Turbo in a hotel?

chris_bass

Firstly, i should point out this may be a very silly idea but bear with me!

I am having to go away for work a bit over the coming months and it will involve staying in hotels on my own.

It will mainly be in central london so not really too keen on cycling there but was considering (or half considering really) taking the turbo with me and using it in the room. Just to keep the fitness up.

Is this a bad idea? the turbo I have is pretty quite (i use it in a flat and the guy downstairs can't hear it) so noise shouldnt be an issue.

cougie

Car park would be better - cooler !

lakesluddite

I suppose it depends on the hotel policy - do they allow bikes in the room?

Plus, some hotels have walls that are far thinner than your syandard flat/house, so even if it's not a problem for you at home, might be diffeent there. I'd ask the hotel to be on the safe side.

markhewitt1978

Perhaps rollers might be a better idea? You could set them up next to the bed so if you fall off it's fine . But hotels not only tend to have thin walls but also thin floors. I used to stay in a hotel regularly which had two floors and I would always request being put on the top floor, and I know families were always put on the ground floor, for convenience but also because of the noise.

chris_bass

yeah, will check, i have stored bikes in hotel rooms before without a problem.

If I request a ground floor room that might help?

if i could stay somewhere nicer it wouldnt be an issue, i could just cycle outside, just dont fancy cycling round london.

Sir Velo

Might also depend on the hotel, a while back a group of us were at a central London hotel and one guy wanted to make sure he got his lunch time training run in. Asked the manager about what time did they stop serving lunch because he wanted to go for a run. No problem said the manager I will make sure something is kept for you, BUT do not use the main entrance if you are in running kit, I will show you the tradesman's door.

markhewitt1978

Sir Velo wrote:

Might also depend on the hotel, a while back a group of us were at a central London hotel and one guy wanted to make sure he got his lunch time training run in. Asked the manager about what time did they stop serving lunch because he wanted to go for a run. No problem said the manager I will make sure something is kept for you, BUT do not use the main entrance if you are in running kit, I will show you the tradesman's door.

To which the correct response is "Thanks for the information. I'll be checking out now"

hstiles

Chris Bass wrote:

yeah, will check, i have stored bikes in hotel rooms before without a problem.

If I request a ground floor room that might help?

if i could stay somewhere nicer it wouldnt be an issue, i could just cycle outside, just dont fancy cycling round london.

Whereabouts in London are you staying? There is some great riding to be done around town

Richmond Park tot he West
Regents Park to the North

Granted, if you're staying east you're f*cked unless you fancy your chances on the Canning Town flyover.

lawrences

Don't most hotels have Gyms?

markhewitt1978

lawrences wrote:

Don't most hotels have Gyms?

Most? No.

slowbike

I stayed in a Premier Inn in Dover before a French Sportive with my brother... no way were we leaving our bikes in the car - so checked in, put our bags in the room and went back for the bikes - walked the bikes past reception and upstairs - eyes were not batted ...

But then a big London hotel might be a bit different ... probably worth a quiet chat with the manager(s)

simona75

Taken my bike into plenty of hotel rooms, never had an issue and I always ask at reception first. A colleague of mine always takes his turbo with him and uses it in hotel rooms. He tries to get a ground floor room when he can. A couple of places have let him set it up in the hotel gym.

lakesluddite

markhewitt1978 wrote:

Sir Velo wrote:

Might also depend on the hotel, a while back a group of us were at a central London hotel and one guy wanted to make sure he got his lunch time training run in. Asked the manager about what time did they stop serving lunch because he wanted to go for a run. No problem said the manager I will make sure something is kept for you, BUT do not use the main entrance if you are in running kit, I will show you the tradesman's door.

To which the correct response is "Thanks for the information. I'll be checking out now"

Surely the correct response would have been 'ooh Matron..'

casatikid

When ever I get the chance to be away from home in a hotel the only thing I wish to be riding in my room is the Wife not a bloody turbo.
Whats wrong with the roads anyway?

slowbike

CASATIKID wrote:

When ever I get the chance to be away from home in a hotel the only thing I wish to be riding in my room is the Wife not a bloody turbo.
Whats wrong with the roads anyway?

Er - training - central London ... ? not ideally suited is it ... at least a turbo is more focused and a lot safer even if it is boring.

chris_bass

Slowbike wrote:

CASATIKID wrote:

When ever I get the chance to be away from home in a hotel the only thing I wish to be riding in my room is the Wife not a bloody turbo.
Whats wrong with the roads anyway?

Er - training - central London ... ? not ideally suited is it ... at least a turbo is more focused and a lot safer even if it is boring.

exactly this!!

I dont fancy riding in london given I dont do much in the way of city cycling and the bits I do i dont enjoy, I also dont know the area at all so have no idea of the roads to avoid or anything like that.

DiscoBoy

I can't see it going well to be honest, it's noisy and sweaty.

Gyms are pretty plentiful in London. So why not join a chain-gym, so when you move hotel you can move gyms with the same membership?

term1te

I stayed in a hotel in rural Brazil that advertised a gym. I asked the receptionist if they had a stationary bike, which they did. Unfortunately it was in a corridor between the kitchen and the exit where all the staff smoked. It looked as though it hadn't been used for 10 years. The resistance was set by turning a handle that pushed a rubber block onto the axle in the bottom bracket area. No real resistance and it made such a terrible squeaking noise I was asked to stop after 10 minutes.

I think I've stayed in rooms underneath some of you, it would certainly explain the noises I've heard late at night from the rooms above. I've been impressed by the stamina of some people, but if you're preparing for a big TT, you've got to keep the intensity of the training up.

bernithebiker

Man up and ride round Hyde Park.

It's not like wing suit jumping or anything!

holiver

How about a different form of exercise instead? Running in London is fantastic with all the sites you can take in. Playing dodge the tourist also gives some variety in pace.

tomisitt

If you're in central London then Regents Park is infinitely preferable to a turbo. Ride anti-clockwise, only a couple of junctions, not too busy even in rush-hour, decent road surface, quite pretty, and a cafe on the Inner Circle. You'll find plenty of cyclists training there.

rolf_f

LakesLuddite wrote:

Plus, some hotels have walls that are far thinner than your syandard flat/house, so even if it's not a problem for you at home, might be diffeent there.

This. I can't remember staying in a non ancient hotel that didn't have thin walls. It's not really considerate turbo-ing in a hotel room IMO. It's crap enough being stuck in a hotel as it is without someone next door making a row for hours. Plenty of places that are OK for cycling anyway. If your line is always "I'm not going to cycle because I don't know the area" then you'll never get to cycle anywhere different. London isn't a great place to cycle but it's different and interesting and the parks are OK - certainly better than a turbo.

w00dster

Hi Chris,
Im in a similar position regarding my business requiring im in central London 3 evenings per week.
Like you I'm also not comfortable cycling in the capital. Instead of a turbo I go to an indoor spin session. The one I go to is called cyclebeat, it seems to be run by cyclists and the sessions have a feel of a club training session. Each bike is connected to a large screen and showing your power (in watts), cadence and energy used. It can be quite competitive as this view is in a dynamic table, so the more effort you put in the higher up the leaderboard you go.
Its not ideal but its better than a turbo in your hotel room.

chris_bass

w00dster wrote:

Hi Chris,
Im in a similar position regarding my business requiring im in central London 3 evenings per week.
Like you I'm also not comfortable cycling in the capital. Instead of a turbo I go to an indoor spin session. The one I go to is called cyclebeat, it seems to be run by cyclists and the sessions have a feel of a club training session. Each bike is connected to a large screen and showing your power (in watts), cadence and energy used. It can be quite competitive as this view is in a dynamic table, so the more effort you put in the higher up the leaderboard you go.
Its not ideal but its better than a turbo in your hotel room.

that sounds quite good (and not a little sweaty i'd imagine!) actually.

i'll give it a google! definitely sounds better than turboing it in the hotel room!

timothyw

Cycling in central London isn't quite so terrifying as it might appear - there is an element of safety in numbers, and at the very least drivers do expect to see cyclists. If you're a serious enough rider that you are wanting to bring a turbo to your hotel room, then it's quite likely that you'll be able to ride at the pace of the traffic anyway.

As has already been stated, Regents Park is pretty much in Central London and very popular with other cyclists for doing training laps. Richmond Park is better still, with more interesting terrain, but a bit further out of town.

If you want resistance training you could do a lot worse than hill repeats up Swains Lane, a short ride north from central.

Given the nice weather we're having (albeit with saharan dust...) it seems a shame to be training indoors.

stongle

w00dster wrote:

Hi Chris,
Im in a similar position regarding my business requiring im in central London 3 evenings per week.
Like you I'm also not comfortable cycling in the capital. Instead of a turbo I go to an indoor spin session. The one I go to is called cyclebeat, it seems to be run by cyclists and the sessions have a feel of a club training session. Each bike is connected to a large screen and showing your power (in watts), cadence and energy used. It can be quite competitive as this view is in a dynamic table, so the more effort you put in the higher up the leaderboard you go.
Its not ideal but its better than a turbo in your hotel room.

I tried this at lunchtime today. They have an introductory all you can Spin for £20 quid (for 2 weeks) on at the moment; otherwise it gets a bit toppy price wise. They even send you a nice e-mail afterwards with you're ride data. Evidently "I'm flying without wings" now; not entirely sure as my power figure looked a tad feeble.

The lunchtime class was pretty chaotic to be fair. Either the offer is attracting a lot of business; or they need to rethink the changing facilities.

I will probably use it again, but plonk for the early morning classes and ride in (so I'm properly warmed up). Although if you are at loose end and stuck in town; its not a bad way to get some cycling in. Either that or Regents Park / Richmond Park; now its lighter later.

mousetoo

Another shout here for Cyclebeat. I actually live in London but checked out the intro offer in August last year and joined up properly after. It's pretty much impossible to get the intensity of workout that Cyclebeat offers on a turbo or on the roads in central London and it now is a key part of my cycle training. Some of the classes are better than othrs - some are more akin to a trad spinning class and some are run by proper roadies who will put you through proper drills. I find mornings and evenings better than lunchtimes

neeb

I'd interested to hear how you get on with this. The trick would be to not ask questions and just take the bike and trainer into the room as packed luggage. Noise will depend completely on the structure of the building, but you wouldn't be able to rely on not having paper-thin walls and floors so if it was me I would plan on doing the training during the day when most other guests are out. Can't see it being much of a problem from 11am => 3pm or so when most rooms are empty and there is lots of cleaning and hoovering going on anyway.

The biggest issue for me would be the hassle of transporting the bike and trainer (not to mention a large fan). For that reason alone I would try to find a hotel with a gym including a spin bike or a local gym, but whenever I've tried to plan this for visits to remote cities it has been a real hassle.

sungod

do you know which hotel? if it's a modern one they're often substantial concrete boxes with good sound proofing, if it's old with wooden floors then forget it

worst case you'll be in a smallish room with windows that don't open and british-standard cooling system (i.e. poor), aside from baking, you'll leave a huge puddle on the floor

if you're staying in central london, use regent's park early, there is little traffic, it has few traffic lights and a good road surface, many people go training there

the gates don't open until 0700, although there is entry/exit for the locals, so with the light mornings it's excellent