Cross bike/mountain bike with studded tyres is the only way I've found to get a good relationship with a turbo trainer.
Endless indoor sessions do my head in to an unnatural degree. I'd rather not cycle.
Tips for a positive winter trainer relationship
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Roundabout wrote:Hey all,
I recently moved from a place that doesn't have winter (CA Bay Area) to a location that most certainly does (Montana). Getting the trainer set up these last few weeks has prompted thought as to what I can do to make the time more enjoyable/bearable/not completely miserable.
Beyond the typical tv/music, dark atmosphere, structured workouts, and super powerful fan techniques, has anyone found some unique approaches to the winter trainer that's helped make it sustainable and even enjoyable?
lots of lots of texting
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Seriously, structure your workouts and make them short but hard. Ten minutes of warm up, five minutes of warm down, and perhaps 30 minutes of hard gut-busting efforts in between. That's 30 minutes of actual riding time, not 5 minutes of efforts and the rest drinking water and watching TV. Figure that hard part takes about an hour. If you're working hard, you won't notice you're working hard, if you know what I mean.
In addition to the bibs you might try a saddle that's extra comfy, and you might tilt the nose just a hair, especially if you are tilted up or down a hair. Skip the jersey because you need the ventilation, but wear a mesh singlet that keeps perspiration from running down your torso and bothering you.
Try to get access to a GHD or ideally buy one. It's a great piece of gym equipment for strengthening your glutes and back. If either glutes or back are weak, you won't be comfortable on the trainer and you also won't be racing well next year.
It helps to have a really solid front wheel block. You don't need to elevate your front wheel with a Kickr, but you are a lot more stable if your front wheel can't twist back or forth at all.
Tough winter training makes summer racing easier, so don't think of it as a vacation. It's when you do the really hard stuff.
In addition to the bibs you might try a saddle that's extra comfy, and you might tilt the nose just a hair, especially if you are tilted up or down a hair. Skip the jersey because you need the ventilation, but wear a mesh singlet that keeps perspiration from running down your torso and bothering you.
Try to get access to a GHD or ideally buy one. It's a great piece of gym equipment for strengthening your glutes and back. If either glutes or back are weak, you won't be comfortable on the trainer and you also won't be racing well next year.
It helps to have a really solid front wheel block. You don't need to elevate your front wheel with a Kickr, but you are a lot more stable if your front wheel can't twist back or forth at all.
Tough winter training makes summer racing easier, so don't think of it as a vacation. It's when you do the really hard stuff.
Not wanting to hijack this thread with off topic, but here goes anyway. How does Kickr compare to Kinetic Pro Trainer/Road Machine feel wise? I know this is hugely subjective, but I'm trying to get some kind of idea before pulling the trigger on +$1k trainer. I have read the DC Rainmaker review, but would like few more opinions.
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Nefarious86
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Kickr has amazing road feel and stability. Kickr also wont let you hide from your workout 
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Spinnervals videos? I lost patience about 20 videos ago watching other people sweat going nowhere while listening to music pulled from garage sale 8 tracks..........sufferfest is so far beyond that its not even close.
Training indoors already 4th winter in a row.
Things I've changed this year and which have worked significantly better to combat boredom so far:
1) use short intervals (max 7min) with shorter recoveries; that way, depending on intensity, one session never exceeds 1h and 10-15 min, including a solid warm-up session. Usually parallel watching of some kind of sports - for me it is Eurosport with all the winter action, sometimes something else if available.
2) one endurance spin of ~2-2.5h per week, usually with an interesting movie (you can watch it and sometimes even forget you're pedalling)
3) cross country skiing whenever weather and snow conditions allow it - need to monitor the training load because these are quite hard all-body workouts, but they don't tax your legs as much as cycling does, therefore, you can still kick out another interval day after one or two skiing days and only then have a recovery day
Things I've changed this year and which have worked significantly better to combat boredom so far:
1) use short intervals (max 7min) with shorter recoveries; that way, depending on intensity, one session never exceeds 1h and 10-15 min, including a solid warm-up session. Usually parallel watching of some kind of sports - for me it is Eurosport with all the winter action, sometimes something else if available.
2) one endurance spin of ~2-2.5h per week, usually with an interesting movie (you can watch it and sometimes even forget you're pedalling)
3) cross country skiing whenever weather and snow conditions allow it - need to monitor the training load because these are quite hard all-body workouts, but they don't tax your legs as much as cycling does, therefore, you can still kick out another interval day after one or two skiing days and only then have a recovery day
Minimum bike categories required in the stable:
Aero bike | GC bike | GC rim bike | Climbing bike | Climbing rim bike | Classics bike | Gravel bike | TT bike | Indoors bike
Aero bike | GC bike | GC rim bike | Climbing bike | Climbing rim bike | Classics bike | Gravel bike | TT bike | Indoors bike
My coach has assigned routines on a trainer with a lot of variety in intensity and interval time. I have uploaded them to my garmin as "workouts". There are a few benefits to this: 1) It keeps you "honest". Your garmin will beep at you annoyingly if you aren't in the correct zone at the correct time. No cheating. 2) With shorter intervals and a lot of variety, the time goes by wayyyy faster.
For easy steady-state stuff I'll hop on the rollers and watch a movie or some TV. I have a hard time lasting longer than 1.5 hours without a structured workout.
For easy steady-state stuff I'll hop on the rollers and watch a movie or some TV. I have a hard time lasting longer than 1.5 hours without a structured workout.
