and Lastly The Goal!
This won’t be the first or the last discussion about indoor, off-season sports training. (which for me is mostly some kind of on a bicycle locked into a machine that roughly duplicates riding outside.)
I view it as crude substitute for what I really enjoy, riding a bike outside. For some, however, the indoor virtual bike ride world is the ultimate goal and riding outside is relegated to the occasional category. Neither is the “right” way, they both are right for those who follow a path that is good for them.
What I would hope is that all who participate, think about the “why,” pick a “what” meaning a version of indoor bike session they like and then learn as much as possible about the “how” of their choice so the time invested can be rewarding. Hopefully, you have a Goal in mind as well.
I come at indoor training from a background of being a coached bike athlete for over 20 years, actively racing in a velodrome from 2005 to 2019 and then back again recently for the 2025 season at two select championship events. Others probably have a wide gamut of reasons, to gain basic fitness to support fun, casual bike riding, fitness for riding and maybe racing in the “virtual” ride world using one of the platforms available, fitness to race outside in a variety of race venues and styles. Again, there is no one “right” path. The reasons are right for each who choose them and they can and probably will change
Having said that, let’s talk “how”. How to make the time spent productive and rewarding. The first comment I have, as a rider, try and understand to the best of your ability, the trainer equipment and/or the virtual platform you plan to use.
As a Minnesotan and someone who has a few decades of outdoor and indoor training behind me, I’ve seen a huge change in possibilities and options. I started with wheel on, fan load trainers, balancing on rollers, moved to all kinds of wheel on trainers using a wide variety of “load” inducing methods, the beginnings of calculated “power” wheel on trainers, a variety of personal metric devices like heart rate monitors, speed and cadence sensors, hub based power meters, crank based power meters, crank arm power meters, pedal based power meters and now, the massive range of “Smart” trainers that have taken over the indoor market. With all the new developments, there is also a wide range of ride “virtual platforms” to pick from that offer game style to real life ride environments. It’s mind boggling to think about all the possible options to choose from.
Riders pick from this wild assortment using maybe cost as a deciding factor, accurate performance and data tracking may be a main determiner. Again, there seems to be too many optional ways to acquire and then ride. Me as a coach, learning all the possible technical options is quite impossible. It’s user’s role to understand the complexities of their specific choice. In most cases, it will take more than a few rides to understand all the features and operations available. If your goal is more casual, you can probably just try to intuitively learn the process. But if your training is focused on warm weather performance goals that relies on tracking and saving data for later review, time to read the PDF that came with it. I suggest spending dedicated learning time related to your equipment and platform. Hopefully, when you want to do an actual training ride you don’t get frustrated with equipment and platform malfunctions or the “I didn’t know”. Life is busy and filled with tasks and It’s awkward and frustrating to pick a time, get sorted personally, hop on a bike, start doing your specific workout and have failures in data tracking and saving or just a complete “what the heck am I doing” moment. Those awkward moments is a way to discourage you from calendaring time to get back on for the next training session. Even if you do spend time learning, be aware that platforms change, sometimes often, most times for good, sometimes temporarily for the worse, so what you knew to be true yesterday, may no longer work or apply. Flexibility to change might be key to process success.
Goals, one of the last comments for this blog, are the goals you want to achieve. There are lots to pick from. From just fun and entertainment, sometimes social, goals related to basic overall fitness, training to improve metrics that allow you to do “bucket list” events, training to allow you to compete at a a variety of levels, the list goes on, you fill in the blanks but please, think about what that goal and you can focus during the activity to make the process more enjoyable and productive.
For several years, I have facilitated indoor group training seasons inside my previous car shop business, sometimes inside a few different bike shops and then mostly due to Covid and the creation of Zoom, I have been hosting Zoom based cold weather training sessions 2 times per week and everyone can participate from their own custom built training center. Currently, I have added Training Peaks Virtual Platform Events to add extra fun and enjoyment, and I expect those sessions will increase. The Zoom sessions are free to join and open to anyone and at all levels of performance and fitness. Interested? contact me and try it out.
My philosophy:
Fit for Fun, Fit for Sport, Fit for Life.