Thursday, April 19, 2012

No, I'm not Pro...

...yet.

I had an anonymous comment on yesterday's blog post from a "Thomas" that asked if I had been a pro cyclist in the past.

Since I can't respond via email to an anonymous comment, I want to let you know Thomas that I have never been and currently am nowhere near the pro level.  Unfortunately, the ride data for my training is a bit deceiving.

Up until a few weeks ago, I've been doing all my rides on my Blackburn Trakstand Mag 3 trainer, which is where I will frequently ride 25 miles at 24-26 mph which honestly is still most likely 80% of my maximum.  As we all know, though, the trainer is a poor comparison to the open road.  My current best times for the bike portion of sprint up to half iron distance tris has me at roughly 19 mph.  Hopefully that will be increasing this year as I focus more on training and have a better (non-craigslist, actually tuned and fitted) bike this time around.

My goal, however, Thomas, IS to eventually go pro.  In triathlon though; not cycling.  So here's to being able to answering that question in a few years in the other way!!


I also have been looking for a new trainer as well.  The Blackburn has been great, but I find myself frequently maxing out on the resistance.  I've used a CycleOps at the local bike shop and feel there's a much higher ceiling on their units.  It's just a matter of finding one for the right price.

Anyone have suggestions for trainers?

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Questions
1.  Does anyone have a suggestion for a better trainer?
Do I simply need to go with a fluid trainer or are there magnetic trainers with higher resistance out there?

2.  How do your trainer rides compare to your outdoor rides?
Do you ride at the same speed or is one naturally faster?


Swim fast.  Bike smart.  Run hard. 


2 comments:

Ironman By Thirty said...

Kurt Kinetic Road Machine. I got one last fall after a couple years on cheapo Mag trainer that would max out around 20mph. I have yet to max out the KK Road Machine. I think I read somewhere that it has resistance through 3000W. It is completely the opposite of the mag trainer too. On the mag trainer I was doing what it sounds like you are (25mph on the trainer, 19mph on the road). Now, I am 18mph on the trainer, 20+mph on the road.

As a bonus, it works great with TrainerRoad if you are interested in trying out VirtualPower.

Anonymous said...

Hmm wish I had some suggestions for you.