Indoor Training

It looks like the first really cold weather is headed our way at the end of the week with temperatures on Friday hitting a high in the mid 30's. If it's not heading into the 40's, I'm training inside. Actually, I even train a lot inside throughout the year just because I like the controlled environment for certain rides and intervals. I've found that a true recovery ride is best ridden on the trainer where there is no temptation to catch other riders or hammer up a hill. But lets get back to winter indoor training.

I'm assuming that you have some type of indoor trainer and that it allows you to ride from a very low power to a very high power output. I've owned trainers by TravelTrac, Cycle-Ops, CompuTrainer, Kinetic, etc. They all work just fine. Currently I have the Cycle-Ops Indoor 400 and it truly the finest indoor bike I've ever had the pleasure to crank out 12-15 hours a week on. Check 'e out at Montgomery Cyclery sometime. There are unlimited combinations of slope (-10% to +10%), wattage zones, gearing (1 to 22), etc. I love this bike.

To make indoor training a little more tolerable I'd recommend the following:

have a tv if possible; I can only listen to music so long before I need something else to occupy my time, and this comes from a pretty avid musician

read while riding: get a music stand and read magazines, books, newspapers, etc; I studied for my personal trainer certification on the trainer over several months

ride twice per day if you really can't stand to do the long (two hour+) ride all at once

take a spin class: I know that some of these aren't real cycling oriented in terms of the intervals but its still time on the bike, and just skip the intervals that don't make sense

use a cheap rear tire: the nice tires will shred in a few weeks; get a $20 Continental, non-folded; it will last all winter and more; I hate having to change a flat inside

get a fan, and not the kind that is going to clap when you ride hard--one to keep you cool

drink a lot of fluids before, during and after!!!

track your heart rate or power to make your intervals interesting; the controlled environment inside is great for comparing efforts over time---use it to your advantage; if you can hammer inside this winter, you'll feel that much better when you finally get out in the spring, mentally and physically

consider using some of the training dvd's and share them with friends who have different dvd's

have group rides inside, if you have room for multiple bikes

If there is an interest I can get the spin room at the Cincinnati Sports Club. We have 35 bikes. The cost would be about $10 per person to come in and have access to the club all day.