BigK75

Hey Guys:

I really trained quite a bit this year (quite a bit for me anyway) and I got to a point where I am happy with my progress and I do not want to lose what I worked hard to gain as winter is coming. Unfortunately its starting to get much colder and the days are getting much shorter. As I work 8-5pm at the minimum I decided to buy a trainer to stay in shape through the darkness and the winter. I bought a Kurt Kinetic Road Machine this weekend and today I did the Spinervals 27 Threshold and Sufferfest DVD. I seriously thought I was either going to puke or possibly die. Coach Troy Jacobson said most people will pass out before they die so that me feel better Did I also mention that his recommendation was to be in Big Chainring and 13-15 in the back. I was in the big ring but 19-21 in the back. I still had two puddles next to me and I've never been so wet from sweat. Anyway I digress. Needless to say I doubt I can do this three times a week for the whole winter. Can you guys give me some ideas of what you do. I am looking for info on how many times you train, how long, what intensity etc... I kind of new at this so I am looking for some more info. I do not want to hear, I live in California so I go out anytime I feel like. Good luck getting buried in the snow etc...

Also one other thing. At the end of the ride he briefly mentions recovery rides. Someone please explain to me the purpose of these and what is being accomplished. Do you still do them on a trainer.

Claude

tntyz

My recommendation based on very limited trainer experience - put a fan in front of you. You don't realize how much you sweat on a bike until you ride a trainer!

Oh, and have fun.

hhnngg1

The spinervals and sufferfest are HARD. too hard honestly imo for all but peaking riders in a training program. I say this since they are harder for me than most of the workout in carmichael's time crunched cyclist which is supposedto be high intensity to make up for low volume.

You dont have to go all out every time. Even carmichael says you cannot sustain this even with 3 rest days for over 8 weeks at such intensity befire you actually decrease performance. I used to drive myself into the ground on such workouts but now i know why i got slower after the initial sharp improvrment- cant sustain it for months. I now use these more sparingly.

jmX

When I'm training indoors, such as in the winter when it's dark early, I go with a very structured plan. I use the CTS "time crunched cyclist" plan for weekday intervals on the trainer, and on the weekends I try and do the longer rides outside. I enter the workouts into my PC and let the PC tell me what to do as i ride the trainer. It'll warn me if I drift outta my prescribed powerzone during the interval. It's kinda like the DVDs, but customizable.

rbart4506

Use a fan!

Select the gearing you require to maintain the effort that is necessary...Not sure what you weight is, but a 250lb rider will be able to push a much higher gear then a 130lb rider on the trainer...BTW I spend a large portion of my winter training on the 39...Still able to do VO2max and LT intervals that way...

I will do short recovery spins on the trainer...45mins max where I keep my power at 50%-60% of FTP...

Accordion

Dude, now what? You get rid of it! I hated my KK! I took it back to REI after two weeks and luckily they took it back. Worst two weeks of my life.

gregf83 

I'm fortunate to not have to ride the trainer more than a few times a year but if I was snow or ice bound I would consider following a program (90/90/90) used by Andy Coggan. Here is a quote from Andy taken from the wattage group:

”Well, I wouldn’t necessarily recommend copying what I’m doing…unless
of course you also now have a 6 wk old daughter!

Seriously, the best season I’ve had in recent years followed a winter
during which I did the following ‘90/90’90‘ workout 3 d/wk:

5 min w/u
20 min @ 275 W
5 min easy
5 min @ 325 W
2.5 min easy
5 min @ 325 W
2.5 min easy
0.5 min at 500 W
2 min easy
0.5 min at 500 W
2 min easy
0.5 min at 500 W
2 min easy
0.5 min at 500 W
2.5 min easy
5 min warm-down

The ‘90/90/90‘ refers to the fact that (almost by chance) the powers
used were about 90% of the best that I could produce for that duration
when at peak fitness. That made the session challenging enough that I
didn’t lose too much fitness over the winter, but not so hard that I
ever dreaded the workout or burned out from doing it “.

KiuBWhy

Very enjoyable to read.

Accordion

Thank you. I'm kind of a literary genius or something like that.

todayilearned

Are the first 3 intervals just warmups at moderate power? What % of max would you do for easy?

gregf83 

All of the intervals were done at about 90% of his best power for that period. So if your best 20 min power is 300W you would do the 20 min portion at 270. Easy is whatever feels easy; 50% of FTP would be fine.

simonaway427

Buy a large fan.....and more Sufferfest videos (www.thesufferfest.com). Just something about getting yelled at by Coach Troy, and watching sweaty dudes in a Mercedes garage that turned me towards kick a$$ music and actual race footage. So much better than the Spinerval DVD's.

Daytrip

What now? Now, you suffer.

CornUponCob

Now you download entire stages of bike races and watch them for motivation. It's hard to watch anything that requires any amount of brain power on the trainer and still get a good workout. I tried to watch "there will be blood" on the trainer, and didn't really "get" any of it. These days I just stick to big stage race stages.

sqharaway

^ Pretty much!

You're definitely going to lose some fitness/power through the winter months. But that's okay! In fact, probably good to let yourself chill for a while after a hard summer of riding. That said, if you're looking to maintain a reasonable level of fitness, I've had success doing 3 1:15-1:30 sessions a week, wherein I warmup, do 3 long intervals (15-20 minutes each, depending on how much time you have), and cool down. This routine has kept me relatively strong. But remember you want to be building a base over the winter months anyway, so don't try to kill yourself.

Also, join cycling torrents and spin to your favorite races!!