Indoor cycling – junk miles free
In the winter months, I practically only train indoors, currently seven to ten hours a week. Strength training in the gym anyway, but also on the treadmill and with the racing bike clamped into my Tacx roller trainer. This roller training, two to three times a week, is really something. It is much more intensive and, above all, mentally tougher than when I do a longer lap on the road on my racing bike.
The reason for this is that I can’t enjoy a single moment on the roller with so-called “junk miles”. Among cyclists, “junk miles” are the quasi useless kilometers or moments during which no real training effect can be achieved due to external circumstances, meaning that the heart rate drops immediately and the wattage collapses: This happens on every descent, or even when I stop at a red light or am otherwise prevented from setting my desired pace on the road according to my training plan.
I never have a headwind or tailwind, but I do have my Garmin on the steering wheel, coupled with the Tacx, which mercilessly tells me, almost forces me, to pedal at the wattage specified in the plan until the next recovery phase comes. Fortunately, Garmin always shows me how much longer it will take.
The training sessions last between 60, 90 or 120 minutes. Depending on my condition, it can go well or take a miserably long time and seem very monotonous, even though I’m accompanied by great, rhythmic music (without music, I’d find it hard to get through). I’m dripping with sweat, about 1.5 liters, as the scales tell me, despite the window being open. At the end, there are two completely soaked terry towels on the floor. The reward: a great feeling of happiness at having done it again and completed another puzzle of my physical and, above all, mental strength.
I estimate that one hour of roller training of this quality is equivalent to around two to three hours of outdoor bike training. I’ve never spent as many hours as I have this winter on the watt and pulse-controlled roller. Coach Dan told me last week that my heart rate delta is now pretty good. This means that after hard intervals in the transition to the recovery phase, my heart rate regularly and relatively quickly returns to the lower level and stays there until the next high wave. The unmistakable sign of increased fitness. It’s going to get warmer next week – and hopefully I will soon be out cycling and running again.
