trainer vs outside
 

Hi I'm new here. For past 35 months I've been working with a coach who makes my monthly ride and weight schedules around my work schedule. Back in Sept.09 I had to have C3 and C4 fused. I decided to let my coach go. I wasn't sure if I was going to continue to ride and train like I was. It has been a lot of stress on my family (the surgery). I rode two months while I was recovering on the trainer at 70-75% of max hr. I ended up with a little over a 1000miles. At the beginning of Nov I went back to riding back outside. All I can say is heart rate up speed down. My Question is How long will it take before my (pre)surgery fitness levels come back? I don't know how not to ride like I'm not training. (that may not sound right). Has anyone experience this? Thanks

The return of your fitness level depends on how hard you are training. I would imagine that it would take a couple of months.