Indoor Cycling (Not just for winter anymore)

Living on the East Coast and being a cyclist or triathlete, hmmm…. I know many cyclists and triathletes who can’t even begin to grasp the concept. If the weather dips below 60 F, cycling is not going to happen, not outside anyway. Most of us in the Mid-Atlantic region have a much lower cut-off point than that. For me it’s about 10 F, and that just means I may opt to ride off-road in the woods where there is not as much of a wind chill. Oh wait….but that was when training was my job and I could ride in the middle of the day. Strike that. It’s been quite a while since I’ve actually started a ride in full daylight, let alone outdoor. During the winter, you may find yourself in the same predicament, at least during the week. In the cold, potentially icy darkness, cycling outdoor becomes less and less appealing (or sane for that matter).

Think about it. Cycling indoor is much more time efficient. There is no need to waste valuable time putting on layers and layers of clothing. If you only have 20 minutes to ride, you are way more likely to get on the bike indoor than you are outdoor. There is no stopping due to traffic or lights. You can get other things done while riding indoor: reading, studying, music or for those long rides you can watch a movie or your favorites sports games. Cycling indoor is much more controlled. You can more easily monitor your progress and know that you are improving (or not). Most cycling drills are more easily performed on an indoor trainer than outdoor. Cycling indoor is safe (on rollers, that may be arguable). It is said there are two categories of cyclists, those who have crashed and those who will. I know enough cyclists and triathletes who have been severely injured or killed in bicycle accidents that it makes me think twice every time I am about to venture out on the road. If you don’t feel well or are having a bad day you can just stop and get off the bike if you are riding indoor. Cycling indoor can be more social. We all know how much fun cycling can be when riding with others but with a wide range of abilities the training effect of a group ride can vary greatly from one cyclist to another. Indoor you can ride with friends, at your own pace, without worrying about having to keep up with your buddy, the hammer head. Everybody gets the workout they are looking for.

Way back in the early 90′s (when I used to be faster and ride outside in just about any conditions) there were a few of times I was “forced” to ride indoor. Of particular note was during the winter of ’93-’94 when I spent from December through March cycling, almost entirely, on a Schwinn Velodyne (heck, one of the only days I did get outside that winter I got hit by a car and my shoulder hasn’t been right since). Looking back, I was in the best cycling shape I have ever been coming off that training period. Since then, I have used and tested a variety of other trainers ranging from rollers to inexpensive magnetic trainers to Fluid Trainers to the Computrainer. I believe they all are of benefit and are better than 100% outdoor cycling.

Now, I am not suggesting that you do all of your cycling indoor (although I do coach a few athletes who only hit the road when they race). During the winter, I believe it’s a good idea to get out on the road or trail once a week if you possibly can. Most of your cycling, however, is probably best done indoor. The more indoor cycling you do, the more important the type of trainer you use becomes. Trainers come in all shapes and sizes and you might be thinking, as long as I can turn the pedals over and get my heart rate up what’s the difference? With prices of trainers ranging from as lows $80-90 to as high as $25,000 let’s hope they aren’t all the same. Most lower priced trainers use a small roller and some form of resistance (magnetic, fluid, windload or friction). The type of road riding condition that these trainer most closely emulate would be considered “low inertia” – i.e, slower speeds, climbing or riding against a stiff headwind. The higher priced trainers tend to use a larger flywheel and more closely replicate the feel of road riding under “high inertia” conditions – i.e. faster speeds, road racing or time trial. They may also offer the ability to program courses, monitor power output, heart rate, pedal efficiency, and on and on. A few more popular trainers that would be considered “high inertia” trainers include Racermate’s Velotron, Velosport’s Velodyne, CycleOps PT Trainers, Kurt Kinetic Trainers and most “spin” bikes.

Another option for riding indoor that I have always included at some level is rollers. They allow you to work on your coordination, balance and bike handling as they do require some skill and focus to stay upright, but this is easily learned.~ Rollers feel more like riding on the road than a low inertia trainer and they~force you to pedal smoothly. The resistance~offered by rollers can vary with the drum size and with additional resistance units,~which can be of similar types to stationary trainers.

Maybe you want to get your money’s worth out of your gym or YMCA membership and use their stationary or spin bikes. A “Spin” bike is a good choice as it can be adjusted to fit and will feel more like a “real” bike than many other stationary trainers. A drawback of both is that you may be limited to the amount of time you can actually spend on one. What about “Spin classes”? Well, let’s just say it depends on the instructor and how well cooled and ventilated the “classroom” is. The quality of the workout is not measured by the amount of sweat you have accumulated on the floor beneath you while hammering away in a stuffy closed room with no fans blowing to keep you cool.

So, what is the best trainer? That is a loaded question and very difficult to answer. Much depends on your budget (or lack thereof) and how much time you expect to spend cycling indoo. If you expect to spend a LOT of time riding indoor – spend a few more bucks, you won’t regret it. I highly recommend having some way to measure power and many indoor trainers have this feature. If you own a power measuring device like an SRM, Power-Tap or Polar S-710 (now S-720i) (which all have their own set of advantages and disadvantages) you have already spent a few bucks and you might not need, nor be able to afford a trainer that measures power. If you don’t own a power measuring device, you should definitely consider one or at least consider a trainer that has that feature. What is power and why is it important? That’s another article altogether. The bottom line is that cycling indoor doesn’t have to be just a winter or foul weather activity and whichever trainer you get, if used intelligently, will help you see faster bike splits in your upcoming racing season.