artifice

Of riding on a trainer.

Or at least, the prospect of it sounds rather dull to me. I just started cycling this spring (with the exception of spin classes I've been doing for a few years), and have watched my fitness level rise considerably. After getting on the road, sitting in a spin class is now near torture, I can't imagine sitting on a trainer alone @ home. I am apprehensive about losing fitness over the winter, despite how easily gained it was. I've recently moved, and don't have many good spin classes convenient to me. I haven't bought a trainer yet, my riding partners are pushing for the kurt kinetic fluid trainer, but I don't want to drop $300 on something I don't think I'll be excited to use.

My winter thing is skiing- downhill, racing.

Knowing there's no easy solution, suggestions for keeping my fitness up over the winter?

chipcom 

Ride your bike. A little snow and cold ain't gonna make you melt.

Flatballer

Ride it while you watch TV or listen to music. It can be more relaxing than riding on the road sometimes, you don't have to worry about traffic or getting a flat or making it home or whatever. Just sit and spin and zone out.

Or, if you enjoy skiing, do some cross country skiing. That'll keep your fitness up in generally the same way.

CastIron

Studded tires, cupcake.

Iamkar33m

Cross-country skiing, snow-shoeing, weight training (squats, deadlifts, etc.).

To make indoor training on a trainer more enjoyable, put the trainer in front of your TV and pop in a movie or watch TV. Also you can get a book stand for your handlebars from nashbar and read your favorite magazine/book while you're on the trainer.

artifice

oh.. should have mentioned I'm a weather weenie. :-D I'll ride until the snow flies, however I will not HTFU enough to ride in sub zeros on icy roads. My thermal pants are in the mail as I type, though...

hmm did not know that... I'm liking that idea.

JoelS

I don't much care for the blasted things either. In winter, I'd much rather be on the slopes carving deep turns (and making ruts the skiers hate) on my snowboard

But I'm going to get a video of a race or 3 and watch while on the trainer this winter. Maybe when an attack happens in the race I'll do an interval or some such.

botto 

buy rollers.

ride outdoors.

jmilez03

Leg work in the gym during the week. Long slow rides with your friends for 4+hrs on Saturday and Sunday.

kirkcubs

I just got the Chris Carhmichael hill climbing training DVD and dig it. Haven't had it long enough to see any results but it is Chris Carhmicheal so....
Its not very long so its not as if you'll be sitting on the trainer for hours on end. I just set up a little table in front of my trainer / bike and put my laptop with DVD in it on the table and go from there. After a while I won't need the sound (not that hard to follow what's going on) so I can suppliment with some Godsmack / Slipknot et. al.
Hope that helps.

Hunt-man

I like spin class.... there I said it. When the weather gets crappy spin class is a nice workout and ride. I'm planning on a bunch of weight training this winter as well, specifically for cycling.

Tequila Joe

A Cycleops Fluid 2 trainer. IMO as good as a Kurt, can easily be had for < $200 off of eBay.
I just bought a almost new set of Minora mag rollers w/ resistance unit off of Craigs List for $50

I have both set up in the basement, in front of the TV with a fan and I watch cycling videos while I spin away.

T.J.

Allegheny Jet

I don't understand how riding on a trainer while watching your heart rate, cadence, and time left in the interval, while keeping the sweat out of your eyes, can be boring. Maybe during a three minute recovery between intervals the TV will have comerical on, now that can be boring or dissapointing. Indoors is also a great time to work on your pedal stroke and increase your cadence then come the next season, you'll be ready to up the ante on your riding. Just grin and bear it, that's what most of us do. I do suggest that if you do get a trainer, have a plan and don't just ride for x# of minutes just waiting to reach the end. Riding on a trainer that way is worse than boring, it's torture. To do it right think of "suffering" and the benefits it will have in making you a better rider. It's a lot easier to "suffer" thru a 20 minute TT on the trainer than to pedal along with a high heart rate for 20 minutes.

celerystalksme

get the trainer. and use it while watching tv. that can make it semi-enjoyable. or pop in a cycling dvd...my cycle-ops came with this neat training dvd that's actually semi-enjoyable to use with my trainer...it's entertaining and tries to guide your training. or put on some music while on the trainer...make a playlist! get a bookstand thing for your handlebars and read/study!

another thing to make it not too monotonous is to track your training progress. get a heart rate monitor, power meter, etc and track the progress of your training. that can make it interesting.

also...go ride in the winter! bundle up...get some studded tires or something if you're in a icy/snowy area...maybe even get a affordable cyclocross or mountain bike...and ride!!!!!!!!!!!

and finally...do other stuff. go down hill skiing like you do. but mix it up a little...go snowboarding...go cross country skiiing...go snowshoeing! get a pair of ice skates and to ice skating! go for a winter run! hit the weight room and get cut! get on the treadmill! do some yoga! do some hardcore stretching to increase your flexibility! are there indoor sports facilities? go indoor rock climbing! join a rec league in whatever sport is offered indoors for winter...soccer, basketball, whatever.

there are tons of fun stuff to do in order to keep your fitness up over the winter months!

Scorer75

or play hockey 3 nights a week, that's why I started riding in the first place.

mrbubbles

Winter means: mountain biking, speedskating, skiing (both alpine and xc variety), hiking, winter camping, and also HTFU to ride in the freezing rain.

$300 for a bloody mind torturing device isn't worth it to me. I'm not bringing out my trainer for winter this year, it's going to stay in storage collecting dust.

StupidlyBrave 

Consider cross-country skiing.

MrCrassic 

If you get the right gear, riding in those conditions shouldn't be much of an issue. I've ridden in 15 deg weather (well, training anyway) and was fine with a good fleece, UA, gloves and legwarmers.

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Flatballer

I'll take it off your hands if you want, torture device and all. Heck, I'll even pay shipping.

gruffydd

I have a 1Up trainer but I usually use my 30+ year old Cinelli rollers. They are so loud and drown out any other sound. Puts me right into the zone.

daoswald

I agree with you; the trainer is torture. To those who suggest riding it while watching TV, who watches tv? I rarely turn it on. To me, ten minutes on the trainer is all I can stand. Fortunately for me, I live in Southern California. But for those of you who lack my lack of prolonged inclement weather, here is what I used to do when I lived in Utah:

Go skiing. That's pretty good for your legs, though downhill isn't much of a cardio workout unless you're pounding moguls.

Go for a hike. Boots, a gore-tex shell, gators, gloves... you're set for packed trails. For less traveled trails, there are snow shoes. Either way, it's a great workout. Your legs will work different muscles than on a bike, to a degree, but you'll maintain fitness in general.

Treefox

Sometimes I listen to podcasts or audio books (several places offer free ones as mp3 downloads).

artifice

It sounds like I'm pretty set without a trainer. I do a lot of other training in the winter (and year-round for that matter, to keep my fitness up)- total body conditioning, skiing, track running indoors, weights.. etc. I was concerned I'd lose too much of my fitness on the bike, but its sounding like I'll be ok.

Yeah.. I am not a TV person. its a big deal if I turn it on 1x a week... and with the attention span of a gnat, I probably wouldn't last more than a half hour on a trainer anyway, we will see...

Booger

Do something else in the winter or you'll burn out. Lifting weights will do us all some good.

mrbubbles

I can ship it to you but I can't, the resistance is toasted. Besides, real roadies don't tell other roadies to ride the trainer, go ride outside instead. Borrow a trainer from someone and ride it for 30 minutes indoor and you'll understand.