Friday, May 23, 2008

Pro's and Con's of riding on a bike trainer

I installed my Bacchetta Strada on a bike trainer today. The one where you connect your back wheel to. I've tried rollers before but I just didn't feel comfortable on them especially when you're clipped on to the pedals. It takes exception skill to ride on one of those with clipless pedals.

Riding on my recumbent I didn't need the riser for the front wheel, as I would on a regular road bike. The trainer has settings to adjust if you want more resistance or less. I opted to take it easy, since it was my first time this season getting on one. The noise from the trainer wasn't bad.

My buddy Jon has a trainer where his front fork is mounted to a clamp and his back wheel is on rollers. He says that he doesn't like doing it since the workout is so boring and his back, arms and neck are aching more than on a regular ride outside.

When it comes to riding on a trainer the main thing to plan for is location, location, location. Jon lives on a quite street and I don't know where in his house he rides his trainer. I told him to put a tv/dvd in front to keep him occupied.

My situation is a bit better location wise. I ride on the trainer in my garage and my street is quite active with cars going by, not enough to where it seems like it's a busy city street, but busy enough during evening where people are coming home from work to keep me occupied. The minutes just fly by when you're looking at moving cars, than just looking at a wall or backyard. I have a video ipod that I'll use on my next workout to see if that keeps me occupied.

Another advantage of the recumbent bike is that you are comfortable when you are spinning your legs. Sometimes I just clasp my hands on my stomach and ride without holding onto the handle bars.

It was a good hour long workout and I got a sweat out of it. So place your bike on the trainer where you could watch the world go by and you'll see that an hour's worth of riding is bearable. A downside to riding inside my garage with the door open is that in the evening the bugs come out, especially mosquitoes!

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