You could even say it’s like zwift, but without the other cyclists and/or runners 
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its like Zwift, but with cows and hawks 
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I throw in some farm dog intervals too.
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those are the best, nothing like a shot of adrenaline to test your short-term power!
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Everybody needs an “Eddie”…
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You should learn to use the bike outdoors, just as you do indoors. Even if you have rolling hills, learning to use the machine to still hit your desired wattages is part of growing as a cyclist.
Don’t stay inside just to be a robot hitting numbers; you’re missing out on bike handling skills and learning how to actually motor the bicycle.
Also, it’s good for the brain to cognitively “work through motion”…i.e analyzing the road, making minute calculations, etc. You can’t get that on a trainer.
Your watts will be alllll over the place when you start, but practice, and you’ll get them dialed.
Group rides are awful for training; go to them for the social aspect, but then peel off and do your intervals.
Look at the % of time spent in Zone 1 on a group ride; garbage miles. Avoid this, as you said.
Get outside, spring is here, or near, depending where you live. Let us know what you decide @nagge!! Good luck!
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This - brendanhousler - “You should learn to use the bike outdoors, just as you do indoors. Even if you have rolling hills, learning to use the machine to still hit your desired wattages is part of growing as a cyclist.”
It has become a focus for me of late – how to either smooth out the rolling hills to keep wattage in range, through changes to cadence/gears OR how to maintain speed with short intense efforts and focusing on momentum and quick recovery. Both of these are limiters for me on the bike outside, so it is a key focus for me when doing an outdoors solo ride.
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focus on gears, not bursts. The latter is not learning to use the machine.
You must think ahead and learn the “feel” of the gears. When a downhill is coming, be ready to shift.
Think of a piano player. A child is clunky at first. They slowly improve.
The same with riding a bike, eloquently.
All the best! @llmonty
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Thank you for posting this; and thank you for the question. I hope that the TR wizards will come up with some outdoor integration feature.
My snowflake “problem” is that I have my A race planned in the beginning of August and that from June 11 through July 30, I will be in Europe with no access to indoor training and a few days without any bike training options. Outdoor integration of the training plan would be awesome. If not, I will try to follow the plan by @STP.
…you mean with this?
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I absolutely agree with you, it is possible to take a bicycle and not to be afraid to use it outdoors, mastering skills of riding. I would like to add that the weather and the season are not really so important. Some time ago I have also worried about how to ride in the cold and wet weather, but found an interesting article ( bestadviser.net - contact with domain owner | Epik.com) where it was described in details how to ride your bike when weather in the street is cold and wet, in winter, for example. After reading the article I’ve analyzed all the points and now I can ride with no fear all year round.
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i used to live in Upstate NY (near Lake ontario) and had to deal with all that snow and muck; luckily life has brought me to the mid south in TN, but still looking for year round warm weather. one of these days!
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This. seems kind of pointless if you aren’t actually enjoying the fruits of your labors. If you aren’t just planning to race and are doing this to participate more fully in more challenging group rides then you have to get outside at least once a week.
Also, as someone mentioned, riding is more than just legs. being able to pull with your arms and back on climbs or sprints is important also.
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