• WHERE ONCE THE turbo trainer was seen as an instrument of torture, now the smart trainer is seen as an essential tool to prime you for your big rides. The likes of Zwift and Wahoo RGT have seen impressive uptake over the past few years, and this can only serve to help your cycling performance. Read on for how you can boost your indoor training.
What the experts say...
Get more out of each indoor session with these handy tips
01 All the gear
• To tap into online cycling games, you'll need the basics of a bike; computer or smartphone; and a set of rollers or a turbo trainer. It's this last one where, increasingly, the magic happens, as smart trainers like those from Wahoo wirelessly sync to an app for terrain-specific, reallife-mimicking changes in resistance. Don't panic If you don't have a smart trainer as an ANT+ or Bluetooth speed cadence sensor should also do the job.
02 Sim or Erg?
• The two most common 'resistance modes' for your smart trainer are Sim and Erg. Sim mode is simulator mode and is used in all Zwift activities other than workouts. In this mode, an application like Zwift tries to replicate the feel of the VR environment via its resistance on your drivetrain. Erg mode, on the other hand, enables you to hit and hold a pre-determined wattage, forcing you to work at a certain level. This is particularly useful for pacing.
03 Fan your furnace
• Whichever gaming system you're riding to, one or more cooling fans will mimic the air chill you enjoy from outdoor training. If you're using just the one fan, choose one that's at least 15 inches (38cm) in diameter so you receive the air coverage needed. It's also worth the extra outlay for a remote-controlled fan to adjust speed as intensity rises.
04 Find your FTP
Bu hikaye Cycling Plus UK dergisinin March 2023 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Giriş Yap
Bu hikaye Cycling Plus UK dergisinin March 2023 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
GANARY A COALMINE
The James Brown tune 'It's a Man's Man's Man's World' comes on the radio, filling the coach, and does nothing for my pre-event nerves as I sit surrounded by serious-looking, wiry, tanned men in Lycra. It's 6.30am, pitch black outside and I'm feeling very out of my depth as a relative newcomer to the world of clipless pedals and hurting for fun. Last night's stress dream involved being very unprepared to get married and being handed my great-grandmother-in-law-to-be's hideous silver dress with lace trim to wear minutes before the ceremony was due to start. I'll let you psychoanalyse that one.
BORDER PATROL
British travel writer Tim Wild heads on a pilgrimage to Arizona's gravel Mecca, and isn't disappointed
COLD SNAPS
Chris Lanaway dons the deepest winter thermals for the Abloc Winter Challenge in southern Sweden
Master Age-group racing
Tips to keep you on the race course as you get older
Guava Spot Force AXS
£4,950 Big-value, Barcelona-born bike that hits the spot for gravel riding
Seasonal disorder
Pinpointing the start of the cycling season is no easy task, writes Ned
Ride all winter
10 scientifically proven ways to bolster your immunity
Joined-up thinking
Connecting more rail stations to the NCN is long overdue
Castelli Gabba
Castelli’s breathable, close-fitting yet waterproof and windproof jacket marked a watershed in cycle clothing
Air Apparent - Pollution hasn't gone away. It's still there in every lungful, even if we can't see it in the air or on the news. But there are reasons to breathe easier, thanks to pioneering projects using cycling 'citizen scientists'. Rob Ainsley took part in one...
The toxic effects of pollution have been known about for years. 'Just two things of which you must beware: Don't drink the water and don't breathe the air!' sang 1960s satirist Tom Lehrer.Over recent decades, though, pollution has dropped down our list of things to worry about, thanks to ominously capitalised concerns such as Climate Change, AI, Global Conflict, Species Collapse, etc. That doesn't, unfortunately, mean the problem has expired. Air quality often exceeds safe limits, with far-reaching and crippling effects on our health.
