It's early January in Portland, which means that anyone who doesn't love being completely soaking wet and shivering on a ride is indoors on a trainer. That means the majority of the pro team, so we've unofficially permanently moved bike workouts inside until the weather decides to cooperate.
This can be taken two different ways. Either "This sucks, I hate the trainer" or "I can get a really good, power-based workout specific to me". I admit, at first I opted for the first mindset, convinced I could ride mostly outside for the winter, but after a week of washing my 2 pairs of knickers 3 times a week, I warmed up (literally) to the idea of inside riding. Don't get me wrong, I am pretty much incapable of riding alone inside on a trainer and would opt for the wind and rain every time, but when I have 5 awesome, high level guys to ride with on a computrainer multi-rider system complete with Sports Center and music, it's suddenly not so bad.
Computrainers offer some great features, including realtime power (in watts), the ability to ride at a prescribed wattage for an interval regardless of cadence, and multi-rider, which allows up to 10 people to ride the same course together, with trainer resistance based on a course profile. Personally, I love just having wattage, because even on an aerobic day, there is a certain wattage or course prescribed by Bryant, and I can nail the workout and enjoy a feeling of success without wrecking myself. Of course, it's great on days where we have power intervals at a very specific wattage, but it's definitely easier to get bored on a long aerobic ride.
Needless to say, this will totally revolutionize my training process, and for the first time in my career, I'll have some serious miles on the bike before my opening race March 5. Watch out!
If you're interested in getting in on the computrainer action, go to http://www.athleteslounge.com/training_facility.html and get in contact with Julie.
