, etc. Anyone have any ideas?
It’s a good plan, but you shouldn’t rely on it 100% if your bike handling skills aren’t up to snuff. If they are, it makes training more efficient, and with the right approach can be a lot of fun too.
More to your question, here is a list of Houston area Wahoo retailers (with the exception of the El Paso, Austin, Dallas area shops that appear). Personally, I use The Silencer from CycleOps and it works great too.
I too live in town (Rice University area) and despise getting in my car to ride my bike. There are actually some decent rides from the central area that will give you more saddle time instead of drive time. While my main group does not get in 4-5 hours typically we do have a few good routs that allow for some sustained high intensity intervals.
Feel free to email me for specifics. info at atomicss dot com
Oh yeah, one other thing. I have not tried the Kicker, but do have a Lemond Revolution that I do a lot of work on and love it. It is loud when you do big efforts but feels very real and you are welcome to give it a try…
I have been doing all my rides on a computrainer, I am making huge progress in my FTP during the past 3 months. No more riding outside for me until I can move out of the Houston area. If you dont mind riding inside for that long, buy a good trainer and watch movies.
I have a fluid trainer already. Works fine. Problem is I find it much harder to hit power targets on the trainer than outside. Not sure if it is all between the ears or not. Wondering if the controlled resistance really helps keep you on target. Meaning, is it “easier” when the trainer forces you to ride at the target than if it is up to you to work to keep the watts up? Not sure if that makes sense or not.