I’m 60, started cycling about 9 years ago. I’ve never done structured training before but I do log close to 10,000 miles a year, mostly outside, Road, Gravel, and MTB. And wasn’t getting any faster.
I started doing my weekday rides on my trainer a few weeks ago, saving the long/endurance rides for Saturday. GAME CHANGER. Safer, immune to weather, more convenient, and better training. The wife is happier too with me in the garage, not out on a road miles from home.
The image shows last week’s rides. I use TrainerRoad’s Adaptive Training plans, concurrently with Zwift’s amazing immersive visuals. Great combo. I use an old original KICKR with an old beater alum Motobecane stripped-down bike (no brakes, no front derailleur, one 48T oval chainring 48T, 11sped cassette 11-28) that I dedicate to indoor use. And it works perfectly. Workouts are in ERG mode but sometimes I switch to Resistance mode during the cooldowns when I want more watts… and since this isn’t a climbing gear ratio, I set TR to about 70%, and then it feels like my IRL climbing bike on the steeps.
Anyway, just some ideas in case this helps anyone think about their 2022 approach to staying healthy and fit.
Oh I like that screen setup! How do you get the three TR information zones arranged like that (overall graph, stats and current interval)? Are you running windows versions of Zwift and TR, both windowed and both using bluetooth for the trainer?
I’ve tried running TR on a phone and Zwift on a laptop, but I keep missing the TR workout text - I can’t quite make out where that would display for you?
The article I posted in the thread @Matt25 linked above has exact instructions for how to put everything on one screen. Like he said, the workout text will pop up over the Zwift screen, so you won’t miss the instruction.
I like to do that as well, for dual recording purposes more than entertainment really. My favorite setup:
4iiii power meter power matched to Wahoo Kickr feeding TrainerRoad over ANT+
Wahoo Kickr (controllable power disengaged) feeding Zwift over Bluetooth.
Recently I’ve added a programmable USB mini-keyboard to my setup (see picture below on the handlebars, on the computer mount). It’s been a brilliant to allow me to quickly switch from ERG to resistance mode in sprint workouts (mapped the “T” key) or hit a power up on Zwift during races without fumbling for a remote/keyboard/iPhone (mapped “space”)
It works extremely well. My setup is a dedicated Windows 10 PC.
Some tips:
Start TR first, and make sure your sensors are paired. I connect TR using ANT+.
Then start Zwift and pair sensors. You might find sensors initially pair then disconnect. Just unpair and search again. That generally works and then it is stable. I hang two ANT+ sensors off USB ports. I also have the built-in Bluetooth in the PC. Between those options, Zwift will find your sensors.
Save your TR workout first… Then stop/save your Zwift session. That way your TR session uploads to Strava. Your duplicate Zwift ride is usually not uploaded to Strava - it detects it is a duplicate. But you get Zwift credit - if that matters to you.
I also use an external power meter, in my case a one sided Garmin Rally SPD pedal… that I repurpose on my MTB for IRL rides. I trust that more than my KICKR power… although they both work.
Another thing you can do to mix things up, especially on longer Endurance rides, is to have Zwift control the trainer and ride around getting the changes in resistance based on the terrain. This will move your cadence around a lot more than just riding in Erg mode and without you having to make a conscious effort to do that.
Interesting! Good idea. So you still do a TR workout but you manually adjust to the TR prescribed wattage in non ERG mode? Or do you import the TR workout into Zwift and then let Zwift manage the resistance using ERG? I think manual might be easier and more flexible, esp since Endurance workouts maintain pretty steady effort for long periods.
There are other threads out there on this, but lots of ways to pair up TR and Zwift. A number of forum users have been doing this for years, me included.
If you don’t/can’t/won’t dedicated a computer to running Zwift and TR concurrently you have options to run TR on one device (smartphone), and Zwift on another. My setup is TR on smartphone, Zwift on AppleTV connected to a 24" TV I bought specifically for my cave. I used to run TR on the phone and Zwift on the iPad.
In either of those configurations, you just make sure the “Controllable” on Zwift is deselected, and let TR drive the bus while enjoying the views.
One other thing worth mentioning, for your sustained efforts, the pace partners on Zwift can be fun and more engaging than staring at blue bars for two or three hours. Also the best way to get your Bigger Than Jensie badge. Or you can do as someone else suggested and let Zwift control your erg mode for your Z2 rides using a different Zwift workout.
For me, Z helps pass the time. The eye candy is fun.
Yup, I just follow along to the target from the TR workout that’s running at the same time. I’m very used to doing that after many years riding a dumb trainer, but having the resistance changes from Zwift mixes it up more.
Just to add , this adds a lot to the endurance workouts and gets you used to pushing on the downhills, IF you are doing a hilly route, and don’t think you can spin fast enough for the downhill, you can reduce the trainer realism and this will reduce the effect of the up/down hills (but still give you trainer changed)
Yes it does add a lot to endurance or ANY workout IMHO. On a hilly course you should be able to spin fast enough on a downhill simply by shifting gears, ignoring any short really steep pitches that don’t matter in the big picture of the workout. Some people have good training results using erg and mostly pushing a single cadence, but that didn’t work too well for me.
I’m going to do this for all my Endurance workouts going forward. It’ll be tempting at times to push harder toward to summits to catch that rider that just passed me LOL. But it’ll be good training to maintain power when not being forced by ERG.
Hey Kurt. I usually remember to deselect the Controller pairing In Zwift - but since routes, events and free rides aren’t ERG controlled, those don’t seem to care if that pairing is active or not. Make sense?
I like the pace partners but generally the TR power plan doesn’t match, so I drift ahead/behind. I could turn TR to Resistance mode and stay in the pack of the Endurance workout is close to the W/kg of the Pace Partner…
Zwift defaults to not having the controllable trainer selected for me because I haven’t had it paired like ever. The events are erg agnostic, so when I’ve ridden events while doing a TR workout you just end up riding middle of the pack, surging during intervals and falling back during recoveries. I just do that on the ride events where you have to complete like five days. But if you’re running TR concurrently you would need the controllable off on Zwift either way.
For the pace partners, I hear you. The C one is too easy for my Z2 rides. The B one is good for my longer tempo rides. One thing to consider is you can keep with the pace partner on a TT bike and that will make it a bit more challenging to keep up with the drafting dynamics off.
Yes, but me personnally … I can’t do 80% on the descent of Epic climb or Alpe de Zwift at 80mph, so for me the best situation was to reduce the trainer resistance, and bring it back up as I trained my cadence, I only mentioned it as an option if he’s in the same boat as me, not something that he has to do
I agree, for short endurance rides, I like to use pace partners, for long ones, I tend to joing a endurance event and try to stay zone 2, not sure if there is any advantage to doing these workots in TR, as, as discused else where, AT isn’t very good for enduarnace workouts
For me it gets me used to the changes going down and UP hills since even when I can ride outside (i.e. Not right now in the dead of a Canadian prairie winter) I have pancake flat roads around–windy as hell, but flat.
