QOTW: Is it better to ride on the trainer or outside?
By bethany
With the swing in winter temperatures in Atlanta and surrounding areas, we often have a choice: bundle up and brave the great outdoors, or a trainer ride. You may have also wondered which is the superior choice. Like many things, the answer is “it depends”
Specifically, the best choice depends on the purpose of the workout and your goal. There are clear situations where riding outdoors wins out since there are a couple of things that cannot be replicated well indoors. The most obvious example is bike handling. The importance of bike handling skills beyond basic safety varies according to the type of racing you’ll be doing. For instance, if road racing or mountain biking, you’ll need to practice handling skills more than for a race that involves mostly riding in a straight line (triathlon)
Second, if you’re training for a pure road race, it’s easier to train for the demands of that race (very short high intensity surges, etc) when you have the real life situation of an outdoor group ride. Furthermore, the desire to not get dropped can give you an extra edge as far as motivation. Depending on your setup, it may also be tough to replicate efforts …read more
Source: Energy Lab
