Oudsthoorn to George via R62/N12 and then N9?

[Slowbee]

Thanks Rob, sounds like a similar position - time pressed, so want to figure out how to make the most of what time I do spent on the bike.

 

As am aside then, what turbo trainer do you have ? I am thinking of spending the money on a decent trainer that I can connect my bike up to, and since the set up is correct for me I can just ride it.

[walkerr]

Thanks Rob, sounds like a similar position - time pressed, so want to figure out how to make the most of what time I do spent on the bike.

 

As am aside then, what turbo trainer do you have ? I am thinking of spending the money on a decent trainer that I can connect my bike up to, and since the set up is correct for me I can just ride it.

 

The primary tool I used for indoor training is TrainerRoad (aka TR) - the whole concept just works for me.

 

I used to have the original generation Tacx Bushido. It was OK, but didn't provide resistance control with TR. I also found with Tacx own videos, it was near impossible to get a smooth resistance for climbing - it was always jerky. Eventually I got fed up and upgraded to a CycleOps PowerSync. It's doing the job for me - I can't say it's perfect, but I got a good deal on it which meant it was around 40% cheaper than a Wahoo KICKR. I doubt I'll bother switching now until I wear it out - my gripes with it are very minor ones. It occasionally loses sync with TR mid session, which is a bit disruptive. But that probably only happens once every 10 or 20 sessions, and it's something the TR guys do seem to be improving in how their software syncs with the trainer.

 

The BIG deal to me about TR is it's approach. Every 2 or 3 months I do an FTP test, and with that value established all my sessions for the next few months get automatically scaled to whatever my new FTP is. So I know pretty much for sure that when the current interval is supposed to be done at say 9.5 RPE, I am working out at that exact level. One thing which surprised me was how accurate a home FTP test was. I did the full VO2Max test at Stellenbosch and a home one the following week. The home one was within 5% of the properly scientific one. That's more than good enough for a wannabee amateur like me!

 

In combination with the above I used various videos to keep things interesting - mostly Sufferfest but I do have some others.

[Slowbee]

Thanks, looking into either wahoo kickr snap or cyclops power sync. still need to decide objectively, cause if it was salesperson based, cyclops would be loosing on a sale for sure.

[walkerr]

Thanks, looking into either wahoo kickr snap or cyclops power sync. still need to decide objectively, cause if it was salesperson based, cyclops would be loosing on a sale for sure.

 

Agreed. If the price were the same, I'd have gone KICKR for sure. The saving on the CycleOps was too tempting, and I'm not unhappy about the choice. But I suspect the long term winner in the high-end IDT arms race is going to be Wahoo.

[WIPEOUT 1000]

Not a lot I can add to Rob's comments except that on these very long rides it is extremely important not to hurt yourself early on. I.e. try to stay within Zone 2 at all times, pedal small gears, especially up inclines.

 

The major benifit of doing the 200km-400km rides is actually to learn this practically