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Zwift / Wahoo Kickr Basement Trainer Setup

01.04.2016 by Scott Jangro // 6 Comments

It appears that 2016 is the year of the smart trainer. Last year, smart trainers like the Wahoo Kickr have appeared on the market. These trainers connect to your computer or phone via ANT+ or Bluetooth, and allow you to control the resistance either manually, or with a software program.

Conversely, “dumb” trainers have no resistance or require that you set it manually. Having any resistance at all makes for a tough ride. Like riding uphill. Forever. Cycling is much more dynamic than that — killer hills always have the downhill on the other side to look forward to. Smart trainers bring that indoors.

The perfect combination is that there are now software apps like Zwift and TrainerRoad that bring a game like experience to these smart trainers. So it’s now not up to you to (a) force yourself into some intervals by pushing buttons, and (b) keep yourself from getting bored.

Zwift is a massive-multiplayer game that allows you to ride in real time with people all over the world in a few different locations. I’ve recently been online with over 1000 riders at once.

TrainerRoad works with videos like SufferFest and have programs that sync up with them to match the difficulty levels dictated by the program in the video.

Both services run about $10 per month. Worth it to me, though I may be wanting to suspend those memberships come spring time. Hopefully they’ll accommodate that.

Personally, I use (and love) Zwift. Here’s a screenshot of me and about 1000 of my closest friends riding into the sunset. It has great game features like KOMs and sprints. You can ride with your actual friends as a group, and even draft off each other.

It’s made all the difference in getting me on the bike this winter.

My Setup

Riding with a computer brings some new requirements for equipment for your setup. Here’s what I’ve got in my basement workout station, which has two categories — things to hold the electronics, and things to contain the sweat…

1. iPhone handlebar mount – you’ll want your iPhone on your handlebar to use the Zwift companion app. This allows easy controls so you don’t have to reach over to your computer to choose turns and send “Ride on” encouragement messages to your friends. Your phone will get dripped on with sweat. Which is basically kryptonite to your phone. Protect it with a cover.

2. Blackburn Sweat Net – If you ride indoors, and work up a sweat, this is a must. It’s basically a thong-shaped towel that stretches between your handlebars and your seatpost and catches any of the sweat that is destined for your expensive bike. The first year I rode indoors, I didn’t use this, and sweat found its way into the ferrules for the shifting cables on my carbon frame and gummed them up pretty good.

3. and 4. Table created with an electronic keyboard stand and shelving. It’s helpful to be able to reach the computer to deal with problems, and start things off which is why a tall table like this that goes in front of the handlebars (out of sweat range) is great.

5. Wahoo Kickr — Smart Trainer

6. Treadmill Mat – protect your floor and carpet from bike grease and your sweat. If you don’t believe me, you will the first time you step on your sweat puddle in your stocking feet.

See below the picture for where to buy…

Are you on Zwift? It can be hard to spot friends in the crowd, but keep an eye out for me on there and give me a “Ride on!”‘

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Categories // training

The Long Road Back

04.26.2015 by Ray Niekamp // 2 Comments

The great concert pianist, Ignace Paderewski, is quoted as saying: “When I miss a day of practice, I know it. When I miss two days, my teacher knows it. When I miss five days, the audience knows it.”

As you know, I’ve missed the equivalent of a month on the bike, with just a few days sprinkled in there where I actually got a chance to ride. And boy, do I know it.

Our friend, Don Blount, has just told us about the rehabilitation regimen he’s putting himself through to return to biking from surgery. Don is a focused, goal-driven kind of guy. I take more of a recreational approach to my biking. I want to have a good day on the bike, maybe cover a decent amount of ground, and feel like I’ve accomplished something when it’s over.

It didn’t feel that way Saturday.

My own fault, really. We’ve had a good amount of rain here this spring — for Central Texas, that is — and my yard has exploded in green. The growing grass, combined with the live oaks that have shed last year’s leaves over the last few weeks, have left me a mess to take care of. I spent much of Saturday morning shoveling leaves into bags (that’s right — there were so many in such big piles, I didn’t have to do a lot of raking), trimming overgrown ground cover around trees, and cutting the grass in the front yard for the first time this year. By the time I was done, I was bushed.

But it was a beautiful, 90-degree (32C) day, and there was no way I was going to pass up riding under these conditions.

I picked a favorite route, one that would take me through my neighborhood and out to Austin’s Veloway. If I did two laps of the Veloway after the trip to get there, I’d have about 18 miles.

But halfway around my first lap of the Veloway, I knew I had had it. I completed the lap and headed home. Fifteen miles, and I was so tired that I flopped on the bed in my bike clothes, immediately fell asleep, and didn’t wake up for three hours.

Okay, it was the yard work and the 90-degree temps that did me in. Sunday would be better, because I was going out first thing in the morning.

I met my riding buddy Maggie, and we agreed to take a new trail (new to us) that would get us up a hill to a busy road. She had been on the trail once, and was unsure about the exact route, but she led the way without a hitch. The trail was rough in spots, but a good one. We circled around to a paved hill near my house, and she suggested working our way over to another trail that would take us back down the hill.

Maggie grabs a drink before we head down the rocky trail.
Maggie grabs a drink before we head down the rocky trail. (Click to enlarge.)

This is a rough trail. I glanced off a rock, and my foot flew off the pedal. It was all I could do to keep the bike under control as it picked up speed down a rocky cut. I didn’t want to brake too much, because if I hit a rock at slow speed, it could mean an endo.

We got down it okay, but the skies decided to open up then, accompanied by bolts of lightning. We headed over to my house before the worst of it hit.

My wife was happy to see Maggie, because they had a lot of catching up to do. After a half hour or so, the weather had cleared, and she headed home. I showered, then sat down at the computer to do some work.

It was getting up that got me. The hilly trails rendered the backs of my thighs really sore. I could walk it off all right, but for the rest of the day, whenever I stood up, I had to wait for the soreness to pass.

Maggie told me she had had hip problems at the same time I was off the bike, so we’re both embarking on comebacks of our own. I hope it won’t be a long one — there’s a lot of riding to be made up. But I’m out of practice, and I know it.

 

 

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Categories // soreness, training Tags // Injury, soreness, training

Let the Training Begin!

03.15.2015 by Ray Niekamp // 6 Comments

Finally, I’m back in the swing of things. It’s Spring Break, and I have a week off! I got on the bike Friday, and have ridden each day since then.

It’s important that I do so, because I’ve committed to a bike ride at the end of the month that will involve some challenging hills. It’s not a race or anything — just a semi-organized ride over some roads in Northwest Austin that I’ve never ridden, but have always wanted to.

But my lackadaisical attitude this winter has set me back, fitness-wise. If I’m going to ride hills — and on a ride whose mileage is not a challenge — I need to start training for hills.

Today, I did. I headed out through my immediate neighborhood and worked my way over to Convict Hill, a place I’ve written about before. I used to climb Convict Hill regularly, in both directions. But I haven’t been there in weeks, and I hadn’t ridden it in weeks before the last time I rode it. I knew I’d be pushing myself.

Sure enough, I was. I’m still not quite over the hacking cough that’s been bothering me for the last week, but I’m almost over it. It’s not badd enough to keep me off the bike, anyway. But when I hit that hill, I could tell I hadn’t been there for awhile.

Where I could climb it in the big ring before, I struggled in the small ring today. But I rode all the hills on the route, even if slowly, and reminded myself of where I need to be in a couple of weeks, fitness-wise. If we hadn’t had to be at an event in the afternoon, I’d have ridden longer.

When I pulled up to the garage and hopped off the bike, I was anxious to see just where I stood, according to Strava. How did I do today compared to previous rides on that route?

I’ll never know. I had one of those pesky Strava fails. It registered exactly zero miles on the ride. (Before I could delete it from my account, one of my wise guy friends gave me kudos.) I retraced the route on Map My Ride, and it came out to 17.4 miles. Problem is, I have no idea how long it took. I didn’t check my watch when I started, and I didn’t bother to bring the cheap bike computer along on the ride, because Strava is always there.

That’s okay. I intend to ride every day this week, so I’ll have a chance to cover the route again soon. In the meantime, it’s fun to have something to shoot for.

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Categories // training Tags // hills, training

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