60k ride done today....on turbo!

millsey_awm

Hi all,

Still too icy for me to risk going out so hit the turbo in the garage today. Completed 60k on my Bkool turbo with an uploaded gpx route (excellent trainer by the way).

My furthest outside ride is 28 miles so today's turbo sesh beat that slightly. Was wondering though how 'real' miles and turbo miles are comparable?

Suffering some slight muscle fatigue tonight but not through dehydration or lack of carbs though, just from still being a fat newb!!

Was wondering if i should be concentrating on shorter turbo sessions or to continue with the longer ones. My main aim is weight loss. I was planning to do another session tomorrow but wondering about a days rest?

What is everybodys longest distance turbo ride?

Cheers

elderone

my logest ride on the turbo is 30 odd mile or 11/2 hrs at z3.No idea how it compares to road miles but I figure any exercise is better than none.Personally I have a days rest at least between sessions as its important to let your body recover.

Lightning

Good job

For me, long turbo rides are much, much harder, because I always keep the same pace unlike on the road (descents, traffic lights, etc). Unfortunately I've been doing lots of 60k rides on the turbo lately as well.. In fact, I just did one today, and the day before..

I don't know my max but it's probably around 80k. Even then, that's nothing. I know a couple of crazy guys who sometimes do way over 100k in one go when it's impossible to go out on the road for a while. If I had to do something like that I'd probably have to split it in half or something.

As for short vs long, it depends on what phase you're on. I only do these rides on the turbo (i.e. not intensity ones) when I have to because it's seriously boring.

rolf_f

millsey_awm wrote:

What is everybodys longest distance turbo ride?

I think you'll find it is always zero miles unless you set the turbo up very wrongly........

Anonymous

I reckon I ride 70% further in a given time period on a turbo.

Lightning

coriordan wrote:

I reckon I ride 70% further in a given time period on a turbo.

Oh, I probably misinterpreted the question.

I thought what was being asked here was how they relate training-wise, not distance-wise. If it's distance-wise, it depends a lot on your turbo and setup (and road conditions from day to day, etc). For training you just use time anyways, not distance (whether it's on the road or on the turbo).

Bobbinogs

Trying to compare road miles to turbo miles is a classic "it depends" question. If you have resistance on the turbo set low then you could easily crack off miles and miles with no effort at all...think long downhill descent mode. On the other hand, a proper Sufferfest is harder than many road rides.

...err, and bear in mind that all road journeys vary too (and not everyone rides loops to even out elevation gains/losses), oh, and some people ride easy on the roads all the time whereas other work hard...

So, it is great to do turbo, even in the summer for specific training (intervals, etc.), but in my opinion, there is no direct corelation between turbo and road so don't bother trying to make one up. I count turbo use in hours, because that is the only metric that really applies. Miles? That is easy, zero. So, my answer to the OP question is 3 hours but I don't normally do more than 2 as that is more than enough for me

AlanW

51 miles yesterday and 66 miles last Saturday. :oops: Plus an average of between 25 miles and 35 miles near enough every day this year, dam that Strava challenge

pride4ever

:twisted: My advice...never do more than 40 minutes on a turbo. Instead use that time more wisely by doing intervals. Your fitness will be greatly enhanced performing 30 second on/off sprint sessions than an hour and a half of mind-numbing spinning. I used to do hour turbo shifts until I discovered the benefits of HIT training. My fitness gains on the road as been amazing since but be warned intervals are brutal and not for everyone.

Anonymous

Absolutely. I do Sufferfest and tend to sprint at 40mph and pootle at 20-25. As someone said it massively depends how the turbo is set up. In an hour ill cover 30-35 miles I think. I'm certainly not doing that on the road, but the workout is so brutal I tend to feel a bit delirious when I get off, which I find harder to do to myself on the road (except on long climbs)

Mikey23

I did 30 miles in 1.24 on medium resistance a few days ago at my gym on the livestrong bike. Way ahead of my road speed and felt like really hard work. Keeping cadence up in mid 90s over a long sustained period was exhausting. Was ok as I was riding through some nice US scenery videos and had music and tv as well as some nice looking ladies in Lycra to keep me occupied.

Froze my butt off on some local loops yesterday as no ice and snow here. As someone has already said, damn you strava challenge!

jotko

Bobbinogs wrote:

Trying to compare road miles to turbo miles is a classic "it depends" question. If you have resistance on the turbo set low then you could easily crack off miles and miles with no effort at all...think long downhill descent mode. On the other hand, a proper Sufferfest is harder than many road rides.

Definitely - I have an Elite 'Power' Fluid turbo that (apparently) has twice the resistance of the normal Elite Fluid - I have been using trainer road and absolutely caning myself doing their Base 1 plan - usually when I upload the ride to strava it says I have averaged about 13.5mph

eg - http://www.trainerroad.com/cycling/rides/153612 and http://app.strava.com/activities/37087743

Mileage on a turbo is fairly meaningless, I would look at calories as a better indication.

elderone

I read that as cycling is basically and endurance hobby then that is where your major training should go.Suffering is recomended once a week even for even experianced cyclists.This was in cycling plus suppliment btw,and some top trainy guy was giving the advice.As my goal is a 100ml sportive then my legs need the endurance to do it.One suffer a week is ok for hills etc,so they say.

ShutUpLegs

pride4ever wrote:

:twisted: My advice...never do more than 40 minutes on a turbo. Instead use that time more wisely by doing intervals. Your fitness will be greatly enhanced performing 30 second on/off sprint sessions than an hour and a half of mind-numbing spinning. I used to do hour turbo shifts until I discovered the benefits of HIT training. My fitness gains on the road as been amazing since but be warned intervals are brutal and not for everyone.

Depends what the OP wants to achieve, but suggesting a road beginner does 30 second on/ off sprint intervals is not the best advice.

pride4ever

ShutUpLegs wrote:

pride4ever wrote:

:twisted: My advice...never do more than 40 minutes on a turbo. Instead use that time more wisely by doing intervals. Your fitness will be greatly enhanced performing 30 second on/off sprint sessions than an hour and a half of mind-numbing spinning. I used to do hour turbo shifts until I discovered the benefits of HIT training. My fitness gains on the road as been amazing since but be warned intervals are brutal and not for everyone.

Depends what the OP wants to achieve, but suggesting a road beginner does 30 second on/ off sprint intervals is not the best advice.

Why not? He doesnt have to attempt 10- 20 minute on/off sprint interval sessions, just one 30 second sprint every 4 minutes will be fine to start off with. Like always go with "feel".

millsey_awm

Just to provide some background on the Bkool trainer im using, it adjusts resistance depending on the gradient etc on the route im doing. I've been basically riding routes that i've already cycled 'outdoors'.

The times on the turbo are slightly quicker against the outdoor times but i've noticed that the same gradient climbs are tougher on the turbo than doing them for real outdoors.

I've been splitting me laptop screen into half virtual Bkool software and half movies

danowat

millsey_awm wrote:

Was wondering though how 'real' miles and turbo miles are comparable?

You can't compare the two, which is why you should always base your rides on time and a level of effort (be that P.E., HR or power)

ForumNewbie

Just been using a turbo for the last month or so. It's an Elite Elastogel one - fairly smooth with no different resistance settings, you just use your bike gears. My Garmin shows similar average speeds on the turbo that I get on the road for a similar amount of effort on a flat road with no wind - so I think the miles it shows I have done is fairly realistic. It is more intense than on the road, because there are no natural breaks in pedalling like when going downhill on the road - so it's harder to keep going without stopping.

Using the Garmin with the turbo, I find it good for my motivation to see the effort I'm putting in by looking at my cadence and my heart rate. I'm still only managing short sessions on the turbo, but as I'm sweating a lot, it seems to be doing me some good!

bahzob

If your aim is endurance events like sportives and even more so the etape then long steady state turbo sessions are extremely good training especially when conditions are crap outside.

This is for a couple of reasons
- Near 100% of the workout has a real training benefit. When you ride outdoors a large proportion of the ride has no training value. This is always the case but even more so when conditions are bad and you have to restrict speed in the interests of safety. Indeed if your goal is sustained endurance then riding outdoors, unless done in a very disciplined way, can be counter productive as you can get into bad habits because of the frequent recovery periods you get.
- A hard, non-stop hour on the turbo is the closest you can come in the UK to simulating the effort needed to do mountain climbs like those in the etape.