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My year in cycling - 2024
(lemm.ee)
A place to share our love of all things with two wheels and pedals. This is an inclusive, non-judgemental community. All types of cyclists are accepted here; whether you're a commuter, a roadie, a MTB enthusiast, a fixie freak, a crusty xbiking hoarder, in the middle of an epic across-the-world bicycle tour, or any other type of cyclist!
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Thanks. Good luck with your goals, too!
Oh yeah the magnetic trainers are hard and boring. Before I tried zwift, I used one while watching my favorite TV show, and I was bored out of my mind in 25 minutes. I started zwift with that, but quickly bought a smart trainer that responds to the computer, so it varies in difficulty based on the terrain. They're cheaper now than they were then, but still several hundred dollars. I have my old Cannondale on it.
I remember trying to climb a mountain in Zwift in the Innsbruck world on the magnetic trainer. It was going to take hours, clearly. I can do the same climb in less than an hour (I don't remember the exact amount of time it takes) with the smart trainer.
Yeah, that would be my next step, if I find that training over the winter brought me some benefits. I think I just like being outdoors! LOL
Yeah, I much prefer riding outdoor. Generally I ride 2-3 times each week outside, but I work during the day, so my winter rides were pretty much only on Saturdays. Then, add in some bad weather, and often I wouldn't ride at all. Each year in spring, I felt like I was starting over.
With the indoor platform, I can at least maintain my level over the winter (though I usually improve), so when good weather comes along, I'm ready to pick up where I left off.
There are some things that are much easier to do on the indoor rides, with the controlled environment. For example, the last few weeks, I've been doing an "FTP builder" (functional threshold power - essentially, the power I can maintain for a long time, like 40 minutes or an hour) plan in Zwift. The workouts require specific power output for given intervals, which is harder to do outside. It can be done, but, there are hills (both climbs and descents can be counterproductive), bad weather, stop signs and traffic lights, etc., all interfering with whatever goal power you were trying to achieve. And riding in cold weather always gets my heart rate up, making the workout less effective.
I'm not saying indoor riding is easy; I find myself watching the clock a lot more, for example. But it's better than no ride at all. From spring to fall, I'll generally only use Zwift when it's raining outside, or if we have something going on that limits my time to ride.
Indoor gives you consistency with the ride.
It's nearly impossible for me to do a 3 or 4 hour base building ride at low watts without being wildly over or under my targets. Indoors, I'm able to pretty much nail the target zones, so it's probably a more effective way to do specific training.
But my longer outdoor rides will include some monster hills, which aren't easy to duplicate with my current setup.
I'll make due with what I've got, and will look to upgrade when the need arises.