The Fretboard Cycling Club

Mellish

Sorry, my last comment was, @drofluf ;

drofluf

Mellish said:

Now I understand. The ingenuity of man! And congrats on your achievement my dear  

Thank you!

Mellish

In times past we'd use a turbo with a control on the bars to shift from easy up through to hard. We'd often listen to favourite music during the workout. Or we'd use rollers and learn the delicate art of balance  

drofluf

I usually have some music on when I ride indoors as well. But I find that Zwift makes long sessions more interesting, with a turbo like you describe I could only manage 30 minutes before I got bored. With a smart trainer I can last a couple of hours. Of course I could always MTFU and ride outside in bad weather . 

As for rollers, well I usually stab myself a couple of times when I change stings so I think they’re a non-starter. 

Mellish

Try inner awareness when riding indoors...you know, being aware of your breathing, your chest expanding etc. It's a different experience  

Jaycee

I was thinking of an indoor trainer for the winter, but wasn't sure if it would see much use as I never really liked them.  I did however get a rowing machine, I used to enjoy that when I went to the gym. Also a good upper body workout.

I have done 3 ten minute sessions  ........ it was exhausting ....

Mellish

Jaycee said:

I was thinking of an indoor trainer for the winter, but wasn't sure if it would see much use as I never really liked them.  I did however get a rowing machine, I used to enjoy that when I went to the gym. Also a good upper body workout.

I have done 3 ten minute sessions  ........ it was exhausting ....

Indoor trainers are convenient: you don't have much time to spare and it's not worth going out, or it's raining and you just don't fancy it. Saying that, nothing beats time spent on the road  

Logie

@Jaycee ;;

I feel your pain

I spent 3 months training with a marathon canoeist who was rehabilitating after a spell in hospital due to contracting vials disease whilst training.
I only agreed to keep him company but it's fantastic for all round fitness.
We used to do 5 days of interval training and on the 6th day we did a 9k row.
My arse used to pucker at the thought of it!

Jaycee

Logie said:

@Jaycee ;;

I feel your pain

I spent 3 months training with a marathon canoeist who was rehabilitating after a spell in hospital due to contracting vials disease whilst training.
I only agreed to keep him company but it's fantastic for all round fitness.
We used to do 5 days of interval training and on the 6th day we did a 9k row.
My arse used to pucker at the thought of it!

I played squash the other week, first time since the first lockdown, after 30 minutes my arm was ready to drop off. Another reason why I decided to get a rower, and the good thing was £50 from facebook marketplace

Logie

@Jaycee ;

I haven't played squash in 2 years now. I'm really missing it as the league I played in at work hasn't started up yet. My old regular partner is getting back to fitness again so hopefully in the next couple of months I should be back on the court.

I'd recommend the interval training on the rower as it keeps it from getting monotonous and it's a real fast track way to build up your fitness on it.

Jaycee

@Logie ; I will look into that. I plan on getting up to 20 minutes which will include warm up and cool down, and when I get there will structure it better, thanks

Jaycee

Did a 30 miler today, first ride in two weeks. I was surprised how I felt during the ride, pretty good considering. I have been doing 3 x 10 minutes sessions on the rower for the last two weeks, 

Nikc

Mellish said:

In times past riding "fixed" was popular. I wondered if it still is. We'd have a loop, maybe two... You know, one for a hard day, one for an easy day  

I ride fixed quite a bit for commuting/utility and winter rides. I also tt on fixed normally 92 inch but will drop that for a hilly tt

Nikc

jonnyburgo said:

They say "War is Hell" but I bet none of them have just spent a bastard hour trying to get a gatorskin tyre back on to a 700c rim. Fuckin thumbs! 

Not ridden on Marathon Plus's then one of the few tyres I need to use a tyre lever on

Mellish

So you guys don't use tubs?  

Mellish

The reason I asked is to do with revolving weight, although to be fair today's best clinchers pretty much compare with tubs - and of course, there's not all that faffing about at home with the stitching to mend a punctured tube!  

TTBZ

Mellish said:

In times past riding "fixed" was popular. I wondered if it still is. We'd have a loop, maybe two... You know, one for a hard day, one for an easy day  

I never enjoyed fixed but used to ride my Specialized Langster singlespeed and really liked it. I live in a fairly flat area and it forced me to attack the short sharp climbs rather than sit and spin, I think I got a better workout out of my short loops (I get bored on big road rides). Although the first time I went for a ride with my roadie mate on his geared bike I got absolutely pasted and that's what made me get my first geared road bike haha.

Current regretting selling my road bike for a spin bike! The position and general ride on a proper bike on rollers just feels so much better. I basically just do GCN spin classes as my main form of exercise now. I wonder if a smart/direct drive trainer would work on my MTB if I get the right gearing, or a trainer that can further adjust the intensity without traditional gearing? As I imagine my 32t will spin out quite easily on a regular cassette.

Nikc

Mellish said:

So you guys don't use tubs?  

No clinchers only, I've have friends who have tried tubeless - while its great for MTB its not so good for the road, PSI is to high the sealant just blows out

Nikc

TTBZ said:

Mellish said:

In times past riding "fixed" was popular. I wondered if it still is. We'd have a loop, maybe two... You know, one for a hard day, one for an easy day  

I never enjoyed fixed but used to ride my Specialized Langster singlespeed and really liked it. I live in a fairly flat area and it forced me to attack the short sharp climbs rather than sit and spin, I think I got a better workout out of my short loops (I get bored on big road rides). Although the first time I went for a ride with my roadie mate on his geared bike I got absolutely pasted and that's what made me get my first geared road bike haha.

Current regretting selling my road bike for a spin bike! The position and general ride on a proper bike on rollers just feels so much better. I basically just do GCN spin classes as my main form of exercise now. I wonder if a smart/direct drive trainer would work on my MTB if I get the right gearing, or a trainer that can further adjust the intensity without traditional gearing? As I imagine my 32t will spin out quite easily on a regular cassette.

With the right smart trainer and App controlling it your bikes gearing becomes irrelevant the Trainer controls the resistance. As an example I do 3X12 min at 220 watts the trainer just holds you there whatever gear regardless of cadence. The only issue can be the spiral of death - this happens if you reduce cadence and the resitence overwhelms you 220 watts at 0 rpm is a massive strain

I've got a Tacx flow 2 and have used garmins own software, RGT and swift to varying success. I'm about to give RGT another go and try some group rides on it. 

drofluf

@TTBZ ; @Nikc beat me to it! I've got a Wahoo! KICKR that I use with Zwift