Associate
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- 21 Jun 2004
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- 1,618
Make it a regular thing to assess your improvement. I found it a better motivator th than ramp tests as getting improvements by the order of minutes feel great!
The Indoor Riding/ Zwift/ TrainerRoad etc. Thread
- Thread starter randomshenans
- Start date
Soldato
How do people set up their fans? This is mine -
I find it blows mainly on my legs and torso. But, some show the fan being closer and maybe even using a desk/stand for laptop in front of the bike, which would definitely block my head and maybe also upper body.
So, how do you guys set up your fans?
I find it blows mainly on my legs and torso. But, some show the fan being closer and maybe even using a desk/stand for laptop in front of the bike, which would definitely block my head and maybe also upper body.
So, how do you guys set up your fans?
One of these mounted on the wall in front of me. Never needed speed 2 or 3.
Soldato
??!?!?!
Enter a Zwift race and you’ll be begging for more than speed 3!!
Enter a Zwift race and you’ll be begging for more than speed 3!!
Not a chance, speed 1 moves now air than the headwind I had before was so disappointed in it for the price I sent it back and saved some money.
I can't race on my setup. At the minute anyway until I get that virtual shifting.
Soldato
That's interesting, as I like mine. Like you, I've never had to put it over about 50%. Because of its 'tall and thin' profile it does do a good job of blowing air in a 'cyclist shape' so to speak, but I'm just not sure if I should be trying to point it more up, or it's normal to cool legs and torso, but not head. I mean, I guess legs are doing the work and torse is the main thing you want to cool, but sweat is more noticeable from the head. (I have also used it linked to my heart rate, which is kinda cool. I've used linked to speed, which is fun for the realism, but doesn't work for cooling when you do a long climb!)
I think I just realised for the money it's still just a fan and made a mistake, the big normal fan I have mounted high so it blows down my body if that makes sense, cools my head front and back of my torso and gets my legs. I have it on a smart plug so can turn it on and off as needed but that's it for control. It's also meant I can move my bike closer to the wall.
Soldato
Tbf, you can say that about many things. "The Ferrari? I sent it back and kept my mini." It does have other features (as mentioned) that I use, so I'm happy. Should it probably be cheaper? Sure. The Kickr Bike is quite expensive too, but it's a great bike.
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Associate
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- 21 Jun 2004
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My fan is similar floor mounted in front but it is the vacmaster cardio one with remote. Picked it up last December on a good deal. Not sure it is enough for me, but I have all the windows open in the room and can still have issues with sweating and humidity if it isn’t windy or outside is humid.
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I like my headwind and find the feature where it is linked to a HRM fantastic but I’m tempted to also get a vacmaster as I know in the summer the shed is going to be borderline unusable.
We do have a portable AC unit but it’s pretty hard to use in the shed as the air duct keeps the door too wide open to really be of any benefit. Though the actually cold air on the legs and body is lovely
We do have a portable AC unit but it’s pretty hard to use in the shed as the air duct keeps the door too wide open to really be of any benefit. Though the actually cold air on the legs and body is lovely
Caporegime
Have a vacmaster and probably going to get a second for when the weather gets a little warmer. Its quite hard to set up in the right place and at the right angle. I think thats always going to be the case without 2 fans.
Soldato
I’ve got a big floor fan pointed at my legs/body then two smaller Honeywell fans mounted on the wall blowing towards my sides. Depending on intensity and outside temps I might just use the big fan.
Did 4 hours yesterday riding to/from marshalling our club open time trial, so wasn’t sure how today’s turbo session would go. 4x10 mins consisting of 8 mins of sweet spot bookended by a minute before and after each just above threshold. Really pleased to get through it more or less on target. I need to start building my endurance back as I’m hoping to do Pure Peak Grit this year (which is why I need the 44t @Roady!).
Did 4 hours yesterday riding to/from marshalling our club open time trial, so wasn’t sure how today’s turbo session would go. 4x10 mins consisting of 8 mins of sweet spot bookended by a minute before and after each just above threshold. Really pleased to get through it more or less on target. I need to start building my endurance back as I’m hoping to do Pure Peak Grit this year (which is why I need the 44t @Roady!).
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Caporegime
I'm getting towards the end of an 8 week program on training peaks and wondering what to do next. I'm not sure that restarting the program with a higher FTP is the best plan honestly. I think its been good at improving my FTP and fitness in general but part of that is that its been great on progressive overload. Going back to the start seems a bit counter productive.
Any thoughts from the resident experts?
Any thoughts from the resident experts?
Soldato
What did the 8 week plan look like?
Soldato
Go put those winter gains to good use outdoors, trying to beat previous best times on whole routes, segments, hill climbs?
Caporegime
Quite a lot of zone 2, couple of steady state intervals per week for quite a lot of it. Increasing from 2x10 min - 3x12min over a couple of weeks. By week 6 I was doing 2x20 minutes steady state intervals.
Coming towards the end of the program there have been more VO2 intervals 3x4min and 4x4 min. Finally a couple of sessions of "speed intervals" which are basically 30s efforts at max power win minimal rest.
Its not a complex plan, its just that going back to 2x10 min steady state will be easy after 2x20min.
Its still bloody winter here as far as I can tell!
Joking aside, I have young children so I can probably jump on the trainer 5 times a week and even when the weather plays ball I can only ever get outside a few time a week. Trainer rides are evening after boys are in bed.
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Soldato
I think you're thinking along the right lines. If those sessions were starting to feel comfortable at your current FTP then you won't get anything out of going back to week 1. I'm assuming your steady state intervals are around sweet spot intensity (i.e. c90%). Let me know if not.
If you've got time for 5 sessions a week, at this stage of the year for all round fitness I would probably be doing something like:
Mon - rest
Tues - either 90-120 mins Z2 or an hour varying high Z2/low Z3 (75-85%)
Weds - longer interval session - 4x15 min @ 88-92%. Goal is to progress this to 1x60 min. Try 4x15 > 3x20 > 2x30 > 1x60
Thu - rest or optional easy spin
Fri - shorter interval session - 4x4 @ VO2 aiming for maximum sustainable power across the sets
Sat - 2-3hr endurance
Sun - 2-3hr endurance
Ideally the weekend rides would be outside and I'd make one hillier. The suggested duration is not fixed if that represents a big step up in your training load. Similarly, if you're time crunched on the weekend I'd do another longer interval session in place of one of the endurance rides. As an example, I'd do something like 1hr around 80-85% and every 5 mins up your cadence by 10rpm for 30 seconds aiming to push above threshold.
Those 30s intervals are useful but I really see them as an "icing the cake" session rather than a regular session. I've done them in the past 2-3 weeks out from a big event as they do give you a real boost in the short term, but aren't sustainable mentally or physically in the long run if you're doing them all out.
Soldato
Fair enough, trickier getting out when you have kids.
Dabble in some racing and/or TTs on Zwift; Indie Velo; MyWhoosh?