turbo trainer cadence

rkdj

hi guys - need a bit of advice. as the weather in this part of scotland is so bad i have been spending a lot of time in the garage trainingon the turbo. distance is what i am needing to improve on as i am training for the etape caledonia in may. i am doing about 85 revs per min on a relatively middling gear - not too hard / not too easy and train for about an hour every night but its soooooo boring. when i can get out at the weekend i do about 45 miles on hilly terrain but cannot find time to do much more due to family commitments.worried though about the revs per minute rate - its been suggested i need to do a lot more RPM - advice or guidance appreciated. :?:

FatLarry

I used to find indoor training terribly dull - just keeping going was a chore.

Then I discovered The Sufferfest. Now I have to be pulled off the bike...

http://www.thesufferfest.com/

It's awesome. Totally awesome. Sufferfest IV is the best, in my opinion - 15 x 1 minute sprints and 15 x 1 minute recoveries in between. I use an iPod video, though you can download it onto a mobile or if you can stick a PC in front of your trainer, even better. Whichever you choose, the video footage is brilliant - even with the small screen in the iPod, I AM riding the TDF when I'm training...

There are other versions, if you prefer climbing for example, or you can just mix it up as you please.

All downloadable through Itunes too.

But, be warned, it's addictive... :twisted:

I realise that doesn't answer your question about RPM but it might keep you on the TT for longer!

term1te

Most people reckon on a cadence of 90 rpm. I find that on the turbo I tend to go a little faster than I would on the road. So whilst my cadence on the road is between 80 and 90, on the turbo it is around 95 to 100. Don't know if that is good or not, it just feels right.

FatLarry, thanks for the Sufferfest site, I'll give that a go. I've been working my way through Blackadder episodes on a portable DVD player, but I have to keep stopping to laugh.

Bronzie

Cadence is pretty irrelevant - just ride at what feels "right" for you (unless you're trying to do high rev spinouts to improve technique). I tend to ride around 90-95 with light resistance, probably a bit slower when I'm churning it.

+1 for The Sufferfest - if I could only get my Ipod to stop buggering around (doesn't like the cold garage any more than I do it appears) I'd have watched them loads in the last few weeks

eh

Seriously the turbo is no place to put in "miles" at steady cadences, use the sessions to do interval training, this may hurt but it will pay off in the end. Say one session of short hard intervals and one of 2x20.

Also learn to ride a range of cadences e.g. 60-120+ rather than sticking to one.

Oh and good thing to add to a turbo session for improved technique is to do a couple of minutes of 1 leg only, then swap. Concentrate on a good smooth action and a high-ish cadence 80+. It adds a bit of variety, helps even out any imbalances and can be chucked in as a warm up/down.

gkerr4

thanks for that website - looks great!

I have a projector in the garage and the turbo-bike faces the 'screen' (a whitewashed section of the brick wall!) so I get 'life size' screen to ride in front of - I had used some of the Carmichael DVD's but will give these a go as I can download them to the Macbook and use that attached to the projector - awesome!

rkdj

Thanks for all the replies - really appreciated. Web sites are awesome - whole new lease of life to the tedium of turbo trainer.

Thanks Guys

schilbach

+1 Sufferfest!!!!