Day 5 - Indoor Training

Although I actually rode outside today, I do most of my winter riding on a trainer in the garage.  I could probably squeeze out some room in the basement, but it would be tight.  And I like the convenience of just being able to pop my bike off the trainer and go for a ride if I want to.

Thd downside of riding in the garage is having to deal with the heat and cold.  In the summer, I tend to jump on the trainer after the kids go to bed, and it could be 80 or 90 degrees.  A good fan is a necessity, or you will be swimming in your own sweat.  Even in the winter, with temperatures around freezing or below, I still sweat a bit, so using the fan turned to low definitely helps.

Dressing for winter rides on the trainer is basically the same as dressing for winter rides outside, but without the helmet and glasses.  Bundled up with long pants, a long shirt, jacket, skullcap, shoe covers and winter riding gloves.  I found these gloves at REI the other day:   Novara Headwind Tech Compatible.  Warm and windproof, and they have conductive thread in the fingertips so I can operate my tablet while riding.  I typically don't need to use this on an outdoor ride, but it's great for the trainer.

So, here is my trainer setup:

Bike on the trainer in the garage.  It's not pretty, but it works.

Here's the trainer.  CycleOps Fluid2 Trainer.  I've had this for a little over a year, and really love it.  I've never had a single problems, and popping the bike in and out is a piece of cake.

And here's the "control center".  At the same time I was buying my trainer at Performance Bike, I saw this cool book holder.  Turns out it is also great for holding a tablet.  I stuck a binder clip on each side to keep the tablet from sliding around.

This is basically my view while I'm riding.  I usually watch Netflix, HBOGO, movies ripped from DVD, or some cycling-specific training videos.  Below the tablet is my new Garmin Edge 500.  This is a fantastic bike computer that combines all the data I used to collect all within one device.  I'm going to write a full post about the Garmin some other time.

Although I'd always rather be riding outside, having a job and a family doesn't really allow that.  I ride in the garage almost every night, and try to get outside on the weekends, weather permitting.  I managed to get out today since I needed to work a little overtime, so I decided to ride instead of drive.  That allowed me to get in almost 2 hours of riding, without being stuck in the garage.

Food:

• Breakfast:  Fruit/protein smoothie
• Lunch:  Protein bar
• Dinner:  A little chicken fried rice.

Exercise:

• My usual morning routine.  
• 14-mile ride each way, to and from work.  Listened to a few podcasts:  Planet Money and Stuff you Missed in History Class.  
• After dinner, a 25-minute run on the elliptical, and watched the beginning of Casa de mi Padre on Netflix.

Today's weigh-in:  221.0