(no subject)

[elizilla]

I must be getting old and boring. I have purchased a device that bolts to the back wheel of my bicycle, for purposes of riding it indoors in the winter.

I had to do this. I have invested a lot of money in custom leathers and I would like it if I can still wear them, come spring. It was either this or give up chocolate. Besides, I'm planning to go to American Supercamp in the spring, and I'm sure I will like it more if I am less sluglike when I get there.

I'm sure this will be mind numbingly boring, so I bought a device to hold a book open on the handlebars. Maybe if I find just the right thing to read I'll be able to do this.

I dragged the bicycle out of the basement. I put it on the workstand and tuned it up a bit, and cleaned at least some of the dust off.

Sheesh, these tires are looking a little old and dry rotted. Oh well, if the bike is just going to sit in this trainer, why worry about that now? I can get new tires before I get out on the road in the spring. Just pump 'em up. My presta to schraeder adaptors are all missing. Where the hell is my special pump that does presta valves? Back to the basement, rummage rummage. Out to the garage, ah, there it is, on that high shelf. Bring it into the house, pump pump pump. 120 psi for the rear, because it's actually going to be making contact with this roller thing. 75 psi for the front because it's just gonna sit on a phone book.

The battery is dead in my cycle computer. I guess I'll have to count my cadence the old fashioned way until I get out to buy a new battery. At least the pickup is on the back wheel, so once I get a new battery I will be able to watch the miles accumulate, oh so very slowly.

I spent a half hour rummaging around the house trying to find my bicycling shoes, the ones that snap to these pedals. Where the hell did I put them? I finally found them in a plastic tub, all the way in the back of my closet, behind the satin dresses that only get worn once. The leather palms of my cycling gloves are stiff as cardboard. Did I ever really fit into these lycra bicycle shorts, size medium? I guess I'll have to wear sweats until I can find some new ones in size XL.

OK, finally ready to ride. The only problem is, I'm too tired! Argh!

Comments

[tanac.livejournal.com]

you got a lot done! Good luck on your cycling program :-)
(I wish I could figure out what would make indoor cycling less completely tedious; I don't find reading books enjoyable once my heart rate hits a certain height, about all that works for me is putting on really bouncy music in getting lost in it.)

[elizilla]

Yeah, the most pleasurable way to elevate the heart rate while reading would probably involve porn, not stationary bicycling. :-)

[ex-erikvolso370.livejournal.com]

Trainers suck.

However, I'm spending a few minutes a day on one until the weather breaks and there's more daylight, for much the same reason.

A couple of things that can help.

1) Loud music and intervals. We'll explain intervals in a bit.

2) One footing. Get a box. Put one foot on the box. Clip the other one in. Pedal. At first, try to do 20 revs per foot. As you get good, do more. Switch feet, of course, once your done.

What the last does is force you to pedal circles, which means you'll get more power longer from each revolution. It's "push the barrel, stomp on the pole, scrape the mud, step over the log." You'll not be able to get much power on the upstroke, your goal is to make sure you aren't pressing down (thus, weakening the main power stroke of the other leg.) The other three phases, however, you can generate power, esp. on the bottom.

As to intervals. Intervals make you faster and faster for longer. However, they suck. What they are. Get warmed up, and go like hell for a minute. Seriously. If you have anything left after 60 seconds, you didn't do them right. After 60 seconds, pedal light until you catch your breath and your heart rate is back to normal.

As time goes by, do more intervals. Always, though, it's "warm up, burn up, cool off." Don't do another until your heart rate's back to 60% max.

If you have any history of heart trouble, do *NOT* do this without consulting a doctor. Intervals with a bad heart == fast, but painful, death.

[elizilla]

Intervals, ha! Let's just see if I can stick on this thing with the pedals turning at ANY speed for a half hour or so at a time, first. Realize that while I once was quite a serious rider, logging thousands of miles each year, my mileage dropped a lot when I bought my first automobile in 1991, and when I started working from home in 2001 I became almost completely stationary. I don't leave the house for days on end. I've got a lot of ground to make up.

[ex-erikvolso370.livejournal.com]

Don't try for a half hour -- riding trainers is *very* much harder than just riding. You can't coast, at all -- the friction's too high, so the wheel slows incredibly fast. To hold a cadence, you need to keep spinning -- it's much more like riding a fixed gear.

The folk doing 30min to 1hr rides are trainers are *seriously* hard core. Be glad if you can hold a 90 cadence for 5 minutes when you start.

Other things.

1) Get a fan, point it at you. You (obviously) won't have the normal induced wind drying you off.

2) Get a towel. Put it over your top tube. Even with the fan, sweat will be dripping off you like made. I've seen wraps for your tubes, and tents that go from the seat tube to the bars, all to try can catch the sweat. A headband and wrist bands are helpful, as well.

The higher end fluid based trainers feel more road like, but they still aren't anything like the road. Trainers are really best for two things -- some basic form work (though you can learn some bad habits on them, since it's hard to fall over) and short duration, high intensity workouts. (To a hard core pro, 1 hour is a short duration workout.)

So, intervals are really the best thing you can do on a trainer. Annoying, I'll admit.

The best tool for form isn't a trainer, it's rollers. If you have good enough form to ride rollers, rollers will quickly make your form and balance perfect. If you don't have enough form, you fall over, frequently. Just being able to ride rollers for 5 minutes makes you a better cyclist than 90% of the people out there.

Another thing -- take a 2x4" hunk, route a groove for your front tire, and glue some rubber tread like thing to the bottom. This'll make the whole setup more stable, and get the bike flat, as opposed to nose down -- much easier on the hands.

And, since you're cold -- raise the bars, check the saddle height, all of that. Once you're form starts coming back, you can readjust.

[elizilla]

I thought about getting rollers, but decided I should avoid loading this project down with too many difficult details. I want to make it as low effort as possible so i might actually do it. I put the bike next to my desk where I could conceivably ride it for a few minutes in the middle of my workday. It works great; today I was a very self disciplined little telecommuter, no goofing off. After all if I goofed off I'd have to ride the trainer. :-)

[foms.livejournal.com]

I want one. I used to be able to cycle year-round (I was a courier in Montreal). I've since gotten older, lazier, and more decadent. Also, I used to be in a city where they took almost all the snow off the roads. The pavement was dry most days. One more factor: My current bike is way too expensive to abuse in road salt. A joy to ride, mind you, but I don't want to kill it.

[kgkofmel.livejournal.com]

I have to agree with tanac: music is the way to go. Not necessarily bouncy music... I get a lot of exercise mileage out of goth, for example.

I do suggest that you use a walkdman type music source though. I zone much better into my (intermittent) workouts when I'm wearing headphones than when I'm listening to the stereo.

Between the music and letting my mind wander away onto various things other than exercise (con-related work, my research, my writing, how I'm going to rearrange my office, whatever) while keeping a monitor-eye out on things like my speed, my form, and whether I'm going to fall over dead... I can do a lot more than I ever thought I could on an elliptical machine.

But in any case, congrats on taking the first steps!!

[xtatic1.livejournal.com]

Sounds like you made a lot of progress, thereby getting your day's worth of exercise during the hunt/assemble process. Can some of you under-Stich/Vanson skivies work as bike shorts?
I'm supposed to start a week's worth of intensive exercise class attendance this evening. I'm going to a bunch of different classes (7?) over the course of 4 days and then I'll decide which I'll actually take. On the try-out list are women on weights (weight training for girls), yoga, pilates, interval training (weights/aerobic combo), ballroom dance, and spinning. I guess that's just six. Anyway, if I drop from a heart attack this week, you'll know why. :) You could come too, if you like. W.O.W. is this evening, 6:30-7:30 at the CCRB.

[1dreamr.livejournal.com]

Sorry, I had to laugh when I read your post. You sound just like me. I just sit here and stare at my pilates and yoga tapes and/or my gym membership card, then go grab a handful of M&M's. I have GOT to get motivated...I had to buy a new 'stich last year...sure can't afford that (not-so) little purchase again this spring. OMG! I guess the only way to get started is to get off my (ever growing) butt and GO.

Good luck to you!

[hotwire7.livejournal.com]

There's a set of rollers at Corsa. We had them set up in the garage for a while and Dave actually got to where he could ride them reasonably well. I think you could borrow them if you want to try out rollers without making any investment.

Me, I was really glad that 4-year-old J got me back into riding last summer. Every time we rode together I said "we should do this more often". The tag-along bike is great, its like a tandem in that we can each work as hard as we want or can, without getting separated.

But I'm probably losing ground this winter. I should do something...

Rollers?

[robyn-r.livejournal.com]

My blue ones or a different set? I took these home.

If you want them, I have a set of Aluminum Cortina rollers that you
can have.. I've thought about Ebay, but realize they are not the top of the line or highly sought after ones.

Say the word and I drop them over your place.. We need the room!

Robyn