TrainingPeaks Virtual (TPV) Chat Zone

[Norry1]

Have you checked the angle of your saddle on the turbo?

Also, you will have to learn to stand - as doing it regularly helps a lot.

 

[Norry1]

I like the sound of cruise control - not tried it yet.

 

[ColinJ]

Have you checked the angle of your saddle on the turbo?

I have checked the angle, the height, the setback, and even the direction that it is pointing in, but no joy!

I wonder if it is because I am pedalling continuously? I noticed on my last road ride that I coast from time to time on the flat, and much of the time downhill. When coasting I kept moving back on the saddle slightly so it looks like my tendency is to creep forwards when pedalling. Erg mode and cruise control both obviously discourage coasting.

Also, you will have to learn to stand - as doing it regularly helps a lot.

Yes. Again, it is a surprise to me that this feels so odd. If it felt more like it does when riding outdoors I would do it more often.

I wondered if being on a bike that doesn't move about much is the problem but I don't remember having these problems with my old dumb trainer. The thing is that WAS dumb so I rode it more like I do outdoors with constant variations and micro rests rather than continuously pedalling at a constant power.

 

[ColinJ]

TP often do discounts around days like Black Friday - worth keeping an eye out.

Thanks. I would have to make a note in my diary to cancel my subscription before the first payment goes out.

I got an offer of a 25% discount today. I cancelled the renewal after my free trial, which will continue for another 2 days. I will then subscribe for a year for $101 (£85-ish), which I think is a pretty good deal.

Yes. Again, it is a surprise to me that this feels so odd [riding out of the saddle on the trainer]. If it felt more like it does when riding outdoors I would do it more often.

I paid more attention out on the bike yesterday... I rock the bike from side to side a lot out of the saddle. My tennis ball mounted trainer rocker feet don't allow anywhere near as much movement as that. I will have to get used to the more subtle movement of the bike on the trainer or invest in a rocker plate***.


*** I've just watched this...



I reckon that would really suit me but it isn't available in the UK yet. I just contacted JetBlack to ask if/when/how much it will be.

 

[ColinJ]

Actually, I think that VAT gets added to the US subscription price and then there is whatever exchange rate is applied. Whatever... I will get 25% off the normal price!

Another frustrating battle Tuesday evening with trainer Bluetooth problems. It took me 45 minutes to get the system responding, during which time my damaged leg got swollen. By the time all was well with the tech all was not well with ME so I gave up. I will have another go soon.

I had set an alarm on my phone with a 6 minute snooze time. The plan was to stand for 20-30 seconds every time it went off, to relieve any developing numbness. I have voice control of the alarm so I would shout "Snooze!" each time to shut it up for another 6 minutes.

 

[ColinJ]

Another frustrating battle Tuesday evening with trainer Bluetooth problems. It took me 45 minutes to get the system responding, during which time my damaged leg got swollen. By the time all was well with the tech all was not well with ME so I gave up. I will have another go soon.

By contrast... This evening, all went really well!

I started the trainer first, then switched on the Apple TV box. I made sure that the trainer had connected, then connected the game controller. After that I connected my phone to my earbuds (rather than using my tablet, as I did yesterday). No Bluetooth problems at all using that sequence. I have a feeling that my phone or tablet may have grabbed the Bluetooth connection from the trainer yesterday before the Apple box could get it?

For today, I stuck with doing a TPV route as a solo free ride using cruise control. I wanted to make sure that everything was working properly before testing my virtual Cragg Vale climbing route.

I had set an alarm on my phone with a 6 minute snooze time. The plan was to stand for 20-30 seconds every time it went off, to relieve any developing numbness. I have voice control of the alarm so I would shout "Snooze!" each time to shut it up for another 6 minutes.

That worked perfectly. I hadn't realised that the alarm would fade down the music I was listening to, but it did, so that meant I couldn't miss hearing it.

I did a 1 hour zone 2 free ride. Zone 2 for me is currently approximately 120-150W. I warmed up at 120 W for around 10 minutes then increased power to 135 W. I was pedalling at 85-90 rpm.

Every time the alarm went off I ordered the phone to snooze it for another 6 minutes, slowed my cadence to 50-60 rpm, and upped the cruise control power to 150 W. I found that that made standing feel much easier to cope with. I would do 30-45 seconds like that then reset cruising power to 135 W and sit back down. When standing I made sure that I did a bit of rocking from side to side. The trainer doesn't tilt as much as a bike on the road but I managed to get it to behave a bit more like what I am used to. That felt okay.

I had fiddled with the saddle setup again and got it as close as I could get it to my preference without replacing the seat post. This seat post has coarse serrations in the clamp making it impossible to change the saddle angle very subtly. It might be pointing up too much, next click down might not be quite enough of a change, but 2 clicks down might be too much. I have micro-adjustable clamps on the posts of 2 of my other bikes. I might try the post from my mountain bike if the diameter is right. That can be adjusted very finely.

The new saddle position/angle was definitely helping reduce discomfort, as was standing up about 10% of the time. After a while though I started to feel discomfort in my left glute, which isn't something that I normally experience. I looked down and realised that the bike wasn't correctly positioned beneath me, my head being nearly over my left leg rather than the top tube of the bike! That is something that I sometimes tend towards because my left leg is shorter than my right leg, but I normally compensate for it when riding. Not quite possible this time though. I paused my workout to investigate...

Then I realised what was probably causing the problem: This old house, like mainly round here, was built on soggy ground without adequate foundations. As a result, the house gradually tilted over a period of many decades. I dismounted and checked... Yes, the bedroom floor that the trainer is standing on is not level so the bike itself is leaning over to the right as I sit on it! I did a quick bodge job of putting magazines under the RHS turbo feet and that made a big difference. I'll find something a bit more substantial to use before my next session***. The glute pain disappeared, so the bike tilt had definitely been the cause of that.

From 45 minutes in to the 50 minutes point I rode at 150 W then nudged the cruising power down 1 or 2 W at a time every 30 seconds to cool down and finish the ride at 120 W.

I had very little numbness at the end so I think that I could have easily gone on for another 30+ minutes.

It was obviously a very easy session. I like the feeling in my legs now. I can tell that I did something worthwhile but I don't have any of the fatigue or discomfort that I often get on my hilly Yorkshire rides. I can see how 2 or 3 of these rides a week could be very helpful, especially if lengthened to 1.5+ hours each. That is the plan for the winter. In between those rides I will do a couple of harder rides, weather permitting outdoors, otherwise on the trainer.

*** There were some spare floor tiles in my cellar. 1 tile under the rear RH trainer foot and 2 tiles under the front RH foot has made the bike much closer to being upright. It may actually now have been tilted just a little too much to the left, but I won't mess about with it. I'll see what it feels like on my next workout.

 

[ColinJ]

Actually, I think that VAT gets added to the US subscription price and then there is whatever exchange rate is applied. Whatever... I will get 25% off the normal price!

I just signed up for a year. With the discount (but plus VAT) it came to £93.21. Not bad - I used to spend about double that a month on beer!

 

[ColinJ]

The Halifax charged me another £3-odd for doing a non-sterling transaction for the subscription!

I wanted to make sure that everything was working properly before testing my virtual Cragg Vale climbing route.

I had it all set up perfectly just now. My virtual Cragg Vale route was working well. I did a good 20 km warm-up along the virtual A646 and then turned towards the climb.

I was being very sensible on the virtual climb, keeping both my heart rate and power below what I can normally do on the real one. I was about halfway up and was about to step up my effort when all of a sudden I felt thoroughly sick!

I had to abandon immediately and have spent 10 minutes lying down to get over it. I feel perfectly normal again now...

I have no idea what happened there! I wonder if I have some low level lurgy lurking within, which was then triggered off by the exertion? The only other thing that I can think of is that the heating is on in this room and I may have overheated. I had my fan on and I didn't feel too hot, but maybe I was.

I think I will stick to zone 2 for a couple of weeks and make sure that the heating is off in the trainer room when I next intend to ride!

 

[ColinJ]

I have no idea what happened there! I wonder if I have some low level lurgy lurking within, which was then triggered off by the exertion?

4 hours later and I feel sub-par again. Definitely easy riding only for me over the next few days!