https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/52215811
I'd dusted-down my TACX Blue Motion Turbo Trainer soon after the lockdown. It was last used in 2014 - and only for a handful of times. Then I was recovering from a hand op, and unable to road-ride. Now it was the 'Stay Home' exercise of choice. It's a simple machine, common to many of its type - the tyre of the bike's rear wheel engages a magnetic-constrained roller controlled by a cable- operated lever on the bars with resistance steps of 1 to 9. There was enough space on our small patio to hitch my hybrid 'hack-bike' onto the machine.
I started with no exercise plan - pedalling too fast. (I'd never attended a spinning class). Soon after I discovered a turbo exercise plan with timed and structured exercise zones - these were warm-up, warm-down, with 4 endurance zones in the middle. A 40 minute session, with effort measured in cadence or rpm, i.e. between 80 and 100rpm.
https://sportactive.net/en/?option=com_content&view=article&id=427:home-trainer-program-week-1-2&catid=62:cycling-blog&utm_source=newsletter_791&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=your-home-trainer-plan-week-1
These zones were scribbled-down on a sheet on the bike's map-holder. However I had no idea of measuring the relative effort needed. This is where Janice helped me, responding to my email - aided by my son-in-law's Garmin watch that measured Heart Rate (HR) - average and maximum. The key was to try and achieve a pace that could be sustained comfortably over a 40mins session, and not go into the red. (Janice's maths indicated that if my max. HR was around 150 beats per minute (bpm), most of the session should be 60-80% of max HR, i.e. between 98 and 131bpm, and no more than 150). (My Strava feed for an earlier session had showed an average HR of 132, and a max. of 164bpm - totally unsustainable - especially for someone in the Stay Home vulnerable group!)
I'm now watching carefully my HR and measuring my exercise sessions accordingly. My sympathetic neighbours have now got used to the whirling noise of the TACX, and I've got used to cycling nowhere fast and watching the grass grow! In between I do short, mainly circular road rides near home. Roll-on mid-week Wayfarer rides!
What's the experience of other 'Stay Home' turbo riders?
2 comments:
Hi Ged, was lucky that I was able to get the same turbo as yourself when I broke a bone in my hand, needed to have a motivation and looked at Websites and found Bike the World, this gives lots of choices of ride videos to follow, some seem to be filmed from a motor bike but others you follow a cyclist. The route around lake Guarda follows cyclists or as I did a couple of mountain climbs to tick off your personal life goals. I had set it up in the loft space so was able to open a window and have wind assisted with a fan at my back.
Geoff G.
I wondered what the map was for :-)
Simon
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