This weekend i got out on Friday and did a quick MTB to my local spot and back. It’s about as good as its going to get for the foreseeable future, so I enjoyed it.
Pic of Bike post ride cleaning:
On Sunday I was back on the trainer and decided to use resistance mode as opposed to using ERG mode. I paired my power meter pedals and used the power from them instead of the the Kickr. I figure that if I’m going to do some outside workouts, then I should get used to holding a certain watt. ERG mode makes it super simple and neat, but really when you’re using ERG mode, your power is still all over the map. If you don’t believe me set up you Garmin and look at the power on there while simultaneously using ERG mode. 250 watts on the Kickr app will be steady but the numbers on the Garmin will be all over the place.
And since I have the time and freedom to play around with things like this I decided to give it a go. Here is a screen shot of my workout:
You can see the warm up and cool down were done in ERG so they are perfect (Power is Yellow Line, Red is HR), but the intervals themselves were done in resistance with the pedals paired. Right now I kind of suck, but I don’t feel like I got a better or worse workout then if i was using ERG.
What I did notice was that I stopped watching TV while pedaling. I’ll take this as a plus. Having the trainer take all my attention without making me want to pedal into a wall is a positive.
Another thing I noticed was that stareing at the power output was much less effective then just trying to go by feel. Trying to hold a steady x number of watts without looking at the screen yielded similar if not better results that looking at the screen and constantly adjusting the force on the pedals.
This will be something I continue to practice because I think being able to hold a consistent power, regardless of terrain is a valuable skill. Mountain biking can be tough because there are so many steep pitches that you need to use some explosive power, but there are plenty of other times, usually later in races, when you are just trying to stay consistent and maintain. This is the scenario I think this skill will shine.
@Pearl, I don’t want to keep pushing the TrainerRoad thing, but i mentioned they have a great podcast. They actually covered your exact question on the last episode. Quick note about the last podcast, normally they are in a relatively professional studio, but due to covid, they are all remote and in a family feud looking window (If viewing on YouTube. Here is the link,
https://youtu.be/mkSYblq2ZIw and if you want to go right to the pertinent part go to 9 minutes in.
I don’t know if I fully agree with what they say but I do get the logic they are using. On the same topic, i have listened to a few professional coaches thoughts and they generally say to slow it down. There is no way to train for an event when you don’t know if it will happen, or when it will, if it does. The common theme seems be - stay away from the real intense stuff. The VO2 max workouts and other hard intervals that go on for over 90 minutes can have a negative impact on your immune system which is not what you want right now.
So for me like i said before I am still doing workouts. I adjusted my schedule and am falling back to a base phase ish type of training where sweet spot is about as intense as it gets.
I feel like these types of workouts maintain my fitness and at the same time, I would be able to start building if/when this time wraps up.
Again, this is just me and I like the structured workouts to give me something to focus on.
Another thing I watched was an Instagram live video with Kate Courtney and Dr Kelly Starrett. He is a mobility coach and went over a lot of stretching specifically for cyclists and I found it really interesting. This is something that we can do for 10-15 minutes before bed and the benefits are plenty. From improving flexibility, strength through a wide range of motions, and being able to relax (Which is huge right now). I checked out his site thereadystate.com and they have a free 2 week trial. I think I’ll sign up and give it a shot for 2 weeks. It’s a $15 a month service which is annoying, but if I like it, I’ll find something else to cancel.
And I’ll leave with this.
This is the first step of a mini flow / pump track for my kids in my yard. I spent about 2 hours clearing out leaves, deadfall, sticker bushes, etc. I’m not sure I’m I’ll be able to make it work, but the area was all deadfall and not being used at all. The worst case scenario is maybe I can level it a bit, and put in a mini fire pit and have a cool usable little spot in the yard.
Also - I was able to get a GoPro video of my MTB ride I Friday and its not really worth sharing, but once i edit it a little I post it here because why the hell not.