Making Peace With Using An Indoor Bike Trainer

Making Peace With Using An Indoor Bike Trainer

Biking outdoors is my jam.

Biking indoors using an indoor bike trainer annoys me to think about it.

The thing is my nervous system demands that I ride every day or close to it.

Not too far. Usually 10 miles. 40-45 minutes of daily bliss; when the weather permits.

Since I live in Northeastern Ohio the weather doesn’t always permit.

Riding outdoors from January 1st- May 1st usually requires gear and fortitude. I have plenty of the 1st and a relative amount of the 2nd.

So this year I gave in and decided to use an indoor bike trainer.

Outdoors I ride while listening to podcasts. For the last few months, I have been listening to A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs (It rules!).

Something about being outside and listening to someone talk in my head creates a particularly calming environment for me.

My ride ends with me feeling more relaxed than worked out.

Within minutes of setting up my indoor bike trainer, I was miserable.

There are a lot of options for biking indoors. Peloton is probably the thing that pops into most people’s minds but I knew I wasn’t interested in a spinning or competitive experience.

A smart trainer is what I was after. You can ride on your own or you can plug into an assortment of riding and ride-sharing apps to make being indoors more fun.

On the first day, I rode around the pyramids in Egypt and biked down a path in Croatia that I had recently visited. It was kind of cool.

And very boring.

The next day, I listened to the rock podcast which was no better, and might even have been worse.

What was I to do?

Keeping at it was making me more miserable by the day.

The answer to my dilemma about using an indoor bike trainer came in the form of a different podcast I was listening to about long-distance running.

Ultramarathon runners run races as long as 100 miles.

While I can’t even fathom such a thing I was easily able to relate to what researchers saw as a way that these lunatics get through a race— one piece at a time.

Getting Through The Ride

It can be as simple as having visual markers or goals to check off and keep checking off. If I can get to that tree… if I can get to the top of this hill… that bush in the distance…

My mini ride is no different as I do this instinctually.

There is my first hill up Farnsliegh… then the turn that takes me to the middle school… the turn off to avoid the light at Green Road…etc.

This was a great detail to learn and as is often the case with my learning process, I filed it away and forgot about it.

At the same time, I realized that 3 or four months of podcasts weren’t going to get me through the winter.

So I put on music. Some live Grateful Dead.

And it clicked.

If I can get through Promised Land… I’ll get to Sugaree… and then Me & My Uncle… before I get to Deal… and then Black Throated Wind… followed by China Cat Sunflower and, omg, 35 minutes had gone by.

Audio markers work as well as visual markers and all of a sudden I feel well-equipped to get through the winter using an indoor bike trainer.

But I am not riding my usual 45 minutes or more; It’s a very different ride.

For one, there are no breaks. Pedaling begins and then ends when the ride is over.

Out on the street stopping and starting are unavoidable for assorted reasons, which creates different movement and muscle use.

So 30-35 minutes on the trainer is working great and it is a great workout.

But there are some pros and cons worth mentioning.

Pros

• It is easy for me to establish the position of the spine (flat back) that I want and maintain it.
• Lengthening the back of my neck and looking straight down instead of having to always look ahead and crank my neck is super helpful.
• Breathing through the nose with my mouth closed is easier indoors than out and is something I like working on.
• I can work on tracking my legs and using my feet correctly with more ease and consistency.
• Relaxing the shoulders is possible and the amount I tense my shoulders outdoors is a big issue.
• I get a lot of ideas when I ride but I don’t like stopping when I am riding outdoors. Indoors, I can ride without my hands, take notes, and have no fear of crashing.

Cons

• I can stop at any time. This is the biggest issue as it invades my thoughts for much of the time I’m on the indoor bike trainer. And it is insidious. This never happens outside.
• There is no rebound from the ground which has an effect on my pelvic floor that I don’t like. I can’t wear too much padding.
• Your butt on the seat gets no information from the ground below which is disconcerting.
• With no shock absorption or steering, there is very little work for the arms to do. This oddly seems to make the legs work more which is fine but not ideal.
• Stopping, starting, bumps, and curbs are major benefits that are lost indoors.
• Boredom. As much as I love the tunes I have been listening to I would much rather be outside listening to someone talking.

Ten Short Records For Biking Indoors

Back to my music choices. Of late, I have left the Dead behind and have been riding to some records that fall between 25 & 35 Minutes.

Knowing I have the record to finish but also using songs as individual goals to get through has been the secret sauce that has me riding and not crying.

And usually, I ride hard for one or two of the songs which works just fine for me.

Here are some of the records I have been enjoying.

Aside from the utility of riding, I really like short records.

• Let It Be- The Replacements
• It’s A Shame About Ray- The Lemonheads
• Strangers In The Night_ Frank Sinatra
• A Hard Day’s Night- The Beatles
• History of Melody Nelson- Serge Gainsbourg
• Nashville Skyline- Bob Dylan
• The Ramones- The Ramones
• Aretha Now- Aretha Franklin
• Langkamer- West Country
• Dirty Mind- Prince
• Nilsson Schmilsson- Harry Nilsson

And I’m taking recommendations…