My Power Penthouse
My local triathlon club asked me to write an article on Cycling appropriate for the time of year. Here’s what I produced:
All right, so it’s January: cold, wet, maybe even some black ice or slush out on the roads. You want to get yourself ready for some summer racing, but you don’t want to face the elements just yet. What to do?
Ride indoors, of course. First question: what do I have access to? You may already have a trainer in the basement or garage, and know how to hook your bike up to it; if that’s your preferred solution, skip a few paragraphs to read about training strategies indoors.
Or maybe you belong to a gym/health club with a spinning class. These usually run for an hour, and put you in a room with several other fanatics and a high energy martinet who tries to drill you into the carpet while you pedal a stationary bike equipped with click in pedals, an adjustable riding position, and a little dial to increase the resistance just when you’d rather be panting on the floor.
If, however, you’re looking to buy your own machine, here’s a VERY brief summary of your options. (See http://cycling-review.com/accessories/bicycle-trainer/ for a collection of reviews of the best models available.) All trainers operate by providing resistance to the rear wheel of you own bicycle. As you consider buying a trainer, remember two things: first, out on the road, the faster we go, the more the wind resistance increases. And it increases not in a linear fashion, but geometrically. So the best trainers will mimic that. Second, you probably want to vary the effort level or resistance of the trainer during the course of your ride; some machines allow for that, others don’t.
The simplest “trainer”, but the hardest to ride, is a set of rollers. Basically, four freely spinning rods, two in front, two in back. Put your bike on them, and spin away. But you’ll have to balance yourself, and the rollers provide no actual resistance of their own; you alter your effort by shifting gears.
Next up in complexity is the wind trainer – a little wheel with blades on it, which moves around with your rear wheel. The faster you go, the more the blades fight the wind and provide resistance. Very noisy, though.
Magnetic trainers allow for some adjustment of resistance. Two opposing magnets fight against each other’s fields to make your pedaling harder or easier. Electricity required.
Fluid trainers use a thick, viscous substance like silicone to make the pedaling more or less difficult. These are the smoothest and quietest, and most expensive.
Finally, there are computer-based systems, which use your PC to adjust the resistance, and allow for all sorts of add-on optional fun such as videos of actual Ironman and Pro Tour cycling courses, recording of detailed workout files, and multi-rider options, so you can race your buddies in the winter without getting their spray in your face.
Prices? $100-$2000, eBay may be somewhat lower.
What do I ride? A CompuTrainer (http://www.racermateinc.com), but I wouldn’t recommend that unless you want TOTAL control over each minute of your workout, with precise wattage and time for intervals, the ability to vary watts within intervals, and endless options for amusing yourself with geeky pre-millennial software (although an upgrade to the 21st Century is promised, it’s still vaporware.)
HERE’S THE PLACE TO START AGAIN if you’re just looking for how to ride at home in the winter. The good news: you don’t have to ride endless, boring hours on a trainer to get amazing improvements in your speed on race day. Repeat: DO NOT GET ON A TRAINER AND RIDE FOR MORE THAN 60-75 MINUTES; and DO NOT PEDAL AT A CONSISTENT, EASY, “BASE-BUILDING” pace. Rather, think about what you do in the pool, or at the track. You are doing intervals on the bike, in a controlled, structured fashion, just like you would with repeats at a Master’s workout, or doing “speed work” for running.
There are entire books and multi-national coaching services available to teach and guide you here, so I’ll just provide the basic underlying principles. You can make up your own workouts, or pay someone to do that for you. Meaning read a magazine, buy a book, or sign up with a coach – which I most definitely am NOT.
First things first: find a good place to do this. You’re going to get hot and sweaty, so access to cool, fresh air is essential. I do just fine outside on a covered deck in 45 F weather, riding in shorts or bibs. Think garage (unheated, door open or closed), basement with a fan, someplace you won’t cook. Remember to put a water bottle in that cage, to replace all the sweat you’ll make. Consider covering your top tube and handlebars, to keep the sweat off them. Don’t forget to put in a special quick release skewer in the rear wheel (your trainer should come with one, or ask the bike shop guy about this), so the trainer holds the bike tight and doesn’t harm the frame. Headbands, bike gloves and wrist bands also might come in handy. Finally, some entertainment, courtesy of your iPod or DVD player can help with the lack of change in scenery. I prefer music/concert videos or mindless TV fodder like “24” (streaming on Netflix), but will throw on an occasional TDF recap just to get my Liggott and Sherwin fix now and then.
Next, warmup! 10-15 minutes of gradually increasing effort, until your legs feel comfortably tired, and you’ve got a little glistening of sweat. Then, try a few “pick-ups”, 3-5 intervals at a harder effort, 30-60 seconds with an equal amount of easy spinning, just to get ready for your Main Set.
Now, for the hardest part, figuring out how hard and how long to make the intervals. WE ARE TRIATHLETES, not bike racers. Cyclists in the peloton have to get ready for all sorts of things: surges, break-aways, sprints to the finish, etc. Strength at various effort levels, being able to turn it on in an instant, is key to their success. WE ARE TIME TRIALISTS – training to go at a strong, but measured and consistent effort level for a specific length of time, e.g., 70 minutes for an Olympic race, 6 hours +/- for an Ironman. NO surges or sprints or variation in our effort required. In fact, those are self defeating.
So, how hard should we go? The basic effort level is keyed off of what we do during the bike leg of a sprint tri. Whether you use watts, heart rate, or your own perception of your effort, let’s call that “100%”. (For those with the background, I equate this to the effort one makes in a one-hour stand alone time trial, or what is now called “FTP”, the functional threshold of power.) There are two other effort levels, 120%, and 85%.
What I suggest is 2 or 3 times a week, getting on your trainer for 45-75 minutes, and doing a main set of intervals which add up to 15-40 minutes at 100%, with a 3:1 or 4:1 ratio of hard effort to easy pedaling. Over a 4-8 week period, gradually build from 2-3 six minute intervals to 10-20 minute intervals totaling 40 minutes of work. Any time left over, after a 3-5 minute easy pedal, ride at 85%, followed by a 3-5 minute cool down.
After those 4-8 weeks, you might want to alternate one day a week of 100% intervals with one day a week of intervals at 120%, using a 1:1 work to rest ratio, working up to 10-12 minutes of total work time at 120%.
And for a third weekly workout, say outdoors on Saturday at 9 AM, go at 85% for 2 hours (not including warm up and cool down). This will give you all the distance/tempo riding you’ll need until mid-March or so. If you’re inside, hold this to whatever length of time allows you to stay sane – usually 90-100 minutes is my max.
After a month or so of this, the intervals will get easier, and it’s time to re-assess what “100%” means. There are a number of testing protocols available, based on effort, heart rate, or watts. If you have an interest in more information, email the newsletter editor, and I’ll write a Part Deux to this, going more in depth on HR, RPE, Watts & power meters, and FTP testing.