The Indoor Cyclist's support thread

[Patrick]

wait - comparing a TR session to a Zwift race or ride?

Compare it to a zwift training session. Drafting doesn't work - you are hitting your numbers and if you pass some and some pass you, it is what it is.
uphill/downhill - doesn't matter. It isn't just side scrolling graph - hell, you can look at birds, or the dirigible, sometimes it rains. and don't touch the lava 😉

 

[1speed]

I've never been able to do the structured "training" thing with any consistency (apparently, I've got objectively profound philosophical reasons for that.) But I can appreciate those who have the ability to focus on bars, target lines, intensity bars, or whatever they call them - (probably quite literally) more power to them. I use Zwift because it's the only thing I've ever found that makes indoor riding bearable. Given the choice, I'd usually still rather brave the cold if I can swing it, but - especially this month - it's been a really boon to have another option.

At the end of last year, I noticed that I'd been on a trend the last three or four years of declining miles. I decided I wanted to change that and as kind of a way to kick it off, I made the spur of the moment decision to ride every day of January. And at least 30 miles a day. I have no specific training goals now so I wasn't worried about overtraining or anything like that. I just wanted to get in some miles every day to start the amorphous goal of "riding more" off on the right foot. I have always been a high volume rider - the more I ride the better I feel (up to a point, of course - everyone needs a break now and then.) It just makes me happy to ride a lot. So I did. This afternoon, I finished off "Ride January" with my typical weekday split ride (20+ miles first thing in the morning, another 10 or so in the afternoon.) And a lot of those miles were on Zwift - all the early morning rides Mon-Fri and many of the post-work rides as well. Aside from the occasional pre-dark road ride after work, my only real outdoor rides were my weekend MTB rides. The simple reality is, I just haven't had the time nor the inclination to get out after work as often this winter. But whatever - I hit my goal. In the end, I ended up riding a little over a thousand miles this month, averaging almost 33 miles a day. I'm sure more than half of those miles were on Zwift.

I don't know how many total miles I'll shoot for this year - like I said, "more" is about as far as my thinking went on it. But I do think that I'll be continuing to get quite a few of them on Zwift at least until the snow clears up (so far, everyone I've seen trying to ride in Wissahickon or Belmont is saying it's "rough" and they're averaging around 5 mph. I just have no interest in riding in soft snow at all.)

 

[Santapez]

I've never been able to do the structured "training" thing with any consistency (apparently, I've got objectively profound philosophical reasons for that.) But I can appreciate those who have the ability to focus on bars, target lines, intensity bars, or whatever they call them - (probably quite literally) more power to them. I use Zwift because it's the only thing I've ever found that makes indoor riding bearable. Given the choice, I'd usually still rather brave the cold if I can swing it, but - especially this month - it's been a really boon to have another option.

At the end of last year, I noticed that I'd been on a trend the last three or four years of declining miles. I decided I wanted to change that and as kind of a way to kick it off, I made the spur of the moment decision to ride every day of January. And at least 30 miles a day. I have no specific training goals now so I wasn't worried about overtraining or anything like that. I just wanted to get in some miles every day to start the amorphous goal of "riding more" off on the right foot. I have always been a high volume rider - the more I ride the better I feel (up to a point, of course - everyone needs a break now and then.) It just makes me happy to ride a lot. So I did. This afternoon, I finished off "Ride January" with my typical weekday split ride (20+ miles first thing in the morning, another 10 or so in the afternoon.) And a lot of those miles were on Zwift - all the early morning rides Mon-Fri and many of the post-work rides as well. Aside from the occasional pre-dark road ride after work, my only real outdoor rides were my weekend MTB rides. The simple reality is, I just haven't had the time nor the inclination to get out after work as often this winter. But whatever - I hit my goal. In the end, I ended up riding a little over a thousand miles this month, averaging almost 33 miles a day. I'm sure more than half of those miles were on Zwift.

View attachment 177638

I don't know how many total miles I'll shoot for this year - like I said, "more" is about as far as my thinking went on it. But I do think that I'll be continuing to get quite a few of them on Zwift at least until the snow clears up (so far, everyone I've seen trying to ride in Wissahickon or Belmont is saying it's "rough" and they're averaging around 5 mph. I just have no interest in riding in soft snow at all.)

View attachment 177635

I stopped reading after a few lines. But I wanted to comment that the indoor bike setup looks pro.

 

[goldsbar]

Is that a map of Watopia on the wall? Total pro setup!

 

[1speed]

Is that a map of Watopia on the wall? Total pro setup!

Yeah, but it's pretty outdated at this point. I picked that up off of ZwiftInsider about a year after I first got on Zwift. So it doesn't include the desert or Titans Grove. I should probably update it, but it actually cost way more to frame than I'd like to admit, so it's probably going to stay as-is for a while.

 

[Jeremy]

I think we need a post your cave thread

 

[JimN]

I think we need a post your cave thread

I think you should make a new thread for this so they don't all get lost here.

 

[rottin']

I think we need a post your cave thread

View attachment 177670View attachment 177673

Is that a step stool to get on your bike?

 

[1speed]

I stopped reading after a few lines. But I wanted to comment that the indoor bike setup looks pro.

I'd recommend it if it's at all possible. I got the TV on the cheap at an after-Xmas sale at Best Buy and having Zwift in 55" right in front of me actually does motivate me to use it more. Not shown here is a lounge chair just to the right of the bike that my wife got me for my birthday - so now I use this TV to watch streaming shows on Netflix, Prime, Hulu and Apple TV as well (FYI - my one cat is a huge fan of sitting in my lap and dozing while I watch episodes of Foundation.) I always feel like we live cheaper than my wife deserves to because I'm so hyper-ocused on reaching the point where I can stop working altogether, but this is the one spot in my house where I feel like I didn't cut corners. I love my basement setup - I have a fully functional bike shop on the unfinished side, a full bathroom and wardrobe area, and a workout/training area for both of us that would make most gyms proud (TBH, I stole a lot of the setup ideas from a gym where I taught Spinning for 10 years, so I'm not great planner with this stuff - I just know what I liked when I saw it.)

I know it can sound like an elitist line of BS, but if you ever have the chance to get a larger TV setup for indoor training, I recommend you just go for it. I really think I use it more because I appreciate the fact that it took some investment. Seriously - if you ever want to consider it, let me know. I am happy to share anything I did to make the setup work, and there are ways to keep it cheaper than you may think it needs to be. It's not super expensive - I waited until I could get a deal on the TV and the smart trainer to set it up. After Xmas sales really helped a lot, and it actually doesn't take up a ton of room. I think the whole setup probably cost less than $1000, and that was a little bit at a time. I just saved here and there and by the time I was ready to set it up, I had what I needed. I"m not sure what kind of sales are available nowadays, but if you have any questions, let me know. I'm happy to help any way I can.

 

[1speed]

I think we need a post your cave thread

View attachment 177670View attachment 177673

This puts my setup to shame. I love the idea that you can have your workout on the tablet and still watch movies with the fam if you want. My setup right now is one app at a time.

 

[Santapez]

I'd recommend it if it's at all possible. I got the TV on the cheap at an after-Xmas sale at Best Buy and having Zwift in 55" right in front of me actually does motivate me to use it more. Not shown here is a lounge chair just to the right of the bike that my wife got me for my birthday - so now I use this TV to watch streaming shows on Netflix, Prime, Hulu and Apple TV as well (FYI - my one cat is a huge fan of sitting in my lap and dozing while I watch episodes of Foundation.) I always feel like we live cheaper than my wife deserves to because I'm so hyper-ocused on reaching the point where I can stop working altogether, but this is the one spot in my house where I feel like I didn't cut corners. I love my basement setup - I have a fully functional bike shop on the unfinished side, a full bathroom and wardrobe area, and a workout/training area for both of us that would make most gyms proud (TBH, I stole a lot of the setup ideas from a gym where I taught Spinning for 10 years, so I'm not great planner with this stuff - I just know what I liked when I saw it.)

I know it can sound like an elitist line of BS, but if you ever have the chance to get a larger TV setup for indoor training, I recommend you just go for it. I really think I use it more because I appreciate the fact that it took some investment. Seriously - if you ever want to consider it, let me know. I am happy to share anything I did to make the setup work, and there are ways to keep it cheaper than you may think it needs to be. It's not super expensive - I waited until I could get a deal on the TV and the smart trainer to set it up. After Xmas sales really helped a lot, and it actually doesn't take up a ton of room. I think the whole setup probably cost less than $1000, and that was a little bit at a time. I just saved here and there and by the time I was ready to set it up, I had what I needed. I"m not sure what kind of sales are available nowadays, but if you have any questions, let me know. I'm happy to help any way I can.

You forgot to tag my wife @MissJR

 

[MissJR]

You forgot to tag my wife @MissJR

Honestly, I can't wait until you have a man cave... It means I get the living room back. 🤣

 

[jklett]

This puts my setup to shame. I love the idea that you can have your workout on the tablet and still watch movies with the fam if you want. My setup right now is one app at a time.

No kidding, those 2 setups are pretty awesome. I got a laptop sitting on 2 dry storage bins and a box fan in a space that looks like it should have a pit to lower a basket of lotion down into.

 

[UtahJoe]

trainer+bike....middle of my living room, fan in front of that....all in front of the living room TV....anyone that doesnt like it can move the f%^&k out.

I dont know how you guys stare at that zwift screen, I have tried it 4-5 times now...I just cant do it.....I have Rouvy running on my phone app, but in general im watching TV.....To me, watching the interval graphs/charts move across the screen is more exciting than anything on zwift.....but whatever keeps you riding/engaged.

 

[Patrick]

One of the things that passes the time in zwift is giving a ride-on to the other Cyclists. The interface is so bad! Can't tell who you got already. Your position goes.off screen either up or down. But still nice to throw some support. Especially when the runners pass on the uphill cause they dont get extra resistance

 

[JimN]

One of the things that passes the time in zwift is giving a ride-on to the other Cyclists.

Can you talk to other riders in Zwift?

 

[Patrick]

Can you talk to other riders in Zwift?

There's a txt messaging system. It is a giant group chat for people 'around' you. There is some funny stuff. Access through the companion app on phone.

Glenn used to run an open discord Channel for the group rides.

I'm really surprised @UtahJoe could stand letting those dots ride away from him.

 

[Norm]

Can you talk to other riders in Zwift?

Yes but like most of the bells & whistles, it gets old after like 2 minutes. Well, not talk, but you can text. You need the app. At a certain point, how many free hands does one have for this shit? The entirety of most of our setups are more complex than the space shuttle in the 80's.

IMO/E the screen has 2 states:

1. In a race, catch the guy in front of you
2. Otherwise ignore it and watch tv

 

[iman29]

Can you talk to other riders in Zwift?

While its not integrated a lot of the group events and new club rides publish a discord channel to talk IRL from a phone or other device. I have never done it but I might try it now with the new Clubs feature since I am a Club manager and would be talking to people I know compared to 100% strangers (weird).

 

[mfennell]

I hopped on two Zwift meet-up rides this past weekend set up by a local and found them to be a lot of fun. ~10 riders on each ride. About 1/2 of them were people i ride with outside and I recognized most of the rest. I find time goes by faster with people you know vs a 300 person ride with randos. My friend Jim buries me up virtual climbs just as well as outside.

Random: the guy who started the DIRT (Dads Indoors Riding Trainers) group on Zwift lives in Little Silver. He takes his bike outside perhaps once/year.