Professional Triathlete's talk about their success as a result of indoor bike training in this piece from Competitor Magazine. There will always be the nay-sayers. Here is my response to the latter group: Fine.
Indoor training is NOT riding. It is training. Getting better. Fitter, faster, stronger. Go outside and ride in the rain, in the dark, in the snow, with traffic, with dogs, with teenagers on cell phones, fix your flat, spend an hour at the coffee shop, take some pictures, get sunburned, take a bee to the bonnet, crash every once in a while, go to the ER, wreck your 5K carbon-fiber bike, get yelled at by local red-necks, and most importantly, eat crap and drink beer while calling it fuel.
I will train inside, thank you. To be better prepared for race day. That being said, I love to ride outside, but there is no way I can dial in the intensity, frequency, duration and quality out as compared to in. Just doesn't happen. Lastly, should this horse need one more beating, I train inside to race outside with the philosophy that the motor is where it is at. You really want to argue that spending a thousand dollars to shave16 grams of bike weight will trump the 15 POUNDS I lost since January by training indoors? Let's do this then-You bring your expensive and light bike out Saturday and we'll ride 95 miles. I will ride a 22lb fixed gear Specialized Langster (aka Trixie) and we'll see what happens. No challenge, no ego, nothing macho, just a simple test.
Is it the bike?
Is it the weight?
Is it aerodynamics?
Is it riding outside?
Is it training inside?
Is it the motor?
Yes, it is.
Update to the Tuesday Update: This just in from Elma, WA. Sunday's Father's Day events have been cancelled. Sorry. Next triathlon there is July 4. Making the revised weekend look like this:
Saturday: Spin 0730-0900. Ride 95 to Elma. Eat. Sleep.
Sunday: Ride 95 back. Eat. Sleep.
Monday: Spin 0530-0630. Eat. Work.
Yes, it is.
Pix: Train inside (OPC in California), to ride (Puerto Vallarta, Mexico) or race, outside, yes?
4 comments:
When the author wrote, "... workouts themselves don’t focus on the intensities that triathletes need to develop, are not progressive and often are not challenging enough for serious triathletes," they had not been to one of your sessions!
Or one of yours, amigo.
rory made $1.44 million by winning the us open and his related sponsorship earning over the next year will easily exceed six times that. but running and biking is popular and all and will improve ones aerobic capacity and is more fun than golf. money and popularity are only two aspects to the equation. rory will likely seriously regret he didn't give up golf.
Are we having a low blood sugar day ej? You wanna argue that it's all about the money? Dude.
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