For Trainer Users Only

Colorado Bicycler said:

It is so sad that it is impossible to have an on-topic, decent
discussion on USENET.

Thought I would try one-more time. I am interested that attempting to
have such a discussion brings so much resentment. Says something about
the resenters!

Yes it does.

Rich said:

Quoted message said:

If I'm not going some where why in heavens name am I going to get on a
bike?

For exercise.

Duh.

I have heard about that thing "exercise" but I think I'll give it a
miss. It always sounded overrated. Thanks though.
John Kane, Kingston ON Canada

Joe Canuck said:

The Wogster said:

Quoted message said:

Colorado Bicycler wrote:

> For Trainer Users Only
>
> Now that we are getting into colder weather, I am curious as to the
> frequency, intensity and length of usage of your trainer - either so
> far this year, or what you plan on during the winter months (at least
> in the northern hemisphere).

If I'm not going some where why in heavens name am I going to get on a
bike?

John Kane, Kingston ON Canada

Well, with biking season pretty much over in Northern areas, some of us
don't want to give up all that hard earned muscle tone, and all those
extra pounds lost, and a trainer with 20 - 40 minutes a day of riding,
would go along way towards building for next years riding.

W

Whatdaya mean biking season over in northern areas? I was out on the
bike yesterday and would be again today, except I don't ride in the rain.

Hey the Wogster may have moved from the balmy beaches in the South to
somewhere up North. 🙂

Colorado Bicycler said:

1. How many times a week do you usually use your trainer - if
bicycling is not possible, given your circumstances?

I've made an effort in the last couple of years to get outside anytime
the roads aren't covered with snow/ice. This year I want to get big
knobbies for my MTB and try a little snow riding.

Still, there's less daylight in winter, so I wind up on the trainer
probably 2-4 times per week. If the roads are bad, that goes up to as
much as 5-6 days per week.

Quoted message said:

2. How long is your individual session on your trainer - an hour, 30
minutes, 2 hours, etc.?

I've done anywhere from 30 minutes to 4 hours, though 4 hours is rare.
1.5-2.5 hours is a more typical trainer session for me. I ride in
front of the TV and I watch movies or Tour de France videos.

Quoted message said:

3. How intense is your training session - easy, as hard as you can
make it, whatever?

As a rule of thumb, the intensity varies inversely with duration (short
duration = high intensity and vice versa). I try to keep the intensity
low for a couple of months over the winter to give my joints a break.

Quoted message said:

4. Do you use any training aid, such as Spinervals or Carmichael
tapes/cd's or videos of Tour de ??? or other things?

Movies as mentioned above, plus the Cyclerobics video that came with
the trainer. I'd be interested to see what the other videos are like,
but I'm too cheap to spend ~$20 to find out. I sometimes use Arnie
Baker's "Smart Cycling" book to organize trainer sessions. The
winter's a good time for me to work on isolated leg training and
improving my cadence.

One thing I love to do is put on a tape of a TdF stage. When they're
going uphill, I shift to a high gear; downhill, I spin a low gear.
When there's a sprint finish, I shift to a high gear and I "sprint"
too.

Quoted message said:

5. Do you use your trainer at home - do you do it in a gym with a
LifeCycle or other arrangement?

At home, in the basement where it's cool. Even so I have to use a fan.

-JR

Quoted message said:

Joe Canuck said:

The Wogster said:

[email hidden] wrote:

>Colorado Bicycler wrote:
>
>
>>For Trainer Users Only
>>
>>Now that we are getting into colder weather, I am curious as to the
>>frequency, intensity and length of usage of your trainer - either so
>>far this year, or what you plan on during the winter months (at least
>>in the northern hemisphere).
>
>
>
>If I'm not going some where why in heavens name am I going to get on a
>bike?
>
>John Kane, Kingston ON Canada
>

Well, with biking season pretty much over in Northern areas, some of us
don't want to give up all that hard earned muscle tone, and all those
extra pounds lost, and a trainer with 20 - 40 minutes a day of riding,
would go along way towards building for next years riding.

W

Whatdaya mean biking season over in northern areas? I was out on the
bike yesterday and would be again today, except I don't ride in the rain.

Hey the Wogster may have moved from the balmy beaches in the South to
somewhere up North. 🙂

I live in that little village crowbarred between Pickering and
Mississauga, you might have heard of it, it's called Toronto.
Considering I do most riding on weekends, and the last 6 weekends have
either had rain, or gale force winds, this past one split the
difference, steady rain on Saturday and 90km/h wind on Sunday... At
least it hasn't snowed yet!!!!

W

Colorado Bicycler said:

5. Do you use your trainer at home - do you do it in a gym with a
LifeCycle or other arrangement?

I do 45 to 90 minutes of cardio work at the Club every chance I get.
Elliptical machines, stair machines, spin bikes, life cycles, etc.
Hardly any of the muscle building stuff. This is a country club type
health club, expensive but very nice; they have child care for my
daughter and aerobics classes for my wife... it's something we can all
do together and if it weren't for the Club I would get a LOT less
exersize in the winter. I frequently ride my bike there and sometimes
bring my daughter on the trailer cycle. I also can choose to watch
TV, look at the people in the swimming pool, or just zone out on my
techno music while I sweat. Then there's a jacuzzi, showers, free
towels, all the things my garage will never have.

Quoted message said:

6. What about Spinning Classes and rollers. Are you using those for
your indoor training needs? Why?

I like the spin classes but don't usually schedule around them - if
one's just starting I'll go in. The time goes faster and you get to
meet people but some of the banter is a little silly and some of the
people think that spinning makes them cyclists even though they're
clueless about real life riding.

--
My bike blog:
http://diabloscott.blogspot.com/

Diablo Scott said:

I frequently ride my bike there and sometimes
bring my daughter on the trailer cycle.

I use a Trail A Bike with my children (3 and 5) but I can't fathom
convincing them to get on when the weather isn't that good. How old is
she that she will get on the trail a bike when the weather isn't that
good?

My apologies regarding the off topic question. I love riding with my
children and am a bit of a newbie to these news groups. Newbie
question, should I have just started a new topic, "Anybody ride with
children on trail a bike in inclement weather?" even though the person
who has the answer is right here?

Oh, wait, I just figured out how to get my post back on topic for the
OP. I have a Bianchi Alfina and both a single trail a bike and an
"Adams ultimate tandem" trail a bike. Does anybody use a trainer in
the winter with a trail a bike attached. Does Nashbar have rollers
that would fit a rig that long? Thanks!

Colorado Bicycler said:

1. How many times a week do you usually use your trainer - if
bicycling is not possible, given your circumstances?

Depends on the time of year. During the off season I will ride 5 days
a week or so. During the summer maybe five times a month.

Quoted message said:

2. How long is your individual session on your trainer - an hour, 30
minutes, 2 hours, etc.?

Usually one hour, sometimes 40 minutes.

Quoted message said:

3. How intense is your training session - easy, as hard as you can
make it, whatever?

My 40 minute workouts are easy. I ride 10 miles / 40 minutes,
whichever comes last and quit. My hour workouts are all hard.

Quoted message said:

4. Do you use any training aid, such as Spinervals or Carmichael
tapes/cd's or videos of Tour de ??? or other things?

No

Quoted message said:

5. Do you use your trainer at home - do you do it in a gym with a
LifeCycle or other arrangement?

At home. I don't belong to a gym.

Quoted message said:

6. What about Spinning Classes and rollers. Are you using those for
your indoor training needs? Why?

Since I don't belong to a gym I don't do spinning classes. However,
one of my favorite hour workouts amounts to a spin class.

I also have a set of rollers. Usually when I do my 40 minute easy
trainer workout I will do five miles on the rollers.

Quoted message said:

7) How easy/hard is it to switch bikes on a trainer?

Not hard at all. I am on my fourth trainer and they all have been easy
to remove a bike. But the nature of riding indoors means that your
sweat (salt water) will fall on the front of your bike, even with fans
cooling you. So early on I found an old road bike, fit it to my body,
and left it on the rack. I take a "let it rust" attitude. (I'm on my
third trainer bike).

Quoted message said:

8) What trainers are MTB compatable, or do you need to switch to a slick
tire for the winter?

Don't know.

Quoted message said:

9) How stable are they?

Trainers are very stable. Some of my hour workouts have hard sprinting
out of the saddle with a 6 inch block under the front wheel. The
trainer is still very stable.

Regarding question 1, my attitude torwards trainers is that it provides
a controlled workout environment which has a lot of benefits. For this
reason I ride the trainer even when the weather is nice.

Tom

1. How many times a week do you usually use your trainer - if
bicycling is not possible, given your circumstances?
About once or twice a week, more so if it rains

2. How long is your individual session on your trainer - an hour, 30
minutes, 2 hours, etc.?
1 hour at least

3. How intense is your training session - easy, as hard as you can
make it, whatever?
easy but i hammer hard in the middle then finish off easy again

4. Do you use any training aid, such as Spinervals or Carmichael
tapes/cd's or videos of Tour de ??? or other things?
:-D the latter (TdF and other cycling videos)

5. Do you use your trainer at home - do you do it in a gym with a
LifeCycle or other arrangement?
Home, it's set up in my living room

6. What about Spinning Classes and rollers. Are you using those for
your indoor training needs? Why?
Tried spinning classes. My only problem is the class schedule.

Quoted message said:

I use a Trail A Bike with my children (3 and 5)

Is three old enough for a trail a bike? My kid's amost three and it'd
be great if he could ride a trial-a-bike next year. I figured he'd have
to be at least 4, although I'm not sure where I got that idea.

Rich

Thanks for all the GREAT responses.

It IS possible to have an on-topic discussion on USENET, after all.

Personally, I need a training video or I will never do the trainer bit,
as I hate the boredom and being inside. But with a training video, I
can do 45 minutes to an hour. Some of the training videos are 2 hours
long.

My hat is off to anyone who can sit an a trainer for 2-4 hours!

We have had great biking weather here in Denver, so yesterday, I did my
"training" for 2,5 hours OUTSIDE!

Have a great day.

Colorado Bicycler said:

Thanks for all the GREAT responses.

It IS possible to have an on-topic discussion on USENET, after all.

Personally, I need a training video or I will never do the trainer bit,
as I hate the boredom and being inside. But with a training video, I
can do 45 minutes to an hour. Some of the training videos are 2 hours
long.

My hat is off to anyone who can sit an a trainer for 2-4 hours!

We have had great biking weather here in Denver, so yesterday, I did my
"training" for 2,5 hours OUTSIDE!

Have a great day.

What you need is some helmet cam videos, where your going down a road,
and when you start up a hill, dial up the tension some, when it's a
really tall hill, crank the tension.... When you go down a hill, you
slack off the tension, and change bike gears as required.

What would be cool, is if you had a video that had control of the
tension, so that when it starts going up a hill, it adjusts the tension
to the steepness of the hill and the speed of the video was related to
the speed of your wheel turning.....

W

Quoted message said:

What would be cool, is if you had a video that had control of the
tension, so that when it starts going up a hill, it adjusts the tension
to the steepness of the hill and the speed of the video was related to
the speed of your wheel turning.....

Use one of the audio channels (either left or right) on the tape and
feed it into a device that converts the signal frequency into tension.
After shooting the video, re-record the audio track with up hill
having, something like a 1KHz signal, steep hill 10KHz, vertical 20KHz.
Down hill would be 50Hz or so. Obviously when riding the trainer
don't have the tone going to a speaker, it would only go to your
tension adjust box. The other audio channel (either right or left)
could still go to a speaker so you could get the ride noise if you
wanted it.