The Indoor Riding/ Zwift/ TrainerRoad etc. Thread

Martynt74 said:
That's fair. Does it load things like HRV in from Garmin? I know my watch is on similar recovery, but i went a little zero>100 for the new year and probably over did it with 5 days in a row of relatively hard cycling after around a month of laziness. Need to get back into a more regular routine.

I guess maybe the mid ground is Training Peaks and Indievelo? Although i think that's more aimed at having an actual coaching program rather than an AI based model
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I’ve been impressed with TR so far. I’ve completed 3 months and my FTP is probably the best it has been at 327. My nemesis workout on zwift was the SST alternating 295/275 and it would be hit and miss for completing. Now the 295 blocks feel sustainable for 20 minutes with HR under 170. I haven’t completed a zwift race for a while though, I think my next block finishes in 2 weeks so will give it a go.

I think it is always difficult to know as before when I did random zwift events you aren’t tracking ftp. So it could be that I have been at similar levels before but most events are never intense enough to hit PBs. At some point I will do an alpe du zwift as it would be a fairly good comparison of performance and factor weight changes (read as gain!)
 
Kickr bike just turned up on a pallet! Guy was close to leaving it outside the front gate but convinced him to help carry it to the house. At 75kg and walking backwards in flip flops i feel knackered!
 
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Martynt74 said:
Kickr bike just turned up on a pallet! Guy was close to leaving it outside the front gate but convinced him to help carry it to the house. At 75kg and walking backwards in flip flops i feel knackered!
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So you've got some good exercise out of it already! Fingers crossed there are no problems.
 
Martynt74 said:
I've ordered the Kickr Bike!
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AndyCr15 said:
Yes, on the back, so lift the front and wheel to position.
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I've just noticed you actually ordered the Shift. For the record, I didn't know/realise this when you asked about wheels, as the photo in 'new items bought' doesn't look like the Shift has wheels on? (It could just be the angle)
 
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AndyCr15 said:
I've just noticed you actually ordered the Shift. For the record, I didn't know/realise this when you asked about wheels, as the photo in 'new items bought' doesn't look like the Shift has wheels on? (It could just be the angle)
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Haha yeah you're right. I was unpacking it thinking "that lying git" there's no wheels here!

It's actually louder than i was expecting. My Decathlon bike is basically silent and so assumed it'd be the same, but there's some flywheel noise and a bit of a clunk with each rotation. Not sure if it's something that'll settle down as it's used though. As it is, there's no chance it'll be moved to be used for normal tv watching.
 
Right, training post Christmas has started finally....hopefully. Christmas, illness and laziness has all contributed to an almost complete lack of cycling since early December. Now I'm back on the wagon and starting a structured program. Took one of the old training peaks 8 week plans and modified to account for the watt bombs I drop these days :p

Hopefully by the time I can crawl outside again I should have a bit more fitness and finally this year I will hit that mythical 4w/kg. Wish me luck!
 
First proper ride on the Kickr Bike tonight after a brief 30 minutes the other day.

Need to work on the fit. Got a bit uncomfortable after an hour and might change saddle.

Main oddity is power output seems low. Might just be in my head but what felt like my normal outdoor effort was only reading around 120w. Might try setting it to my usual 180w in erg mode and see how it feels.
 
Martynt74 said:
Got a bit uncomfortable after an hour and might change saddle.
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For indoor, I would say this is fairly normal, no? It's why I struggle to do anything too long indoor.
Martynt74 said:
Might just be in my head but what felt like my normal outdoor effort was only reading around 120w.
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Again, I find this is another thing with indoor. It feels much harder! :cry:
 
I never really realised the difference of outdoor and indoor until i tried to do some trainer road sessions outside. higher watts were significantly easier to hold. I think if you did an FTP test inside and out, you would get wildly different results
 
AndyCr15 said:
For indoor, I would say this is fairly normal, no? It's why I struggle to do anything too long indoor.

Again, I find this is another thing with indoor. It feels much harder! :cry:
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Junglist said:
I never really realised the difference of outdoor and indoor until i tried to do some trainer road sessions outside. higher watts were significantly easier to hold. I think if you did an FTP test inside and out, you would get wildly different results
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Yeah, you're both probably right. I just don't remember such a difference when i had my old bike on a Kickr V4 vs the outdoor PM.

Luckily had the distraction of the football last night. This is the main benefit for me. Watching United gives me a decent 2hr ish indoor session every week that i wouldn't usually have as i'd be on the sofa or in the pub! Although as @fez knows. Watching United occasionally is double the suffering!
 
Martynt74 said:
That's fair. Does it load things like HRV in from Garmin? I know my watch is on similar recovery, but i went a little zero>100 for the new year and probably over did it with 5 days in a row of relatively hard cycling after around a month of laziness. Need to get back into a more regular routine.

I guess maybe the mid ground is Training Peaks and Indievelo? Although i think that's more aimed at having an actual coaching program rather than an AI based model
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Have you not tried the training your Garmin suggests?

For instance today mine is suggesting a 55min Tempo ride.
10min @ 130W
30min @ 195W
15min @ 130W

Tomorrow its suggesting (I'll probably be out for 3 hours on my MTB and it's usually classed as a Base ride)
1h55min @ 130W
 
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Martynt74 said:
Yeah, you're both probably right. I just don't remember such a difference when i had my old bike on a Kickr V4 vs the outdoor PM.

Luckily had the distraction of the football last night. This is the main benefit for me. Watching United gives me a decent 2hr ish indoor session every week that i wouldn't usually have as i'd be on the sofa or in the pub! Although as @fez knows. Watching United occasionally is double the suffering!
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As someone who grew up supporting Liverpool.. I have enjoyed watching United since Fergie bounced :D

Feel like I am cheating my way to the Tron bike. Have been doing my workouts on ADZ. Only need another 2400m and I've been getting 5-700m elevation each session!
 
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robj20 said:
Have you not tried the training your Garmin suggests?

For instance today mine is suggesting a 55min Tempo ride.
10min @ 130W
30min @ 195W
15min @ 130W

Tomorrow its suggesting (I'll probably be out for 3 hours on my MTB and it's usually classed as a Base ride)
1h55min @ 130W
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I sometimes consider it, but usually i only look when i'm outdoors, and i find the power targets too difficult to follow when outdoors due to hills etc. Then when i go to click on it when i'm indoors the suggested time rarely aligns with what i have available.
 
Martynt74 said:
Yeah, you're both probably right. I just don't remember such a difference when i had my old bike on a Kickr V4 vs the outdoor PM.

Luckily had the distraction of the football last night. This is the main benefit for me. Watching United gives me a decent 2hr ish indoor session every week that i wouldn't usually have as i'd be on the sofa or in the pub! Although as @fez knows. Watching United occasionally is double the suffering!
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Yeah, every United game thats on at the right time is a couple of hours on Zwift. Luckily we are so boring most of the time my HR isn't affected by the game :p

Junglist said:
As someone who grew up supporting Liverpool.. I have enjoyed watching United since Fergie bounced :D

Feel like I am cheating my way to the Tron bike. Have been doing my workouts on ADZ. Only need another 2400m and I've been getting 5-700m elevation each session!
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Thats how I got it. Every single session I did on Zwift was on AdZ. 1.5 hours Z2 got me up it once so it didn't take that long to chew through the height.
 
Syla5 said:
So coming up to my 1st year of cycling completed, my zwift streak should tick over my 46 week streak.

FTP progress:
March 2024: 213w / 2.76w/kg
January 2025: 250w / 3.36w/kg.

Considering my time on the bike wasnt prioritised over my gym lifting and mostly ive sustained 2-3 sessions per week, i feel like for a first year effort this isnt too bad. I would love to see these numbers continue to go up but the challenge as always is fitting everything in!
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Where did you start mate? Looking to take some of my evening time to have a first couple of cracks at the Peloton bike I got cheap --- I've got a speed/cadence sensor and hooked it upto Zwift but I am a total zero on a spin bike. I do cycle very infrequently. Otherwise fit but lack stamina.

Thinking I might just start with some gentler youtube videos to follow? (lol).
 
Martynt74 said:
I sometimes consider it, but usually i only look when i'm outdoors, and i find the power targets too difficult to follow when outdoors due to hills etc. Then when i go to click on it when i'm indoors the suggested time rarely aligns with what i have available.
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Just use it more flexibly, for instance when I'm outdoors I'll aim for the zone it's wanting so tonight is Tempo so high aerobic with a Aerobic TE of 3.8 and Anaerobic TE of 2.0. then ride with those in mind. So up the hills at a decent rate and push it on the flats.
If it wanted a Base ride I'll take it easy but go out longer.
Indoors on the trainer obviously you can tweak it as well, only have 30 mins for a High aero then do an FTP Test or similar.
If it's a day of Zone 2 I might do 30 mins before work and another 45m after work.

I aim to keep my Acute Load in the optimal range and keep the Load Focus on their ranges as well.
 
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robj20 said:
Just use it more flexibly, for instance when I'm outdoors I'll aim for the zone it's wanting so tonight is Tempo so high aerobic with a Aerobic TE of 3.8 and Anaerobic TE of 2.0. then ride with those in mind. So up the hills at a decent rate and push it on the flats.
If it wanted a Base ride I'll take it easy but go out longer.
Indoors on the trainer obviously you can tweak it as well, only have 30 mins for a High aero then do an FTP Test or similar.
If it's a day of Zone 2 I might do 30 mins before work and another 45m after work.

I aim to keep my Acute Load in the optimal range and keep the Load Focus on their ranges as well.
Click to expand...

Yeah it's probably sensible. I have been meaning to do more "workouts" as most of my riding is just however i feel at any given time. Main thing for me at the moment is getting back to consistently hitting 4-5 rides a week
 
dlockers said:
Where did you start mate? Looking to take some of my evening time to have a first couple of cracks at the Peloton bike I got cheap --- I've got a speed/cadence sensor and hooked it upto Zwift but I am a total zero on a spin bike. I do cycle very infrequently. Otherwise fit but lack stamina.

Thinking I might just start with some gentler youtube videos to follow? (lol).
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I initially followed the build me up or FTP builder plan on zwift (6 week version first) then just cycled from there doing group rides, pacer rides and racing, i get on the bike 2-3 times per week. I have to say that ive seen the best progression by adding in 1-2 90 minute z2 rides per week, rather then the all out high effort rides.
 
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