I have been riding and racing road for the past 6 years with a busy life style.
My next A - race is 17 week from now, and I want to fully switch to indoor training through TR structured training plan.
Is this a good decision at this stage ?!
Or I should continue to training outdoor ?!
FYI :
1-My race type is " TT on Rolling Road "
2- I have smart home trainer (Wheel On)
3-I have a Power Meter installed on my bike
Any Thoughts would be appreciated.
Update - 1
The Conclusion after reviewing the comments:
1- I should ride one or two rides per week outdoor.
2-Riding outdoor is very essential to maintain TT race skills.
3- Riding indoor 100% will increase the fitness, but will decrease the sensation of the road (The race will be on the road not the Home Trainer).
4-Outdoor reflecting positively on the Mental toughness more than indoors.
5-Letâs say : 80% Indoor : 20% Outdoor will be a good combination.
Thanks for sharing the stunning experiences.
Happy Ride For All.
For training I would say itâs an excellent plan. But I would do some outdoor rides just to get a bit of bike feel a gain, especially if itâs a TT bike. Itâs not like youâll forget how to ride a bike outside but after 4 months of indoor training itâs easy to forget how much more a bike is moving while not on the trainer.
I agree with @PhydomiR. Going fully indoor for training has yielded great improvements for me in terms of fitness (and Iâm certain it would for you as well), but that comes at the detriment to bike handling skills and feeling comfortable in a pack, cornering, etc. Iâd recommend doing at least one group ride or outdoor ride per week to retain those skills and abilities.
Missed that part of the post. I still think itâs a good idea to get outdoors in the TT position to feel the speed, corners, etc. so it isnât foreign on race day.
I really do enjoy riding on my trainer (I know Iâm weird), but I do strongly believe that riding outdoors is always (even tabata-style workouts, but Iâm willing to give those away for arguments sake) more beneficial. How do I come to this believe?
Everybody preaches specificity. On Event (Race-)day you ride outdoors.
I really donât know enough to go in-depth of the benefits of âto-the-second-executionâ on the trainer or âfine-enough-executionâ outdoors. Especially when every renowned coach will tell you to bump it up, dial it back, lengthen or shorten the intervals based on feel during training. (feel being defined as your educated opinion which is based on power, hr, cadence, breathing, rpe, âŚ)
Furthermore I heard from every coach who is not connected to an indoor platform to ride outside as much as possible.
When Iâve riden almost exclusively inside for long periods of time (through winters) it certainly gives great fitness, however it takes me maybe a couple of weeks to feel strong and comfortable riding outside again.
I obviously am doing something wrong as I always peak at the end of the season. And even if there are more reasons to that, the biggest yet most simple reason is the added volume that comes naturally (to me) with outdoor rides.
Not necessarilyâŚ.the skills learned in group riding generally include better bike handling, situational awareness, etcâŚâŚall of which translate to riding anywhere.
Excellent - just donât completely abandon outdoors for non training. 17 weeks spent hooked to a trainer may make you lose some of your TT position w/ balance skills.
Go do 20 min outside once a week. 0 pressure through the pedals just get a cadence up, get in your skis and remember what its like to be outside. Week before or of the race - Iâd spend a longer amount outside for skills - again not a training ride but remember what it feels like in that position for the right amount of time with bumps, road, etc
Sort of an odd thing to do. What is your goal for doing it? Like is it necessary bc of a busy sched? Doing structured workouts indoors makes sense but literally every ride doesnât seem like it has any advantage.
A potential issue is if your going to ride your TT strict to a power meter and you have some meaningful difference in your ability to produce power indoors or outdoors.
If you have the bike handling skills that you wont lose and donât need to cycle outdoors for your mental health its definitely the best way to train/ develop power
AgreedâŚthose are specific group riding skills. But group rides lead to indirect skills (i.e. improved bike handling, etc) that transfer over to TT bikes, etc.
Also agreed that those indirect skills can be obtained in other waysâŚthey can absolutely be developed independent of group rides.
Personally I only go full indoor in the colder months when itâs too unpleasant to ride outside. Even a $1,000 prize for a race wouldnât be enough to kill my enjoyment of cycling and get me stuck inside this time of year no matter how much more progress I could make. I supplement with indoor when itâs really really hot or humid or rainy or whatnot, this way I can keep up on structure while also having fun
And even if there are more reasons to that, the biggest yet most simple reason is the added volume that comes naturally (to me) with outdoor rides.