On 12/2/2019 11:05 AM, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 12/2/2019 12:16 PM, Tom Kunich wrote:
Well, the rain has hit the bay area and the outlook is for more of the
same so I suppose that I have to get on the trainer. I have my speaker
charged up and music ready from the phone and the Ridley is a very
comfortable bike to spin for an hour.

Speaking of that: Any advice on staving off terminal boredom while
cranking a trainer? I don't think I've ever been able to stand it more
than 20 minutes.

Reading doesn't work for me; I find myself reading the same passage over
and over. Television doesn't work for me for (almost) any purpose.
Podcasts almost helped, but I couldn't find one that really interested
me, and most were still longer than I wanted to ride. Going to a spin
class and having my ears assaulted by rock or disco isn't my style.

What do you folks do?

Get a "smart" trainer and participate in a virtual cycling world. For
me that's Zwift.

Over decades I've tried reading and TV while on the trainer. For a
while I tried watching pro racing recordings while on rollers, but at
every turn I veered to the side.

I was just like you, after 20 minutes I was miserable. Then I got a
semi-smart trainer used on Ebay and could ride real-world courses
simulated on video (scenery moved at speeds dictated by my speed,
resistance dictated by the digitally-recorded gradient of that part of
the course).

I was astonished that 40-60 minutes were tolerable and verging on fun.
Seeing the visual of the top of a rise does astonishing things to your
(well, at least my) hind brain, making the whole thing a surprising
approximation of "real." And you get to ride interesting places, e.g.
the Galibier or the Stelvio.

Then I splurged on a fully modern "smart" trainer and started
"Zwifting." Zwift gives you (thousands of) other riders to interact
with, you can pace them, you can draft them (and the resistance
reduces). The virtual Zwift courses are far more interesting than the
real-world videos I've tried, having terrain that varies more, and over
shorter distances. An hour on Zwift (for me) is even enjoyable; I've
ridden longer bouts on it (up to several hours) which would be just
inconceivable watching TV or reading a book. This is even ignoring the
gameified aspects that Zwift has added.

If you're data-obsessed, you get a lot of it, and it really can improve
your fitness quite a bit, or maintain it if you're already fit.

Mark J.