Should Turbo miles for your years final total?

[derrick]

This has probably been discused so many times, Let's have a poll.
I know a few people who add them to there yearly tally. But looking at there rides, on the turbo they are averaging between 19 and 20 miles an hour. But when they get on the road and ride they average between 14 and 16 miles an hour, so you would spend less time on the turbo to cover the same road miles, so obviously a lot easier on the turbo.
Your thoughts.

 

[derrick]

This has probably been discused so many times, Let's have a poll.
I know a few people who add them to there yearly tally. But looking at there rides, on the turbo they are averaging between 19 and 20 miles an hour. But when they get on the road and ride they average between 14 and 16 miles an hour, so you would spend less time on the turbo to cover the same road miles, so obviously a lot easier on the turbo.
Your thoughts.
Cannot edit the title, i know it's wrong but you should get the idea.

 

[Racing roadkill]

Turbo miles are junk miles. They keep your fitness parameters up, but other than that aren’t much use for actual road riding conditioning. Should they be included in yearly totals? Why not, if it makes them happy. Riding on an actual road is as different to riding on a Turbo , as a cat is from a monkey. They are both animals, but that’s about it.

 

[ianrauk]

Turbo is time, not miles imo

 

[Gary E]

Interesting question. People use Turbos in different ways and for different reasons. Some love them, some hate them.
This could easily turn into the new Helmet thread, people will never see eye to eye on this one
You may as well say do miles on a road bike count when it's harder to get the same speed on a Hybrid / Mountain Bike / Unicycle.

 

[derrick]

Interesting question. People use Turbos in different ways and for different reasons. Some love them, some hate them.
This could easily turn into the new Helmet thread, people will never see eye to eye on this one
You may as well say do miles on a road bike count when it's harder to get the same speed on a Hybrid / Mountain Bike / Unicycle.

I don't see what differance the type of bike you ride, the heavier the bike the harder it will feel. but you are moving.

 

[Pumpkin the robot]

Let them have them. Only themselves thst they are cheating.

 

[Jimidh]

So long as you measure your miles the same way every year then I didn’t see the problem.

If you are using the turbo properly then those miles are usually harder than miles on the road anyhow.

 

[Racing roadkill]

You can use a Turbo to improve certain specific bits / weaknesses, using targeted drills, but most people I know with Turbos don’t use them like this. They just sit and churn away on Zwift et.al. Then wonder why they find the first Sportives that they enter hard work.

 

[bridgy]

Turbo miles are junk miles. They keep your fitness parameters up, but other than that aren’t much use for actual road riding conditioning. Should they be included in yearly totals? Why not, if it makes them happy. Riding on an actual road is as different to riding on a Turbo , as a cat is from a monkey. They are both animals, but that’s about it.

You can do junk miles on a turbo and junk miles on the road - you can also do quality training and enjoy yourself on both.

Like most things it's about how you do it and I know several examples of people who've prepared very successfully for long, hilly rides or sportive events almost exclusively on a smart trainer connected to Zwift or Bkool etc. There's also several well known examples of pros using turbos/Zwift to successfully prepare for racing after injury or as part of their training generally - most notably Mat Hayman before his Paris Roubaix win, and Steve Cummings before his road race and TT double at the British national championships in 2017. So it certainly can be a fair bit more useful and relevant to real world cycling fitness than you suggest.

In answer to the OP's question, I guess it's up to the individual - some people almost exclusively do "virtual" miles on a turbo so they would obviously count them! But you're right that most people go faster and therefore cover more miles in a given time on Zwift etc than in the real world - I know I do - so you should take that into account when comparing with your previous years or with other people. So the answer is, it depends!

 

[Venod]

so obviously a lot easier on the turbo

I have stated this loads of times, but repeating it won't do any arm.

I have ridden courses on the turbo I have ridden in real life, if its a flat course the turbo is generally quicker, but not by much, no traffic, no potholes, no distractions, no freewheeling, no headwind, no tailwind.
.
If its an hilly course all my uphill times are slower on the turbo, but downhill is usually quicker, no slowing for bends or bottling it at high speed, so the rides usually end up about the same time and average speed.

Zwift and sportives are not my thing, but I find a couple of hours on the turbo is much harder than a couple of hours on the road.

I shall continue to count turbo miles in my yearly total, its my choice ?

 

[Drago]

How can it be mileage if you haven't moved an inch?

 

[fossyant]

I include then. Given the state I am in after each session. Reason, I no longer ride on the roads (following my broken spine) and getting out mid week in the filth of MTB isnt always practical. Killing myself on Zwift is a good way to keep fit, and its certainly aided my recovery.

I only did 1250 miles last year but half was off road, half on a turbo. Off road miles are done much slower than on smooth tarmac.

Its more about hours for me, so still counts.

 

[NorthernDave]

I don't include my turbo "miles" in my annual figure, but it's individual choice and not something that I'm going to worry about.

 

[Sharky]

They are seperate metrics. Both useful to monitor progress thru the season, but not interchangeable.