So I am getting my training schedule figured out for the winter. I have my LTHR calculated at 175 bpm. I am getting my base work started and noticed that I have trouble maintaining my tempo heart rate on the trainer. It seems a lot more fatiguing inside than outside. My muscles just tire quickly. I can ride in the 150+ bmp range for hours outside but is a lot more difficult to maintain inside. Do I just need to HTFU or what?

Whenever in doubt, htfu is always a good way to go.

That said, this is a widely debated topic (why it feels harder inside), one recent discussion on it can be found here.

A big fan (or 2) on you while inside helps.

This is my first winter on a trainer, and I'm glad I'm focusing on low-intensity base, because anything harder is MUCH harder. I don't have a power meter to know how much of it is mental and how much is actual, but my low HR numbers and high RPE sure make the trainer seem evil. After combing through Friel's blog post and a few other sources, I compiled this short list of differences between the road and the trainer which make sense to me.

Indoor vs. Outdoor Differences
Mini recovery periods on road due to coasting, cornering, and momentum
Faster deceleration on trainer without mini breaks
Side-to-side rocking of (light) bike on road, rocking of (heavy) body on the trainer
Build up of body heat indoors
Reduced circulation of fresh air/O2 indoors, even with fans
Bike position changes (and altered muscle recruitment) more common outdoors due to varying scenarios

People figured out the reason in the early 1990s if not earlier. I don't know why people are still trying to solve an already-solved puzzle.

Is the fit on the trainer identical to your road set up? If not that can cause issues. Also, on the road you are shifting weight and moving around quite a bit. Maybe work in a 30 second out of saddle during a long effort. A nice action movie also helps get the motivation going.

Maybe because people who consider it solved abstain from sharing the solution with others? Hint, hint, I'm talking about you.

Also because Friel merely speculates, and concludes with "I don't know" when asked this exact question.

1. Cooling.

2. Flywheel weight -- most trainers don't really feel like the road, no microrests, etc. Computrainers work much better, and I've heard that some of the KK's with the pro flywheel may make a difference. My Cyclops Fluid2 just does not feel like the road, no if's and's or butts.

3. Boredom from being inside.

There you have it.

FWIW -- I can have a very successful shorter (~90-120 minutes) interval session on my fluid2 where I'm changing up the cadence/power. Trying to ride a "base" type ride kills me though because of the lack of "microrest" and reduced variability -- I can do a 3 hour ride @ a "steady" 200w outside and feel great the next day, but a 3 hour ride @ a steady 195w on the trainer makes me feel like someone beat my legs up with a 2x4.

When I used to go to our local sports institute and rent time on the computrainer, I never had those problems..

It's like the glass is a liquid argument. Tell that to the 10000-year-old obsidian arrow heads that you can shave with or Mt. Wilson observatory's perfect-figure optics from 108 years ago.

Still, old homes have thicker glass at the bottoms of their windows, so it must be because they're liquid, right?

1. definitely.

2. I have a USA1 Trainer. It has a pretty big flywheel. It isn't perfect, but it's not bad. The bummer is that I can slip the tire against the drum on sprint efforts. I started putting the thing on the trainer with the tire under inflated and then pumping it up. That helped.

3. Last year I watch Red Dawn followed by Starship Troopers while on the trainer. Blew my F'in mind. By the end I was asking which one was satire. Best trainer session ever.

I've got the KK road machine and it's close enough to the road feel for me...

I survive with focused training plans. There is no just get on the trainer and maintain between 'x' and 'y' wattage. I would die if I tried to do that.

Basically it's warm up then varying intervals with recovery in between to keep things interesting. I open the window to the basement to get some fresh air in, turn the furnace thermo way down and turn the furnace fan on. This keeps fresher air coming into the room. I also have a fan on me to keep me cool. When Is start my sessions I'm usually cold and uncomfortable, but by the time the 15-20min warmup is done I'm all ready for action.

I run old race videos on the TV, but usually only watch during the recovery periods. All other times I'm going to hard and focusing on my Garmin to make sure I'm within the prescribed wattage for that interval.

The last piece of the puzzle is music. Since my wife is in the basement training with me and we have slightly differing tastes in preferred trainer tunes. I use an MP3 player with earbuds and do a good job of deafening myself

BTW...Thanks for reminding me that this hell will start again shortly...So far we've been blessed with an unbelievable fall, but I know that can change at a moments notice...

I always feel like time on the trainer is worth double the time on the road because of the lack of rests, especially if you ride in the city. Time well spent!

Thanks to the time change my evening workouts start on the trainer this week despite the nice weather. Riding through rush hour traffic is bad enough when it's light but when it's dark it just ain't worth the risk.

Especially in Toronto...

you know it

I'm lucky...Living in Dundas, I'm right on the outskirts of Hamilton so getting out into the countryside is pretty easy without a ton of traffic...Not to mention the worst portions are when I'm leaving town and it's still light at that point...

Of course that's this week, within a week or two that won't be the case and by then the weather will probably be ****e as well....So I'll be joining you on the trainer sooner then later...

As an added bonus wifey and I picked up a set of Elite rollers and have been testing them out...So far no holes in the walls

I hate that glass argument. Glass is just an amorphous solid that has a second order transition at Tg instead of first order at Tm like crystalline solids. Even if you used kinetic models to describe the glass relaxation time (which is only valid if it is around or above Tg) then its on the order of the length of time of the universe.

/materials science rant

I almost failed Materials Science. Of course, holding the class at 2pm after a two hot dog and two 16oz. PBR lunch might have had a little to do with it. <snore>

not if you pedal for less than 4% of your total ride time during most of your rides outdoors