 Poster: A snowHead
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OK so the weather's played ball so far but I'm not counting on this mild spell lasting and my mind has turned to the turbo.
I've just done an hour on it and it's as boring as ever.
Can any other snowheads tell me if they use the turbo and what they do to try and stave off the boredom?
Unfortunately I have a no frills turbo (Cycleops fluid 2) so can't pair with computers etc.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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i do. usually 3 x one hour sessions per week. intervals...if I'm feeling up to it: you have to concentrate on what you're doing, to make yourself do it, which seems to help. otherwise, lots of pace/effort variations. but yes, it's boring. but it's v effective and time-efficient, isn't it?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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I don't even know what a turbo is (in this context) but I walked up 400m today at a decent pace and that made me puff a bit. Especially with some modest altitude.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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@pam w, I guess he means a turbo trainer bike....bike on a rack indoors
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Oh yes. Most deadly boring. I live in a flat area with no hills near enough to go out and yomp up without getting in the car, but for people who live near hills, even urban ones, power walking or jogging up them is probably as good as hamster-bikes and more interesting.
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TrainerRoad. Either on its own with music/audiobooks/video etc or in conjunction with Sufferfest.
As long as you have a Garmin (or other ANT+ device) you can run virtual power.
Obviously it's still boring but it helps pass the time and it's great for charting progression.
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Trainer Road appears to work with your setup, and I guesss wattzap does as well based on what David has posted.
Radio, TV, Netflix etc all help, or get out and ride unless it's frozen!!
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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An hour isn't bad, once you have it in your mind to do it, just get it done. During the week put the football on the radio or music if not. I do Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday this time of the year, once you get into the routine it becomes okay and soon flies by.
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I alternate between different diversions
the french language course is good as it makes me think which helps with the boredom
after that its TV on the tablet perched on a music stand in front of the front wheel. BBc iplayer is great for this as is sky go.
lastly music as that is less involving so the boredonm creeps in
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Zwift is a good shout if you want to ride against other virtual riders, do races, ride with "ex-pros" etc..............
http://zwift.com/
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Bertie Wooster, dump the Turbo and get a proper bike.
You need to get outside and deal with hills and wind and rain.
And with idiot cars and padestrians around you will never get bored.
Indoor training is no use for an outdoor activity (lights the blue touchpaper and steps back to watch the fun . . . . )
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Hi My regular exercise too- have you had a look at the Sufferfest videos? All very tongue-in-cheek about the pain and suffering of training but they are actually well-paced, amusing and done by qualified trainers so not just nutters blasting away. I really find them useful and as they work OK on my android phone - very portable -
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You know it makes sense.
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I'm a keen long-distance cyclist but it's hard to go out at night on the roads and do an effective training session. Doing interval training on the turbo for 45 minutes does more for me than a couple of hours of unstructured road riding. I use a Tacx iMagic with the training software on a laptop, but there's lots of websites and apps that can give you routines to ride. Basically I do about 10 minutes warming up, 25 minutes of intervals (30 seconds high power, 90 seconds recovery) and 10 minutes of cool down.
@Jonpim - I do agree with you up to a point. An evening on the cyclo-cross or mountain bike around some local woodland trails is great training for balance and all the little muscles you use when you're trying really hard to not fall over. Which for me is very like skiing.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Jonpim - I agree with you that there's no substitute for being out on the bike but with winter just around the corner I'm fed up of falling on my butt when it gets icy and being cut up by idiots who think that 1" is the recommended gap they should give.
This week I'm working my way through the Transporter series 1 - trashy TV that doesn't take much thinking but the problem is that I've got no structure in my workouts. I'll try wattsapp and Trainer Road once the bracket to hold my tablet on my handlebars arrives. I'll also try to download sufferfest and see if that breaks the monotony.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Sufferfest is good.
But, in general, if you find training on a turbo, treadmill, etc. monotonous, you're doing it wrong! Not the place to be doing a 2-hour, one-pace session. It's all about the intervals, where you should be too busy trying not to vomit to be bored.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I'm aTurbon00b and am currently staving off boredom with a small bluetooth speaker and spotify.
Currently doing an hour session based on 5 minutes @ steady pace then a one minute blast - repeated ten times.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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I used to find an hour would fly by, with a 10 min warm up, 20 mins of interval work, 10 mins or so of 1 leg pedal drills on each leg, then 10 mins warm down. I found the 1 leg drills especially useful and I believe also have some benefits for skiing (balancing out each individual leg's strength and I used to find my hams would work harder than when 2 leg pedaling, which helps prevent overworking the quads - strong and balanced hamstring strength can help reduce ACL injury risk when skiing)
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Bertie Wooster, but you need to remember what you are training for.
Problems with ice and winter weather?
Coping with idiots whizzing by far too close to you?
Just like skiing. 
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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dsoutar, sorry about your accident. Bummer.
But, like i said: Just like Skiing
As Peter Hardy writes: "recreational piste skiers often attain speeds of more than 30mph and an icy piste is no softer than Tarmac . . . it is essential to be constantly aware of your immediate surroundings. . . The biggest single cause of collision is skiing out of control. The second cause is the failure of skiers to obey a basic rule: always look uphill before setting off."
I cycle to work: Harefield to Stanmore, 10 miles each way, all weathers, come rain, sun, snow, whatever.
I know there are risks. But there are also benefits. I get my exercise out of the way with my commute. I get out in the fresh air.
And it seems, the risks outweigh the benefits. But then this review didn't look at Erectile Dysfunction 
Last edited by You'll need to Register first of course. on Thu 15-10-15 12:06; edited 1 time in total
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I cycle a lot, outdoors whenever possible, but the trainer is an inevitabliity when time is short or the worst of winter kicks in - you just have to accept it'll be unpleasant and get on with it.
Get a good fan, or 2, but accept that you'll sweat buckets regardless.
Put a vombucket within reach. Even if you don't use it this reminds you how hard it should be.
If not using a visual training aid, the best way to get the most out of a session is to keep it short. Never more than an hour, often only 30-45 minutes.
As long as you keep recoveries short relative to the interval, that time will be plenty and you won't get bored.
Example
5-10 minute warmup (work up a bit of a sweat)
2 minutes easy
10-15 minutes of:
15s Hard/15s Easy or 30/30 or 60/60
then spin easy for 5 minutes
then do another set - aim for 8 minutes or till you need the bucket.
Spin easy for 5 minutes.
Mop up the lake of sweat you've left on the floor and rehydrate.
That's 45 minutes at the most. If you want more after that you were going too easy.
If keen to do longer intervals, keep the recovery short eg 3min on 1min off, 5 on 2 off. But personally, anything 5 minutes+ I prefer to do outside.
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Have a look round the internet there are lots of interval training sessions depending on what/how you wish to train and/or your level of fitness, 12 week courses etc
Wattbike has some good info: https://wattbike.com/uk/guide/download
10 mins warm up
40 mins workout
10 mins warm down
You dont really need to do any longer than that.
Time flies, if not your not pushing yourself enough.
Build up your base fitness for next year, improve your cadence and strength but most of all dont use it a a substitute get out doors as much as possible.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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It is very dull if you just use a turbo on it's own. I use a combination of Sufferfest videos and a TrainerRoad.com account to keep me motivated.
There's a bit of setting up needed for TrainerRoad - you either need a power meter or speedometer with ANT+ or Bluetooth capability, but you don't need a fancy turbo trainer, the CycleOps should work just fine. You then connect the speedo or power meter to the TrainerRoad app (on PC, Mac or iOS) which might require a little USB widget. Full details on the TrainerRoad site.
Once you've done that you can pick a workout (or even follow a structure series of workouts over a few weeks) and TrainerRoad monitors your power and you can do proper power based workouts. It is very good, if you are serious about using a turbo I'd highly recommend trying it out. There's no way I'd be able to do a proper workout without the feedback from the app.
As @fullenglish said a fan is absolutely essential. Even in my garage with the temperature at around 4 degrees C I need the fan on after about 10 minutes!
I still ride outdoors in the winter, but only in daylight hours when I can help it, most of my winter training was indoors last season and will be again this year.
Last edited by You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net. on Thu 15-10-15 22:23; edited 1 time in total
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Is there a local cycle/triathlon club nearby? Mine does a weekly group turbo session in a school hall - with a cycle lead - shared (and competitive) suffering...
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FAQ
