Tough time cycling ATM

[adamhearn]

Turbo is a great idea, I had my best racing seasons

I stand to be corrected but I don't think that @Doobiesis is or wants to be a racer

 

[Buck]

I think a turbo trainer is good where it compliments a training / cycling routine.

@adamhearn I'm with you that the roads and hills are free and getting out in the real world is far better than sitting in the garage on a turbo trainer.

The trainer comes in when it supplements the above similar to a spin session or such to help base fitness etc. Another example is when physically getting out is tough (in my case due to kids but could be weather/dark nights etc )so have often gone on the turbo late evening when they are in bed.

 

[BurningLegs]

@Doobiesis - sorry to hear that it is getting you down, chin up and hopefully you'll be loving the riding again soon!

@adamhearn I'm with you that the roads and hills are free and getting out in the real world is far better than sitting in the garage on a turbo trainer.

The trainer comes in when it supplements the above similar to a spin session or such to help base fitness etc. Another example is when physically getting out is tough (in my case due to kids but could be weather/dark nights etc )so have often gone on the turbo late evening when they are in bed.

I totally agree with @Buck - I use a turbo trainer with Zwift in the winter, and when spring/summer comes around I surprise myself with how relatively easy I find the local hills. My performance usually drops slowly over the summer, but I don't mind that.

For me, summer is all about enjoying the weather, the scenery, and the great outdoors. Winter is about keeping/improving fitness and preparing for summer

@Doobiesis - if you haven't used a turbo before, then beware of the two biggest challenges of riding on a turbo:
1. Boredom. When you're riding hard staring at a wall, there is little else to focus on except how much the legs are hurting. This can make turbo rides really challenging. Try to find something to entertain you while you ride. Zwift works for me, TV/Movies/Youtube/Music works for others.
2. Overheating. With no breeze to cool you, it is very easy to overheat - a fan is essential. You'll also probably find that you need to drink more on the turbo than you do outside.

They're really easy to resolve, but I think it helps to know about them in advance so you can setup a fan and a laptop or whatever. GCN on Youtube have got some good spin class videos which I used when I first got my turbo, they really kept me engaged and had some good music at the right speed Linky

 

[derrick]

I've recently joined a cycling club as I was getting bored cycling on my own and couldn't seem to get any progress.

But I'm really struggling, the first two times I was ok, right at the back but stayed close. But the few times recently I've struggled to keep up and have had to have someone come back and stay with me cos I couldn't keep up. And we lost the groups in the end. It was embarrassing!

I have been out on my own couple of times this week and both times I had terrible rides, my gears were playing up so I took into bike shop and they fixed it. But now my saddle doesn't seem right and had a bad ride trying to get it right.

I really don't feel like getting up at 6am to go out on a ride I'm going to struggle with, but part of me is thinking to just go and hope it can't be as bad as last week. Maybe I've just joined the wrong club. Any advise would be helpful.

wrong club.

 

[screenman]

wrong club.

Or possible wrong group in a large club, only about 10 of our 200+ members go out on the fast Sunday run, the rest do smaller slower rides amongst themselves. In fact some like me do not do a club ride at all.

 

[mjr]

Personally never done group rides but if I were in Doobiesis situation, I'd use the group as long as I could hang on then happily tail off when I've reached my limit...let em go and happily make my own way from there.

Yeah, but that's if you're happy to ride solo from there and lose most of the advantages of being in a group, including route-finding and support if anything bad happens.

Computers were in some ways the worst thing to happen to cycling

In some ways, but helpful in others, such as the help they offer in following a planned route and if you want to detour, the maps and even satellite photos on some of them do also help avoid having to ride off down a road to discover that it's impassable or unwise.

Another example is when physically getting out is tough (in my case due to kids but could be weather/dark nights etc )so have often gone on the turbo late evening when they are in bed.

Kids if you've no-one to share the childcare perhaps, but weather and darkness can be overcome with clothes, equipment and lights. I really don't understand static bikes of any sort being more than a last resort. If a group told me I needed to ride a static bike before I could ride with them, I'd find or start another group.

 

[boydj]

It can be pretty disheartening being the slowest rider in the group, even if they are being supportive, so it's probably worth looking around for another club that has a slower group. Nothing wrong with using a turbo, but it's best kept for relatively short, hard interval sessions to improve basic fitness and basic speed.