Times Have Changed for Indoor Training

 So picture this: 

A bicycle mounted in a trainer. 

That's all I used to use for my first 5 years of  training on an indoor trainer. 1989. No music. No TV. No nuthin'. Just me. My bike. And the trainer. We called them Turbo Trainers in those days.

Things started to change. I started using a CD player with some hardcore songs (Hey Chris and EJ, remember Korn and Def Tones in the 90's?). I'd regularly get together with some other freaks and we'd do some harsh indoor workouts, rockin' out to some really heavy stuff. Oh, and we started using box fans, too. Unless we worked out in one of the guys basements that were so cold that we would start with light jackets on and shed them when we finally warmed up.

Even when we moved into my current house 17 years ago, I still used that formula. My basement wasn't THAT cold so I mounted a fan and just went for it. 

At some point I decided I needed more. I had an old VHS player and a small TV, so I picked up some Tour de France videos. I never bought too many, so I watched the same ones, over and over and over. I usually got the long ones, with every stage, but I bet I only had 4, maybe 5 tapes. Then came my really "advanced" TV with a DVD player. That rendered my old VHS tapes obsolete, so I bought a few DVD's.  You guessed it, more Tour de France DVD's.

It wasn't until 2 years ago that we got a smart TV in the basement and I was able to watch WHATEVER I wanted while grinding away on the trainer. It's not like I depend on the screen to keep me motivated...on the contrary, it keeps me distracted. I love watching World Cup mountain biking, but the Elite level cyclocross stuff is a perfect hour and frames my trainer time perfectly. 

I still use my Garmin computer and Garmin power pedals, along with a heart rate monitor. I don't use Zwift or any of the online interactive apps, although Deanna and Eli do. We also have a smart trainer that we hook their bikes up to. No way would I expect them to go my old-school route.

My current set-up is my 2001 Schwinn Fastback and a 10 year old Cyclops Fluid trainer. And of course, a box fan and a smart TV. Don't laugh at the flea-bitten trainer mat...it's older than a lot of you.

I have seen the light. If I'm going to spend time riding indoors, it's going to be productive and I'm not going to suffer under a dim light bulb staring at a concrete wall. Winter 2023/2024...I might even try the smart trainer!!