Have trainer... need advice
 

I have a brand new magnetic trainer (Performance Traveler Century) which I tried for the first time last night. I've heard from several people that it's incredibly Boring to ride a trainer. It IS different than road riding, but It wasn't too bad. I only did 30 min. though and was watching some TV at the time. So far, I'd rather ride a trainer than run on a treadmill. Some questions for other trainer users:

1. How long do you ride it at a time? How many days a week do you ride it?

2. Where is your trainer set up? (Mine's in the bedroom of all places. I don't have a basement and every room in my house is carpeted except the kitchen and bathrooms. At least the bedroom carpeting isn't real thick. It also happens to be the only room with enough space in the corner. So what if it looks a little odd...)

3. Do you 'mix it up' (changing gears often or hopping off & adjusting the trainer's resistance level) or stay with one pace for the duration?

4. How often do you check tire pressure on the 'trainer bike'?

Thanks for any info you can offer.
:)

To be honest, I haven't been on my trainer in a while. At my height of use it was a couple times a week. Most of my programed workouts run about an hour, some longer. You'll be suprised how fast an hour can go.

I'd set the thing up where ever it worked out. In the living room in front of the TV or stereo, in the backyard. The amount of sweat calls for a towel below the bike if in the house. Drink fluids. I keep a towel in hands reach for mopping the brow. A large fan set up in front of you in the house is nice.

Trainers are ideal for mixing it up. Get a hold of a book on trainer use. The one that came with my Blackburn model is extremely helpful. It has numerous workouts and it tells you to keep certain gears at constant cadence for certain amounts of time working you through intervals. This calls for a clock within view preferable with a second hand and cadence counting (count the revolutions of the crank in six seconds and multiply by ten). A cycle computer is best. I found that keeping the resitance at a constant is helpful. A given programed workout at a different resistance is quite marked in terms of effect. You'll know what you can handle. The point is not to kill yourself.

I always check my tire pressure no matter what i'm doing. Anal.

You'll hear a lot of people say it's boring but I'd do it more if I had the time.

5 days a week, minimum 50 minutes (unless I'm running
especially late) in the morning.
I'm mostly on rollers so its never boring
(bored is bad).
I'd run through the gears and mix em up for a varied
workout. There are some great video's (spinervals comes
to mind) that make things interesting.
I'd check tire pressure daily, one thing I learned is
lower pressure = more difficult workout.
I'd also suggest some type of pad to protect carpet
and stabilize the trainer.

Marty

:beer:

I ride 45-90 minutes 3-5 nights a week.

I ride in the living room. No basement or garage. It is the only room with enough space to ride.

I have an MP3 player that I put in the rear pocket of my jersey. I can change the music before every ride. I start out with something slow to warm up then change the mix for high cadence, hard climbing, hard workout at moderate cadence, etc.
Using the player I can hear the music (earphones) and not disturb my wife while she watches television.
You can also get a pair of wireless headphones (Radio Shack, Best Buy, etc.) and connect them to a stereo or CD player.

Just like my road bike. I check the pressure before every ride. Well, actually I press on the tire. It it feels firm I hop on and ride. If it doesn't out comes the pump. :)

Good luck. :beer: If you find yourself getting "bored" change your routine. Try watching cycling videos, different music, or whatever works for you.

I ride anywhere from 30 mintues to 3 hours, unless I can do the ride outside. But sometimes I don' have time during the day so I have to train at night, so it's stationary time. I find it terribly boring, but loud music helps. I am saving up for a tv/vcr combo to put in my workout room, for added distraction.

I try to do at least an hour per session 4-5 times per week, in front of the TV. When I first started I would just spin in an attempt to get base mileage but this was to boring for me. I started doing intervals recently and this is a little better as it keeps your attention a little better...plus I want to start building some speed because in the near future (I hope) I'll be taking a job as a fiels sales rep for a lab supply company which means 8-10hrs a day in a cage and limited riding time as there would be no commute. So I want to increase my speed to cover more miles in my alotted cycling time.

I personally like to watch a training video with the sound turned down, and put on some appropriate fast paced cycling music (heavy metal ala megadeth or pantera) for motiviation. The music is there because after seeing the video twice it gets really repetative. The forty minutes goes by really fast. :beer:

3 HOURS?
Fubar YOU DA MAN

marty

i am lucky in that i have a big screen in the basement to ride in front of. however, i went to a carpet store and got a carpet sample that i put the bike on so sweat doesn't ruin the carpet beneath with sweat and/or grease, etc

if i am not doing a specific video then i watch t.v. with a nice easy spin during the show and i gear up and get after it during commercials... my own type of interval session...

i do a bunch of single leg riding as well

start out with just spinning and not doing anything too intense to get yourself acclimated to this endeavor.