Turbo 'real' session?
gunforhire
Posts: 457
in General Chat
I've done mostly interval sessions on my Turbo Trainer so far, mainly with the help of my club and Spinervals.
However, inspired by Treefrogs 60km in 1:20 session ('What training have you done today' Thread), I'm interested in a session that will emulate riding on the road.
I'm aware that being on a Turbo can never be the same as putting in the road miles, however I would like to replicate the effort involved.
So I'm after a session that will replicate Olympic distance (40km).
Is it just a matter of getting it on with it and going as hard as I can, or is there another way?
Cheers
However, inspired by Treefrogs 60km in 1:20 session ('What training have you done today' Thread), I'm interested in a session that will emulate riding on the road.
I'm aware that being on a Turbo can never be the same as putting in the road miles, however I would like to replicate the effort involved.
So I'm after a session that will replicate Olympic distance (40km).
Is it just a matter of getting it on with it and going as hard as I can, or is there another way?
Cheers
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Anyway the 60kMs started from trying to emulate a tri race and after a bit of experimentation of trying to get the work rate/endurance balance right I settled on 60kM. I found the 40kM too easy and too short and found that the 60 kM actually stretched me. I started logging average speed as it is a real and live piece of data during the session; ie if I'm aiming for 44kMh and am on 42kMh then I'm losing and need to press on. Ideally I would like to see the progress of speed during the session, but I'm past all that now! However in the good ones I've noticed that I started sub final average( -2 to -3kMh) and finished very fast (+5 to +10kMh)
As far as real riding is concerned these sessions have been a most useful preparation for riding Dolomite and Alpine passes, as well as improving my brute bike fitness. They have had minimal effect on improving my 10mile tt results for that I think you need to do specific intervals
I have the gearing at 53 / 14 on 170 cranks (my tri & road bikes are all 172.5) it does not seem to make pedalling any easier or harder.The turbo is a 2004 Elite mag travel and is permanently set at 2 on the adjuster. The bike lives in the turbo fulltime and I always ensure that the tyre is at 110psi.
The one area where the turbo trainer differs from reality is obvious - you are not subjected to gradient, wind, poor surface, and other weather conditions. I think this works on two levels...
1. Psychological - you can set your mind to the task and it becomes a bit of a no brainer just get on there and churn it out faster than the last time
2. The consistant effort allows all the systems in the body to work at an uninterrupted rhythm and this lends itself to sustained effort at high workload.
I think that when an athlete has to constantly adapt and re-adapt to variations in surface, weather gradient etc that it has a toll on his output.
Also this consistancy equates very well to the long steep mountain passes.
I'm a reasonable cyclist and my 40km split for olympic tri is around 1:05-1:10 - quicker than on the turbo.
As treefrog says, I guess it's down to feel. I suppose I'll have to push harder on the turbo, maybe I've been slacking, all that sweat makes me think I'm working hard.
Does this help or does it make things worse?
When i hooked up the turbo i got Mrs Gharv to alter the resistence until i could get roughly the same speed/effort/gear ratio going.
G
I've got a CycleOps Mag which claims to have 5 levels of resistance but I've never been able to tell the difference![&:]
Will give this all a bash on Sunday morning.
Combined with HR I'm sure I can come up with something.
this way you know every session is comparable to the last. then you monitor cadance, hr and watts more than speed. my coach who tests athletics / cyclists in Kingston uni lab states that the FLOW is between 5 - 10 watts higher, so as long as everything is correct you can get a fairly accurate ride to the road.
if the weather looks mega nasty, then i'll be in the garage for 80km rather than hitting Box Hill for 6 reps = so i'll time it so that you can have a rough idea.
That was always my issue with other turbo trainers, that you never know if you're selling out or mannin' up regarding resistance.