Trainers

As I complete my recovery, and in general to deal with the darkness of
Northern winters I'm looking into bike trainers. My LBS stocks a
magnetic model and two with fluid resistance (the deluxe version lets
you tilt from side to side). The guy says 70% of their sales is the
basic fluid trainer as it gives you realistic resistance unlike the
magnetic type. My brother also recommended against the magnetic
though he prefers the whole spin bikes.

What are people's thoughts? Assuming usage of 5 hours per week during
the dark months of December-February (sometimes icy March) is it worth
the $300-$350?

Jorg Lueke wrote:
As I complete my recovery, and in general to deal with the darkness of
Northern winters I'm looking into bike trainers. My LBS stocks a
magnetic model and two with fluid resistance (the deluxe version lets
you tilt from side to side). The guy says 70% of their sales is the
basic fluid trainer as it gives you realistic resistance unlike the
magnetic type. My brother also recommended against the magnetic
though he prefers the whole spin bikes.

What are people's thoughts? Assuming usage of 5 hours per week during
the dark months of December-February (sometimes icy March) is it worth
the $300-$350?

I never understood the need for a trainer to be "realistic". I like mags
because they're cheap and reliable.

On Nov 29, 11:04*am, Peter Cole wrote:

I never understood the need for a trainer to be "realistic". I like mags
because they're cheap and reliable.

I think it's more fun when the resistance changes. Like when you do
the hill course on the excercise club bikes. Even with an mp3 player
standing still can get boring. How hard are the mags in the lowest
gear?

Jorg Lueke wrote:
On Nov 29, 11:04 am, Peter Cole wrote:
I never understood the need for a trainer to be "realistic". I like mags
because they're cheap and reliable.

I think it's more fun when the resistance changes. Like when you do
the hill course on the excercise club bikes. Even with an mp3 player
standing still can get boring. How hard are the mags in the lowest
gear?

Mine (Blackburn) is hard enough. I use it in a medium resistance setting
with a medium gear. You can always change the resistance on the fly by
changing gears. I usually watch a movie or some other TV when on the
trainer, so I only look for exercise, not entertainment.

On Nov 28, 4:51*pm, Jorg Lueke wrote:
delete
What are people's thoughts? *Assuming usage of 5 hours per week during
the dark months of December-February (sometimes icy March) is it worth
the $300-$350?

Rollers can help with your skills, especially keeping in a straight
line, and are cheapest.
Trainers are good for building strength,but can be quite boring, and
cost a bit more. Watching TV can help a lot.
Computerized trainers are even more expensive but can really help,
especially if you can program a route that you usually train on.

Is it worth it? How important is it for you to be strong early in the
season? Recreational or Cat 5/4, you can get by without it. Want to
get to Cat 3 or better with a 4 month layoff? You are not going to be
competitive.

On Nov 30, 11:47*am, Peter Cole wrote:
Jorg Lueke wrote:
On Nov 29, 11:04 am, Peter Cole wrote:
I never understood the need for a trainer to be "realistic". I like mags
because they're cheap and reliable.

I think it's more fun when the resistance changes. *Like when you do
the hill course on the excercise club bikes. * Even with an mp3 player
standing still can get boring. *How hard are the mags in the lowest
gear?

Mine (Blackburn) is hard enough. I use it in a medium resistance setting
with a medium gear. You can always change the resistance on the fly by
changing gears. I usually watch a movie or some other TV when on the
trainer, so I only look for exercise, not entertainment.

Getting bored is a problem. It's one of the big pluses for outdoor
cycling for me, it's one of the few activities I can stand to do for
more than 10 hours per week.

In article ,
Jorg Lueke writes:
On Nov 30, 11:47*am, Peter Cole wrote:
Jorg Lueke wrote:
On Nov 29, 11:04 am, Peter Cole wrote:
I never understood the need for a trainer to be "realistic". I like mags
because they're cheap and reliable.

I think it's more fun when the resistance changes. *Like when you do
the hill course on the excercise club bikes. * Even with an mp3 player
standing still can get boring. *How hard are the mags in the lowest
gear?

Mine (Blackburn) is hard enough. I use it in a medium resistance setting
with a medium gear. You can always change the resistance on the fly by
changing gears. I usually watch a movie or some other TV when on the
trainer, so I only look for exercise, not entertainment.
Getting bored is a problem. It's one of the big pluses for outdoor
cycling for me, it's one of the few activities I can stand to do for
more than 10 hours per week.

Outdoor[ish] activities that don't require bicycles
are quite possible during the bleak months.

I confess to enjoying ice skating. Not Olympics,
hockey or (especially) figure skating stuff, just
plain old casual ice skating. It doesn't combine real
transportation with physical exuberance in the same
manner as cycling, but neither does stationary cycling.

But at least you're really moving, and really going
somewhere. Even if it's around in ellipses, on an
indoor rink. It's a little better than some sort of
hamster wheel.

Ice skates are basically heavy boots with cutlasses
bolted onto their soles. Kicking those lead-weighted
things along seems to work sets of leg muscles that
bicycling overlooks.

And snowshoeing is increasingly becoming popular,
and people are realizing it isn't a simple matter
of striding along with tennis raquets tied to
your shoes.

You could euphemistically call it: "cross training."


cheers,
Tom

--
Nothing is safe from me.
I'm really at:
tkeats curlicue vcn dot bc dot ca

On Dec 5, 8:46*pm, (Tom Keats) wrote:
In article ,
* * * * Jorg Lueke writes:



On Nov 30, 11:47*am, Peter Cole wrote:
Jorg Lueke wrote:
On Nov 29, 11:04 am, Peter Cole wrote:
I never understood the need for a trainer to be "realistic". I like mags
because they're cheap and reliable.

I think it's more fun when the resistance changes. *Like when you do
the hill course on the excercise club bikes. * Even with an mp3 player
standing still can get boring. *How hard are the mags in the lowest
gear?

Mine (Blackburn) is hard enough. I use it in a medium resistance setting
with a medium gear. You can always change the resistance on the fly by
changing gears. I usually watch a movie or some other TV when on the
trainer, so I only look for exercise, not entertainment.
Getting bored is a problem. *It's one of the big pluses for outdoor
cycling for me, it's one of the few activities I can stand to do for
more than 10 hours per week.

Outdoor[ish] activities that don't require bicycles
are quite possible during the bleak months.

I confess to enjoying ice skating. *Not Olympics,
hockey or (especially) figure skating stuff, just
plain old casual ice skating. *It doesn't combine real
transportation with physical exuberance in the same
manner as cycling, but neither does stationary cycling.

But at least you're really moving, and really going
somewhere. Even if it's around in ellipses, on an
indoor rink. *It's a little better than some sort of
hamster wheel.

Ice skates are basically heavy boots with cutlasses
bolted onto their soles. *Kicking those lead-weighted
things along seems to work sets of leg muscles that
bicycling overlooks.

And snowshoeing is increasingly becoming popular,
and people are realizing it isn't a simple matter
of striding along with tennis raquets tied to
your shoes.

You could euphemistically call it: "cross training."

cheers,
* * * * Tom

--
Nothing is safe from me.
I'm really at:
tkeats curlicue vcn dot bc dot ca

I think cross country skiing might work for me too. I could start
getting my oldest onto skiis too. Of course knowing him he'll start
wanting to gop fast down big hills.

In article ,
Jorg Lueke writes:
On Dec 5, 8:46*pm, (Tom Keats) wrote:
In article ,
* * * * Jorg Lueke writes:



On Nov 30, 11:47*am, Peter Cole wrote:
Jorg Lueke wrote:
On Nov 29, 11:04 am, Peter Cole wrote:
I never understood the need for a trainer to be "realistic". I like mags
because they're cheap and reliable.

I think it's more fun when the resistance changes. *Like when you do
the hill course on the excercise club bikes. * Even with an mp3 player
standing still can get boring. *How hard are the mags in the lowest
gear?

Mine (Blackburn) is hard enough. I use it in a medium resistance setting
with a medium gear. You can always change the resistance on the fly by
changing gears. I usually watch a movie or some other TV when on the
trainer, so I only look for exercise, not entertainment.
Getting bored is a problem. *It's one of the big pluses for outdoor
cycling for me, it's one of the few activities I can stand to do for
more than 10 hours per week.

Outdoor[ish] activities that don't require bicycles
are quite possible during the bleak months.

I confess to enjoying ice skating. *Not Olympics,
hockey or (especially) figure skating stuff, just
plain old casual ice skating. *It doesn't combine real
transportation with physical exuberance in the same
manner as cycling, but neither does stationary cycling.

But at least you're really moving, and really going
somewhere. Even if it's around in ellipses, on an
indoor rink. *It's a little better than some sort of
hamster wheel.

Ice skates are basically heavy boots with cutlasses
bolted onto their soles. *Kicking those lead-weighted
things along seems to work sets of leg muscles that
bicycling overlooks.

And snowshoeing is increasingly becoming popular,
and people are realizing it isn't a simple matter
of striding along with tennis raquets tied to
your shoes.

You could euphemistically call it: "cross training."

cheers,
* * * * Tom

--
Nothing is safe from me.
I'm really at:
tkeats curlicue vcn dot bc dot ca
I think cross country skiing might work for me too. I could start
getting my oldest onto skiis too. Of course knowing him he'll start
wanting to gop fast down big hills.

I could possibly get into skiing, too. I tried it a little,
a long time ago, before today's technological improvements
in equipment and clothing. I ended up cold, wet & miserable.
Of course I'd have to first suffer the ignonamy of the bunny hill
before I become somewhat enured. But I'm willing to take another
kick at the can.

I guess we all need bikes, rollers, trainers, skis-&-gear,
whitewater canoes & kayaks, fla****er canoes & kayaks,
ice skates, various raquets, a couple of really good
hackeysack bead bags, and somewhere to store it all.

At least a couple of hackeysack bead bags fit in
a dresser drawer. Unlike, say, golf or bowling
equipment, for which I have no need anyway.

A good round of 4-square hackeysack keeps one limber,
and keeps leg cramps, back spasms and sciatica at bay.
At least, it does for me, since so much of my work
involves physical labour. The worst thing for me to do
during a lunch break is to sit down and be suddenly
become idle. Gotta keep moving. Just change the movements.
A change is as good as a rest (if not better.)

Hackeysack among competitors with heavy steel-toed boots on
becomes an interesting and highly sporting enterprise.

If you take your oldest XC skiing with you, and he wants
to bomb down the steep hills, I guess he'll quickly realize
what hoofing it up the next slope entails in terms of effort.

And if you're combining XC with winter camping, and he's
packing some of the gear, you might have to relieve him of
some of his burden so he can gaspingly follow you up the hill
and realize that although you're older, you're certainly
no weakling, and you've still got more jam than he does.
That's a preciously Classic father/son moment. That's when
fatherhood clicks into place.

What were we talking about?

Oh, yeah -- mag vs fluid trainers.

I don't think it really matters, when we're talking
about things that resemble hamster wheels. If you
can get some stuff that allows you to get of the house,
you'll enjoy a little freedom. Whomever you leave in
the house gets to enjoy a little freedom, too. Win-win.
Except for the offsprings who get enlisted by Mom to help
clean house. They have to learn.


cheers,
Tom

--
"BLAAAGGHHH!!!!!!!!" -- I just felt like being expressive,
and saying what's on everybody's mind.
I'm really at:
tkeats curlicue vcn dot bc dot ca

Tom Keats wrote:

Outdoor[ish] activities that don't require bicycles
are quite possible during the bleak months.

I confess to enjoying ice skating.

But at least you're really moving, and really going
somewhere. Even if it's around in ellipses, on an
indoor rink.

I grew up on a lake (outside of Boston). On good winters (cold, no snow)
we could skate for miles. After that, I never could really enjoy rink
skating.

At one of the local parks that seems to be now only used for dog
defecation, lies the fieldstone chimney and foundation of an old warming
hut, next to a sluice gate for flooding a flat field from a passing
brook. It's hard to now imagine families spending a Sunday skating
outdoors and warming by a roaring fire.

And snowshoeing is increasingly becoming popular,
and people are realizing it isn't a simple matter
of striding along with tennis raquets tied to
your shoes.

Around here (Boston), there never is really enough snow to justify
snowshoes. Even XC skiing is pretty spotty. Some winters it's great,
others, non-existent (no snow).

I guess we all need bikes, rollers, trainers, skis-&-gear,
whitewater canoes & kayaks, fla****er canoes & kayaks,
ice skates, various raquets, a couple of really good
hackeysack bead bags, and somewhere to store it all.

I almost never use my trainer. I set up my fixed gear bike with studded
tires and there's never been a day I couldn't ride, even on unplowed
bike paths. I was out riding the river path around midnight in late
November a couple of years ago when I spotted a blinky pacing me in the
darkness. It took me a while to realize it was someone rowing. Despite
the fact that it was 15F last morning, I still haven't put away my
skiff. I pull it with a bike trailer and will use it on mild days until
the river freezes.

I'm amazed to read the old stories of how there used to be 5,000 canoes
in one short section of the river back in the 20's. People used to row
in the moonlight and anchor by the bandstands on Saturday nights. The
bandstands are gone and so are almost all the canoes. It sounds like
paradise lost.

There's a side street outside of Harvard Sq. that I frequently ride,
which goes past a glass fronted gym where you can see rows of exercycles
and treadmills. As I make eye contact with the patrons I wonder what
they're thinking. Alas, the Italian cafe with outdoor tables that was
often my destination has now been closed. Progress marches on.

When I first started doing a Saturday club ride, maybe 12 years ago, the
leaders announced that they were suspending for the winter. I said I was
going to keep riding, alone if need be. That first winter I did ride
alone a few times, but usually a few others would show up. Now, seeing
100 riders is not unusual in the dead of winter, even a dozen during
snow or freezing rain. To people who would remark that winter cycling
was crazy, I'd just compare it to skiing or skating.

It seems we're becoming a nation of indoor people. There was one old
standby that got people out and gave a chance to mingle with neighbors:
yard work. Around here, even in a rather modest neighborhood, it all
seems to have been outsourced.