If you are a cycling friend you’ll probably already know this news because I’ve been asking around to everyone I know about whether upgrading to a ‘smart’ trainer would be worth the squeeze. Some of you will have had a chuckle at what I was using for the past 15 years.
This is the trainer that my step-brother bought me when he first started coaching me for l’Etape du Tour in 2011. It’s very simple and has always been just fine for my winter trainer rides, but my 57 year old knees have been complaining about the pressure when I up the resistance, so I’ve been looking for something less ‘muddy’ in the feel of the ride. Which brings me to Black Friday:
I ended getting a deal on what everyone else seems to have these days – a Wahoo Kickr. The first good news is that I got it out of the box, plugged in, and set up without incident. This could be a first with me and technology. It did take me 24 hours to pair it with my Garmin, though.
After an hour on it yesterday I can say that the ride feel is improved, but my knees still hurt because, now that I’ve got power again after 10 years (the last time I had a power meter on my actual bike), I found myself seeing what numbers I could produce. The result was two sore knees this morning and a temporary depression from the resulting power numbers.
More on this as I figure out if I want to use the ‘smart’ parts of this new tool. For now I’ll just change my own gears and watch cyclocross reruns to keep me motivated.
The Vicious Cycle 
Next step is to pair it with a virtual program. I’m on Rouvy so no need to pair it with my bike computer. You might want to try Whoosh which is Free as far as I understand, full of training programs and road feel virtual rides if that’s want you want to try.
I am going to try Whoosh this year. If that does not work out, I will be on zwift.
I actually tried to get the My Whoosh app working today and failed. I may give it another chance, but I don’t really ‘need’ on of those things, I think.
excellent move, Gerry!
now also get the Zwift frame and start Zwifting! And I still watch cyclocross while group riding on Zwift
One thing at a time! But I suppose I have a ‘smart’ trainer for a reason, so I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before I add more more subscription to my cycling habit. At least it’s a business expense.
You need an actual winter sport that’s, you know, fun.
“You” meaning Gerry.
I probably need some actual winter to do that, but I take your point!
Hi Gerry, I’m still having problems with WordPress. Do t know what the problem is. Anyway this is what I was trying to post. You can add it to the comments if you want.
I got the Zwift bike two months ago and it’s been absolutely brilliant. The biggest surprise is that I am sharing it with my wife who was never really into cycling. She is absolutely loving it. I started her on the Zwift FTP program and she loves the structured program and the virtual world. You’re not alone! Because of the cost and the fact that Zwift doesn’t have a couples discount I started on MyWhoosh (saw the ads with Peter Sagan during Vuelta and apparently Tadej does something with them too). And it’s free!! Really quite good but limited routes and countries to ride and it drains my iPad battery but other than that it’s quite good and ….free. I’ve tried the 7 day free trial of Rouvy with the real life visuals but found it a bit unnerving while riding with real cars and occasionally becoming a ‘ghost’. I don’t need to be reminded how dangerous it can be out there. My advice to you is try the programs. Really has changed how fun it is to ride indoors. And I haven’t even tried racing with others yet.
Cheers Luc
Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPhone
You probably know this already, Luc, but your comment posted just fine. I have had other people tell me they’ve had issues with posting though, and it seems like you need to change your handle each time. Thanks for being persistent!
I’ll try again with MyWhoosh because it’s free, but I couldn’t get it going today when I tried. I won’t look at anything else this year, but after I get back from Japan I might.
I can see the benefits to this kind of ‘community’, like you wife is experiencing. Who knows, maybe it’d be good for business, too!
Wahoo, Gerry!!! Welcome to winter riding!! Good choice.
I’m really going fast to the dark side, Eric!
It sounds very tempting.
It helps on rainy and windy days if you’re soft like me.