I have never used an Indoor Trainer until yesterday and I'm a little confused on what stats to focus on as compared to the common road stats via Garmin 500.

I know I should throw MPH out the window during indoor training but what should I keep an eye on during my 1 hour rides?

Thanks

Regards
John

Power with heart rate as a reasonable alternative for longer aerobic situations, just like out on the road where grades and wind make speed an irrelevant metric for all but making it through successive traffic lights timed for cars, motivation, and bragging rights.

Depending on which trainer you have, MPH might not be so useless. For Kurt Kinetic and CyclOps Fluid trainers there are pretty accurate mph/watt conversion tables.

I watch the same things. MPH (for watt conversion), cadence, and HR/HR zone. Oh yeah, don't for get the clock. I watch that like crazy. I'm pretty sure it runs slower on the trainer.

Do you have the Garmin Speed/Cadence sensor on your bike? If you do, you can at least get speed and cadence. If you have a fluid trainer, you can match the speed to power (at least Kurt Kinetic publishes a chart that shows the power required versus the speed of the flywheel).

I also collect heart rate data.

Either a power meter or a heart rate monitor. Their use would be dependent upon what you want to get out of your rides. A lot of people do base training during the winter, which entails lots of low-intensity saddle time, which you could easily track with a heart rate monitor.

I do have the Speed/Cadence sensor for Garmin as well as HR monitor!
I am using a Cycleops Super magneto pro.

So with this in mind is everyone saying I should focus on cadence and HR along with my hour training session and forget about mph?

:EDIT:
Just looking to maintain what I gained this season so I dont have to start from square one in the spring.

Diameter of the sweat puddle.

Feeling lousy with the flu. You made me laugh. Thanks!

I'd just get as much time in as you can stand, favoring hours over intensity. The strength comes easier once you're back out on the road. A fan blowing in your face and a Netflix account can get you a long way.

So true. It is amazing how much moisture just evaporates when outdoors.