mhamm

Living in Michigan, i'm forced to use my darn trainer during these winter months. I ride my trainer 4-5 days per week, but as a way to keep me motivated, every Thursday a group of us gets together at a bike shop. We bring our bikes and trainers and spin from about 5:30 - 7:30. Then all that work goes down the drain when we go enjoy wings and adult beverages at BW3's.

While we spin, we usually either watch past TDF races, the Cycelops Race Day video, or instant watch movies on NetFlix (American Flyers currently available). We also have some Tacx virtual trainers available, but those only help marginally.

Does anyone else do group trainer rides during the winter? If so, what do you do during that time and do you find it keeps you spinning at least 1x per week?

SalsaPodio

The bike shop near me also does Thursday night trainer rides from 9 to about 10:30 pm. We usually do a spinervals type dvd which isn't too bad. There is also a roller race series that some people do throughout the winter.

mhamm

Wow that's late. That would equate to, like, a midnight bed-time for me. That would NOT provide spousal approval.

keepamonte

3-4 guys I ride with take our trainers to a guys shop where we put a big piece of plastic down and watch videos on the large flatscreen on the wall. The carmichael training series are our poison. So far it has helped tremendously on our outdoor rides like today for instance. You find yourself less likely to wuss out with each other right there. we get together Mondays and Wednesdays at night and Saturday morning if weather prevents us from riding outside. We all pitch in for the video library for variety.

DScott

Who gets to clean up that mess?


I feel for you guys, but that'd be just weird to do, let alone admit to...

BetweenRides

I'm in Chicagoland and this has proved to be a challenging winter for outdoor riding on this side of the lake as well. My LBS has been doing group computrainer classes for a while - I'm in my 6th winter season. They are set up in series for 12 riders in a semi-circle facing a shared screen, which shows the course profile with %FTP, cadence, power output, max, watt/kg, etc. These are coached classes with music and have grown to being offered several days and times per week. This season I'm doing 3 days a week, 2 week nights are 6:30-8pm plus a 2+ hour ride Saturday mornings. Very intense workouts that build over the course in blocks of 6 weeks. I started the first group in December after a few weeks off from last season. Currently at the end of week 2 in the third block. Timing usually works out to lead right into outdoor riding. I will supplement this with the occasional basement ride at home at low intensity.

A group of us rehydrate on Thursday night after class each week - I wouldn't call that going down the drain, though. It's a great time and it provides motivation for training, as I will punish myself harder in anticipation of letting go after class.

asmallsol

This winter, I've been doing this twice a week. Every Wednesday, a group of three of us meet and my buddy's house and we'll ride for about and hour and a half or so. We each do our own thing. We watch a movie (non cycling). After we are finished riding, we make a nice dinner. Its made for a great winter.

On Thursday nights, the shop I ride out of does a trainer night, and we'll normally watch old TdF vids or some type of cycling DVD. Again, everyone pretty much does their own thing. After the ride, a couple of us head out to local places for a beer and some food.