Rainy Dark Days Go Away!

I hate riding in the cold.  I can honestly say it is the one thing that makes me the most apprehensive.  It isn't the miles or the hills or the traffic; I am most nervous about the days in Washington and Oregon when we will have no choice but to put our heads down and pedal on.   In order to properly acclimate ourselves for this trip, we should be looking for every cold and rainy day we can get to go riding.  When I see anything below 60 degrees and a chance of rain, however, I go running inside.


Here's the thing:  I know that there are going to be some miserable days out there and I am resigned to the fact that rain is part of the adventure.  And we are preparing for the bad weather as well.  We have waterproof jackets, helmet covers, shoe booty covers, snap on front and rear fenders, arm warmers, leg warmers, winter gloves, hand warmers, and the list goes on.    But, just because we have all this gear doesn't mean that we are going to look for opportunities to use it before we have to.  When the weather gets bad,  we just look for other ways to train!

Our indoor road:  The Tacx smart trainer

This is where the bike trainers come in.  If you are already a cyclist, skip ahead.  Otherwise, if you don't know what a bike trainer is, let me explain.   A trainer is a machine that hooks up the rear bicycle tire and uses resistance (either fluid or magnetic) to simulate road conditions.  In the case of the trainer we are using which is the Tacx Vortex, it is actually a "smart" trainer, which means that it can hook up to a computer program that mimics things like hills.  As the road grade increases, it will make the pedaling resistance harder as if you were actually climbing.  Then, on the descents, the pedaling will become much simpler.  In this way, you can train for hilly conditions without ever leaving the house.

We use a popular computer program called Zwift.  It is an application that hundreds of thousands of people use and for good reason.  The allure is that the app is connected in real time to all the other cyclists.  When you get on your bicycle, you have an avatar on the screen that you can customize.  Then, as you pedal, you will find yourself riding with other cyclists.  The fast ones pass you up, the slower ones you pass yourself.  Then, at the end of the ride, you can measure your performance against other people that you were riding with.  One day I rode up a virtual mountain until I found myself pedaling along in the snow!  Another feature--one of the most important in my opinion--is that the smart trainer and Zwift will show you your power output--measured in watts--so you can determine over time if you are getting stronger and faster.  The higher wattage you can hold on a ride, the better your performance overall.  I try to have Katelyn keep her wattage around 100 W.  I try to keep mine around 135 W.  By comparison, a strong recreational cyclist should be able to hold 210 W for around an hour.  Hopefully by the time we fly out, our numbers will be much closer to that.

This is a snapshot of what type of data you get from Zwift.  As you ride more, you get "rewards" such as cool jerseys or unlocked roads.  The wattage measurements are the most helpful!

Indoor cycling on Zwift has also benefited in other ways.  Before daylight saving (which occurred today), the days were short and if I worked late or if Katelyn school assignments, we wouldn't be able to  ride outside.   With Zwift, we can ride whenever we like and still can measure our performance.  Katelyn is not a fan of certain aspects still; it is really hot riding indoors and she goes through lots of water.  Also, the bike is super rigid on the trainer so I think it makes my butt hurt more than riding on the road.  Overall however,  indoor training is a great way to go.  And since I just looked at the 15 day forecast for Ripon and it calls for rain 14 of those days,  you will find me and Katelyn at home pedaling away!

Sunny day in the virtual world!