Sunday Training

Hi

CompuTrainer

Snow and ice outside again so confined indoors which is par for the course in the UK :-( Rode a 45+ mile 3D course on the CompuTrainer which I'm pretty sure has the training equivalent of 3 hours out on the road and is much safer, took me about 2:15 at a steady pace. There was no ice, no snow, and no cars :-) BUT, no freewheeling or soft pedaling either :-(

So, all went well, good steady L2 training with the Shilbottle climb to finish with and I feel that I've done a very worthwhile training session which is what matters.

Made a short video showing how the CompuTrainer SpinScan system works which might be of interest, there is a link to it below and also below is the ride report showing the spin scan and other data from today's ride.

Hoping for a better week next week but the weather forecast is not looking promising at all. Covered about 150 miles this week on the CompuTrainer and this made up a TSS of about 400, so about the same as an adaptation week. Makes a huge difference when you can't get out at the weekend but I have a plan.



To watch the video in higher quality (recommended) click here.


[Uploaded 23/11/2008 22:22:50]

Saturday Training

Hi

Computrainer

Well, looks like Winter is arriving early here which is bad news, temperature down to 1 degree above freezing with ice and a sprinkling of snow this morning so no road riding for me.

Got quite a bit done today on significant project I'm working and just did some reasonably light training later on just by riding a flat 3D course for about an hour. There's going to be no great volume ridden this week so might as well just accept that, more snow forecast.

One thing I'd been wanting to do was to try to produce a short video of a 3D CompuTrainer ride which I've managed to do, the results can be watched below and below that is the Ride Report as generated by the 3D reports package. The video is a bit jerky as I've had to generate is using some screen grabbing software but it's not too bad considering. Nothing startling in this session, just keeping working away and looking forward to the Spring, which seems an awful long way away, just got to keep ploughing on, presently through snow.



To see the video in higher quality click here.



[Uploaded 23/11/2008 08:31:16]

Friday Training

Hi

CompuTrainer

Another very busy day but managed to get a brisk session on the CompuTrainer in late in the afternoon. Rode a flat 20 miles 3D course at tempo pace against a 230W pacer and put in a few simulated surges just to make the ride a bit more interesting. Mainly wanted to try out the SpinScan reporting module again when riding a 3D course and it seemed to work fine, sample enclosed below. Quite happy with the 249W NP for the ride, a good brisk ride to clear the cylinders out a bit.

No problems today but the week isn't shaping up very well in terms of TSS as the forecast for the weekend is dreadful, looks like being the first weather disrupted weekend of the Winter, except Winter isn't here yet :-(

I'll probably do something like a 50 mile turbo ride instead, cycling is dangerous enough without taking unnecessary risks. I think more and more why go out when the weather is crap and leave an expensive indoor trainer idle at home, doesn't make sense to me.



[Uploaded 21/11/2008 21:25:11]

Wednesday Training

Hi

Computrainer

Good steady L3 work continues with no major problems. Did this session a bit differently and decided to make some more use of the SpinScan feature of the CompuTrainer and run a report on it at the end of the session.

Session went fine and produced some interesting data which is shown in the report below. I was pleased with what appears to be a pretty reasonable balance in the relative power outputs of my legs, it's just a shame I don't have 4 of them!

I guess I must have developed a reasonable leg balance as they both appear to be "firing" at about the same time with the ATA (Average Torque Angle) being virtually identical. Might be worth thinking about trying to bring the ATA down as in theory an ATA of 90 would make best use of the crank leverage.

Anyway, I'll give that some thought but think I will use this facility more than perhaps I have for my L3 work and see if I can make any small improvements. A spin scan of around 70 isn't bad but I think I can perhaps improve that though the results depend a great deal on the loads applied, higher loads will tend to produce lower SpinScan numbers in most riders. In the end you can do what (or is it watt) you can do!

The HR data was higher today as I was messing about a bit and trying different things just by way of a bit of a change but I generally did a 2x20 L3 session and overall it was an interesting and worthwhile session.



[Uploaded 20/11/2008 08:03:01]