Indoor Training

Riding in winter can seem a complete nightmare. We all know of the dark nights and the foggy weather. Even when the days are bright, the cold temperatures make cycling hard to pursue. Cycling becomes rather distant as we look for other sports to help keep us fit. But does winter riding really have to be this bad?

Winter here in the Alpes!

Not with the turbo trainer. The turbo-trainer lets you cycle indoors whilst it is snowing outdoors. The turbo-trainer is a simple and inexpensive device into which you fasten the rear wheel of your bicycle. Now you can ‘cycle’ indoors, and in complete safety.

The turbo cannot be a complete substitute to your outdoor riding though. In winter you still have to get out there and get some good quality rides in. The turbo is not the same as the road. If you do all your workouts on the turbo, you will adapt only to the turbo! So always remember that turbo-training is a ‘keep your hand in’ cycling workout.

In summer, the turbo can be a useful asset too. It can be a wonderful aid to help you warm up before a race, especially time trials. The turbo can also come into its own when preparing for specific time trial or road race performances.

Never copy a workout from an Internet site if you don’t know what or why you are doing it. Remember to take that crucial annual medical check up before working your heart rate hard in wintertime.

Preparing to turbo-train – what you need

I. A few large bottles of water: you must hydrate before indoor riding. When you ride your bike outdoors the air is flowing fast past you, cooling you as you ride. Indoors, there is no air to help cool you down so your body produces sweat. Inside you will find that you will build up huge amounts of sweat. For this reason you will need to replace fluid loss through drinking well before, during and after a turbo session.

II. A few towels: you will certainly need towels on your bike frame to stop it from eventually rusting! Don’t forget that sweat holds large amounts of salt. Salt and water cause corrosion. Your expensive bicycle and its components should be protected so that they don’t rust away.

You will also need a towel on the floor of your room, so that you don’t have a huge wet puddle that will follow you around the house. Be warned!

III. Keep a window open: as you train indoors you must keep your room ventilated. This is because you will start to use up the oxygen in the room. It is rather unhealthy and could be dangerous if your room is small and air tight. Fresh air will help you breathe indoors.

IV. A cassette or CD player: most people will set up their bike near a cassette player, so that when they need to turn over the cassette it is close at hand. There is nothing worse than cycling to excellent music when suddenly you get to the end of the tape/cd – so set up the bike near the cassette player. Don’t use headphones connected to the mains – be aware of getting an electric shock because you will sweat so much.

Music will help motivate you through the session.

V. A large mirror: this is quite an asset when turbo-training. Place it ahead of the front wheel, and use it to help you see if you have any pedalling faults. It also helps you focus in on concentrating when training gets tough.

VI. A heart rate monitor: this is an absolute must for turbo-training. You need to know how hard you are working. With indoor training you can over work, so the idea is to structure your workouts with the pulse monitor.

VII. Cadence meter: this is also a fundamental requirement for indoor riding. If you train hard on the turbo, you will find for some workouts your power will fall off without you knowing. With the fall off, the cadence drops. This normally means you are working too hard and need to gear down and keep at 100 rpm or higher no matter what.

Don’t go out and buy a power meter for indoor riding. I can tell you from experience that it is not a realistic reading from ride to ride. The pressure on the back wheel will change over time. And the wheel pressure is not what the real road resistance is outside – so watch out for equipment like this that may not provide what you expect.

A tip is to save your money for a CICLO4PLUS bike monitor. This I have found to be superb quality for the price for outdoor readings. It records my power readings up hill, as well as recording all my other riding data. Excellent!

How do I stop boredom on the turbo?

You stop boredom by concentrating! To get the best out of turbo-training, you must keep the workouts short. This way the workouts will be interesting. You shouldn’t just sit on the turbo for an hour and a half without varying the workout.

Short workouts like this may be fairly intensive depending on your level of fitness. For all recovery you should not stop pedalling – keep pedalling to let the lactic acid run out of your legs – even if the heart rate has not quite come down to rest, your legs will be ready to go again. Here are a few workouts that might interest you:

Ø Half and hour warm up in easy gear, then do 10 minutes x 3 or 4, with 5 minutes rest. Hold the 10 minutes at around 80% of your maximum heart rate with a cadence of 100 revs per minute. Then warm down for 15 minutes spinning easily. This will help improve your time trial threshold and keep your legs ready for cycling outdoors in a few days time.

Ø Half an hour warm up in easy gear then do 2 minutes spin out every 5 minutes. The spin out should start easy with a 100 revs, then try to wind it out as fast as you can in the last minute. Take the next three minutes to recover, and then repeat until total time including recovery gets to half an hour, no more. This will build speed, help develop cadence as well as help improve your power.

Ø Half an hour warm up in easy gear, and then do aerobic capacity training. This training is reserved for the super fit only: do 4 x 5 minutes with 5 to 10 minutes rest. Warm the legs in over the first 3 minutes then push harder and harder up to near maximum heart rate. Then take all the time you want to recover.

You may find one set enough, but if you are ready, then go for another. Never accrue more than 20-30 minutes of intensive effort like this, or you will over-train. Remember to warm up well to get the maximum out of this training.

How can the turbo help me in summer?

The turbo can be a useful aid in warming up before a race. Imagine the scenario that it is raining, or that the race start is in the middle of a busy town. You can get out your turbo and start to warm up on the spot. I believe this to be a far better quality warm up than riding backwards and forwards doing ‘U’ turns in the road etc.

The turbo seems to come into it own for time trials, when you MUST be well warmed in before the start.

Other ways the turbo will aid you is in preparation for specific seasonal time trials. Because you are on the static bike, you will find that you can be more consistent from workout to workout. Imagine the scenario of doing lactate threshold training each week on roads that have traffic lights, wind, dangerous traffic, pot holes – you name it! It is far better to concentrate quality rides on the turbo.

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