I broke down and bought a Cycleops Fluid 2 Trainer and have been doing some research over the past few days on various plans. As always though I want to get some ideas from the 50+ crowds so, what do you guys got?

Well, here is my dedicated trainer. I even have a whole set of Spinerval training tapes, DVD, MP3, phone, Cable TV, VHS, HRM, cadence, etc. Here is how I use it:

I carefully look at it all winter long, and every now and then think about riding it. But, as long as the temp is above about 40F and the trails are clear, I will be on my real bike, or, if not, swimming or walking. I just can't stand being inside.

Good plan.

I'm not as tough as Denver. I only manage to look at the rollers/trainer/weights for a month or two before I decide that it would be nice to get some exercise in without riding or hiking in the rain. I like rain, but after a few months of it I'm ready for a break. Maybe I should do more southbound winter tours instead.

I have lots of plans to use my trainer. Every day when I come home I plan to use it.

I hardly ever do.

I got a trainer last year because a long string of bad, wet weather during the winter. I purchased the Kurt Kinetic Road Machine w/ Pro Flywheel. I will use it if I don't get up in time to do an outside ride, it's nasty outside, or the temp has dropped below my threshold.

I plan 3 rides on the trainer each week, the days and length tend to vary, sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn't. It like on the road in the summer, I don't beat myself up if I miss a ride or 3..... The whole idea in winter, is to keep the legs for summer.

Only the magnificence of the **Schwinn Airdyne** is truly inspirational

I have a BUNCH of the Spinnerval series of DVD's and it makes the workouts much more pleasurable. https://www.spinervals.com/

I use rollers, but the idea is the same. I do stuff on the rollers that would be difficult or impossible to do on the road in summer: long high cadence drills, one-legged pedaling drills (on the road is too easy and not as safe), long steady zone 2 rides, long zone 3 intervals, stuff like that. I never just ride them. I always have a specific workout with a specific goal. I periodize it, starting off easy and gradually working up to more time and or intensity, 3 weeks increase, a week easy. I don't do intervals above zone 3 at all. I save the intensity for my weekend road ride.

If I couldn't get out, i.e. snow, I would add some zone 4 sub-threshold work, probably a session with 2 X 15' or 2 X 20' each week. No sense in going over, really. For me this is the season to prepare, not to do. The high end stuff improves so quickly in the spring, why burn myself out in the winter?

OT, but after a roller session, I usually go to the gym and lift weights. Because I've done this for a long time, the aerobic work doesn't impact the weight work, in fact it makes it a more effective training tool:
https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...ing-off-season

Hmph, you guys get a lot less rain than I do. But one thing that gets me up those dark rainy hills in the morning is thinking to myself "At least I'm not on a treadmill!" I would just get fat if I didn't ride in the rain. I don't know what I'll do when I no longer have a commute. 6 years to worry about that problem.

I sold my trainer when I moved to Southern California (from Missouri). Never need it out here! Used it a lot during St. Louis winters. I'm so over that now!

Rick / OCRR

I have a Kurt Kinetic Road Machine (fluid).

In the winter I get all geared up to ride it, then go outside and eat dirt till the urge passes, because I'd rather do the latter than the former.

One thing I find with a trainer, there is no momentum, which means every ride is like going up a very long, but not that steep hill. Before I got my trainer, I found that I lost a lot in the off season, and it was often August before I caught up to the year before, so I gained very little each year. Using the trainer, I can keep most of the legs from the year before, so I could catch up to the year before in Late May or early June.

I no longer head out on a ride in the rain, so I use a trainer at times. I have a spin CD I watch and use and I also have my quarter of football routine. Yup, watching one quarter of football is about 45 min (about the longest I can stand on a trainer)and it helps the time pass. I track my target heart rate and spend X amount of time in the target zone. There was a time I did this by manually checking my pulse, the acquisition of a HR monitor made life mucho easier.

The KK Road, especially with the Pro flywheel, does have "momentum," but it's still like going up a grade all the time. With the added flywheel, the rear wheel takes longer to slow down to stop.

And I prefer riding rollers with light plastic drums and with light rims and tires, precisely because of the lack of momentum, thus encouraging the rider to provide steady power rather than pulsing it. I prefer to see indoor cycling as training, quite separate from riding on the road.

I prefer eliminating the possibility of falling and home damage from a fall. Rollers make me far more apprehensive than riding in traffic. Just my opinion.

I have rollers and a trainer. When I use them I will have a fixed workout or purpose during the session. The rollers will help with form and the trainer will help make me stronger.

Last year I figured out a "climbing course" that basically circles my neighborhood. It's about 3.5 miles long, and gets me about 100 feet of elevation gain per mile. I can ride that in the dark, and in very, very cold conditions and can easily bail out if I want. I do that for an hour or so. I realized no matter how boring that little loop is, it beats spending the same amount of time on the trainer by a mile.

I rode the Sufferfest "Hunted" video / smartphone / in the Spin room last night. It kept me involved, but wasn't impressed with the production quality. The sub-titles are telling you to a go,go,go ...and the guy in front of you is gliding through the curves, duh. I mean, how hard was it for the editor to match the video to the training plan?

Funny, I was alone for the first half-hour, and then a class started. They were in recovery when I was in a 9/10 sprint, I got quite the look from the instructor though I'd put myself in the back of the room, "incognito". I did the last half of her class as a recovery ride. Good workout.